Energy and Personnel: Viewing the Obstinate Tsai from the Pragmatic Abe

 Energy and Personnel: Viewing the Obstinate Tsai from the Pragmatic Abe

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

August 25, 2017

 Translation of an Excerpt

Two foreign media outlets have recently commented on the Tsai administration’s governance. One in London’s "Economist" is titled "A massive blackout prompts questions about Taiwan’s energy policy," casting dust on Tsai’s "Asian Silicon Valley." The other is an article titled “Tsai Ing-wen getting water with a bamboo basket" carried by Nihon Keizai Shinbun (Japan Economics Newspaper), saying she endlessly proposed reforms which ended in naught.

Two years ago, as the DPP’s presidential candidate, Tsai visited Japan and had a “chance encounter” with Abe at the Tokyu Hotel in Tokyo. At that time the two looked much alike: both had "anti-China" genes, carried deep ideological colors, and had firm convictions in their own ideals. Abe wanted to retrieve the former glory of a big power for Japan, Tsai, on the other hand, swore to turn Taiwan into a ferocious tiger.

However, two years on, Abe and Tsai Ying-wen have drifted apart. In order to fulfill the economic commitments of the “three arrows,” Abe declared the restart of nuclear power, and actively engaged in dialogue with the Mainland China, while at the same time, he massively revamped his Cabinet. From ideology reining supreme, he has gradually become a pragmatic leader.

Looking back at Tsai Ying-wen, in office for over a year, she has disregarded the opposition to “one mandatory holiday, one flexible day-off” by both management and labor, disregarded the political and economic impacts of deliberately deteriorating cross-Strait relations, disregarded power shortages by forcibly adopting an anti-nuclear policy, and disregarded ridicule of squandering public money for the forward-looking plan. Furthermore, when public support ratings plummeted to the deep water zone of the 20s, she still disregarded the inadequacy of the Cabinet by refusing to reshuffle it. Relatively speaking, coping with the situation in a pragmatic manner has enabled Abe to survive after experiencing several tests, while Tsai Ying-wen’s obsession with her own ideas is precisely the main reason for her difficulty in making a u-turn.

From energy to personnel, Abe’s pragmatism and Tsai Ying-wen obstinacy show a sharp contrast. However, how do you expect a leader, being obstinate and oblivious to the opinions of others, to turn Taiwan into a ferocious tiger?

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