Cool to 8/23, Tsai Ing-wen, However, Rides in Armored Vehicle to Inspect Flooding

  Cool to 8/23, Tsai Ing-wen, However, Rides in Armored Vehicle to Inspect Flooding

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

August 26, 2018

 Translation of an Excerpt

President Tsai Ing-wen did not attend the rites for the 60^th anniversary of the "August 23^rd  Artillery Duel" in Kinmen, only writing on her Facebook page to express her regards. Unexpectedly, torrential rains occurred in southern Taiwan on the same day; Tsai Ing-wen rode in an army armored vehicle to inspect the flooding. However, she was blocked on the road by local people who were yelling at her in anger; hence, she had to dismount the vehicle and wade into the flood water. Contrasting the two incidents underscores Tsai Ing-wen's two big problems of leadership: one is an appeal to solidarity while her behavior went the other way; the other is that she did not speak her mind while being detached from the grassroots, not knowing how to lead by example.

The 8/23 Battle safeguarded the security of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu; from the viewpoint of the integration of communal groups and a community of shared destiny, it has a positive historical significance. Nevertheless, with regard to this incident that affects the direction of history, encourages the armed forces, and galvanizes solidarity, the President, however, was reluctant to attend, in fact lacking the respect that was due to fellow citizens on Kinmen and the men in uniform that died in action.

Tsai Ing-wen’s deliberate coolness towards the 8/23 Artillery Battle, if we think deeper, reflects the DPP’s cutting off and narrowing the history across the Strait. This point was obvious for all to see when Hsu Chai-ching, deputy secretary-general of the DPP, commented on the subject on a talk show the same evening. Hsu said that "the 8/23 Battle was between the CCP and the KMT, not a battle between the CCP and the DPP,” and that Taiwanese soldiers in that battle "sacrificed for the KMT," "Was it worth commemorating? All of us should ponder in calm."

President Tsai deliberately failed to show up at the 8/23 commemorative activities in Kinmen, but mobilized an army armored vehicle to inspect the flood, showing not only an unbalanced option, but also demonstrating that she put the cart before the horse in her attitude toward military affairs. More delinquent is Tsai Ying-wen’s command and leadership, failing to "act by example." The powers that be must share the hardships jointly with their subordinates at the grassroots and endure sacrifices so as to win their identity and loyalty. When the flood victims were still wading in the water, the President, however, was riding high in an armored vehicle, smiling and waving her hands to the crowd. Didn't she know what kind of feelings the flood victims had when they witnessed the scene before their own eyes? Even during the totalitarian era, the two Chiangs only rode in jeeps when inspecting floods; thus, when Tsai Ing-wen rode in an armored vehicle to inspect the flooding, what kind of aura was she planning to show?

The number of times that Tsai Ing-wen raised her voice to sing "solidarity" and "reform" definitely exceeded without question all past Presidents; however, her ways of dividing Taiwan are definitely not inferior to any predecessor. Being absent from the 8/23 commemorations, while riding in an armored vehicle to inspect the flooding, exactly exposes the hypocrisy that she says one thing and does another.

Attachment : none