US & Taiwan Will Both Lose If the Former Meddles in the Latter’s Elections
2018/12/10
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US & Taiwan Will Both Lose If the Former Meddles in the Latter’s Elections
China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)
December 6, 2018
Translation of an Excerpt
For a long time, the US has decided its Taiwan policy based on US interests, but it treats Taiwan as a whole, supporting Taiwan’s democracy, and engaging in equidistant exchanges with both the Blue and Green parties, and not meddling in internal partisan disputes in Taiwan and showing respect for the electoral results. However, in the most recent local elections, the US clear-cutly indicated its taking sides. James Moriarty, Chairman of AIT, echoed President Tsai before the elections, accusing external forces of attempting to change Taiwan’s winds; Robert C. DeWitt, the former director of AIT’s Kaohsiung office, posted an article praising Kaohsiung’s growth, “plainly expressing” support for the DPP’s Chen Chi-mai. After the local elections, the interpretation of the US media and scholars also inclined to believe that the outcome of the 9-in-1 local elections was a victory for the pro-China faction, showing their worries that Taiwan would be the first domino to fall toward China.
Are the local elections this time related to cross-Strait relations? Yes, but not in the manner the US believes-- only simply falling toward China. The true China considerations is President Tsai Ing-wen’s cross-Strait policy, leading to the freezing of cross-Strait relations; the running water of Taiwan’s economic and trade does not come in, and diplomacy has suffered a setbacks, the people hope that cross-Strait reconciliation will improve Taiwan’s economy. Besides this, what made "Hate the DPP" become the biggest party of the whole population entails more numerous and more important factors other than cross-Strait ties, including: “one fixed holiday, one flexible day-off” turned labor and management topsy-turvy; pension reforms enraged the military, civil servants, and public school teachers as well as their families; jettisoning nuclear energy and increasing fossil fuel-fired power generation ignited great fury; same-sex marriage stirred a backlash of conservative forces in society; Wu Yin-ning, general manager of the Taipei Farmers Market, dubbed a high-paid intern, caused extremely negative views; Kuan Chung-ming’s appointment as National Taiwan University president has long been blocked; the Ill-gotten Party Asset Settlement Commission grabs other people’s assets; the Transformational Justice Commission has become Dongchang (a Ming Dynasty secret police organization equivalent to the modern-day Gestapo) and Lai Ching-te spitted out “Gongde” [rendering a service gratis in hopes of receiving rewards from Heaven in this life or the next.] The high-profile, high-handedness since the DPP came to power could only be described as inexhaustible, thus eliciting a tsunami of popular grievances. This litany of accounts could not be ascribed to China.
Although President Tsai Ing-wen has gradually been mired in a predicament in cross-Strait relations and diplomacy, she deliberately clung to the United States, always securing US support. However, this cannot be transformed into a helping force domestically; heavenly fury and popular grievances caused by the DPP’s governance remain heavenly fury and popular grievances. The voters basically will not bear in mind the US statements before the elections, voting for whomever they had wanted to support. The voting pattern of Taiwan’s electorate has always been expressing the voters’ will, listening only to their own hearts.
The DPP ought to perceive that when the US-China confrontation radicalizes, being sandwiched in the middle, Taiwan’s room for maneuvering will become smaller, and the chances of being forced to the frontlines as cannon fodder will become greater. This would be extremely disadvantageous to Taiwan’s long-term interests in seeking room for sustenance and development; only by erecting good relations with both the US and China will it conform to Taiwan’s interests. The US also needs to understand that if the US-China fight morphs into a proxy war in Taiwan's elections, it would not only add fissures in Taiwan's society, but also expose the political situation to more unstable variables. A chaotic, unstable Taiwan would be more fragile in countering China's pressure; this would not be in the interests of the US.
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