Without Change, On What Could Eric Chu Beat Tsai Ing-wen?

 Without Change, On What Could Eric Chu Beat Tsai Ing-wen?

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

December 26, 2018

 Translation of an Excerpt

Recently, the Internet has been wildly spreading footage featuring Lo Chih-chiang’s speech in Houston; Lo is the first to announce that he would enter the race for the KMT nomination in the Presidential election in 2020. The prologue of the footage is: “I am Taiwanese, I am Chinese, and my China is the Republic of China.” On the cultural and bloodline level, Lo Chih-chiang believes that he is Taiwanese and Chinese, but on the political level, he is an authentic "citizen of the Republic of China."

Lo Chih-chiang admits that his entry into the race is indeed "not being aware I am a long shot"; however, the goal is not to be elected, but to awaken the central ideal that has been evaded by the various princes of the Blue camp in the past. The presidential primary of the KMT must be based on “let hundreds of flowers bloom and let hundreds of schools of thought contend”; he demands that the various prospective candidates clearly express their stances.

In complete control of the government for eight years, the KMT prided itself on merely "maintaining the status quo" as its cross-Strait path, with no vision for the future, and naturally with no momentum that touched people’s hearts. So much so that even after the Sunflower Student Movement, the various princes of the KMT, one after another, tried to distance themselves from China, not mentioning it if possible, forgetting that the name "Kuomintang of China” contains the word "China"; what qualifications do they have to evade responsibility, and on what grounds do they avoid talking about "China" and avoid saying "I am Chinese”?

The mission of the Kuomintang is to bridge and integrate the identities of "Taiwanese" and "Chinese." Whether on the idealistic facet or the realistic facet, cross-Strait policy is the most important asset of the Kuomintang. The Kuomintang party’s primary election has just started, and the princes have one after another come out to express their stances. The one with the highest survey ratings is Eric Chu, who after completing his second term as New Taipei City mayor, has exhibited a posture to aggressively shoulder the responsibility; therefore, he should be the first to stand up, clearly proclaiming that he will bridge and integrate the umbilical cord of identity of both "Taiwanese" and "Chinese." And the first thing that he must do is to candidly state, "I am Taiwanese and also Chinese."

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