A Premature Taiwan People’s Party

  A Premature Taiwan People’s Party

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

August 7, 2019

 Translation of an Excerpt

Ko Wen-je has established the Taiwan People's Party; this party was founded in haste. Announced just a few days ago, the staff worked day and night, writing the party charter and party platform, and subsequently its establishment was declared, looking like a premature baby.

Setting up a political party is such a momentous event; it should be prudent and properly planned; why was Ko Wen-je so anxious? To put it bluntly, he was witnessing that Terry Gou, who lost in the KMT’s presidential primary, was not willing to concede, coalescing with Wang Jin-ping, a former legislative speaker, who declined to join the KMT primary, in an attempt to find a way out; thus Ko hastily introduced a platform, hoping to be of help in time for Gou and Wang to seek support. If Gou and Wang fall into the trap, they may run for president and vice president on the same ticket, fielding candidates for both at-large and district legislators, while at the same time, strengthening in a large measure the Taiwan People’s Party. Ko’s calculations are nothing but: Gou has abundant financial resources, Wang has grassroots support, and Ko has a personal brand; the trio may rock the Blue and Green tectonic plates.

This is precisely Ko Wen-je's consistent political technique: there is no firm central thought, no core political ideals. He meets challenges with convenience depending on practical needs, relying on deft and sharp coordinates and rhetoric to incite people, thus garnering political interests.

Ko Wen-je has been shaping a grassroots image with plain and natural language, looking innocent and guileless, letting people feel that he would not deceive or conceal, not playing tricks, not doing bad things, leading people to let down their guards for political figures and trusts him. In reality, he is a political actuary with a high IQ.

Ko Wen-je, who repeatedly talked in the past about, "loathing the exchange of political interests because of being full of political ideals," has thrown himself into the operations of a political party that must engage in naked exchanges of political interests; his opening gambit is laying in the open wanting to engage in exchanges of political interests with Terry Gou and others. Can we still trust that he is practicing political ideals? What difference does he have with those worldly politicians whom he has repeatedly critiqued?

As we witness, from announcing plans to organize a political party to the formal founding of the party, whether it is "central thoughts" or "party platform, party charter", they are all vague and not concrete. From "original motivation", "conscience", "people's welfare", "people leading a better life" all the way to "sustainability", are all vacuous rhetoric. With respect to the fundamental policy of the state as well as the nature and path of the political party, there are no clear-cut coordinates or explanations; even cross-Strait policies, on which hinge Taiwan's welfare or disaster, survival or fall are vague as well. At best, it is nothing but a tour to defraud the first barrel of political resources.

Such a political party is nothing but a combination of short-term political interests, without lasting or far-reaching idealism and direction.

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