DPP Considers State-Run Enterprises as Its Own Turf, the Public Are Left to Their Own Devices

 DPP Considers State-Run Enterprises as Its Own Turf, the Public Are Left to Their Own Devices

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

October 15, 2019

 Translation of an Excerpt

Premier Su Tseng-chang has approved the "High-Speed Rail Southward Extension Project", eliciting questioning. In recent days, he has strongly defended his decision, bragging about the vision of his plan and the decisiveness of his decision-making, stressing that "we cannot use money as the only consideration." Rightly, external circles indeed have witnessed the long-term, 30-year losses in Su Tseng-chang’s "vision", and have witnessed the brusque over-lording of professionalism by politics in his “decisiveness.” Moreover, the public has witnessed that in the trumping of "finances" and "corporate governance" in the desire of the government to control enterprises, the "sole consideration" is doling out political spoils and electioneering benefits.

The government agency managing the Nanfang’ao Bridge is the Taiwan International Ports Corporation, Ltd. (TIPC), which inherited the Ports Authority; the DPP government has deemed the positions and resources of state-orun enterprises as its own turf, endlessly doling out the high positions such as chairmen of the board and general managers to factions and cronies as patronage. When enterprises are entrusted to the unfit, the bridges under their management have become orphan bridges that nobody cares for; thus, this should not be a surprise.

The Tsai government not only extends its hand into TIPC, which is owned 100% by the state, during electoral campaigns, it can't wait to extend its hand into other corporations, the latest example being the High-Speed Rail Southward Extension Project. In the eyes of Su Tseng-chang, the High-Speed Rail is not a "corporation", it is a "subordinate government agency" under the Cabinet; he can take whatever he wants and give whatever he wants.

There is no bottom line in the gluttony for positions in the DPP; state-run enterprises are merely part of its turf. On the one hand, the DPP doles out positions and on the other, unlawfully uses corporate resources to falsely report its record of governance performance. Besides blurring the demarcation between party and government, the roles of corporations and the government are also confusing, only greatly benefiting specific factions that have connections with "the highly-placed in the imperial court." The Tsai government has been pushing and shoving the responsibility for the incident of the Nanfang’ao Bridge collapse, and the Su Cabinet has forcibly pushed the High-Speed Rail Southward Extension Project, oblivious to leaving debts to our children and grandchildren; the masses can only pray for blessings from Heaven.

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