While the Rank and File Busy Countering the Epidemic, High Echelons Busy Fighting for Power and Positions

While the Rank and File Busy Countering the Epidemic, High Echelons Busy Fighting for Power and Positions

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

March 30, 2020

 Translation of an Excerpt

While the rank and file in Taiwan are busy in the big battle of epidemic prevention and control, high government officials, nevertheless, are busy in chaotic fighting over personnel matters. Interior Minister Hsu Kuo-yung, for the first time in history, referred Chen Ja-chin, administrator of the National Police Agency, to the Taipei District Prosecutor’s Office on charges of "document forgery"; the Taipei Prosecutor’s Office, however, returned the official communication on the grounds of "incomplete procedure", slapping Hsu Kuo-yung in the face. Premier Su Tseng-chang also stepped in, angrily accusing Hsu Kuo-yung of failing to truthfully report the matter to him, and calling in Chen Ja-chin, encouraging him to stay put. Over a police personnel matter, the government high echelons, from the Executive Yuan, Interior Ministry, National Police Agency, as well as prosecutors, all drew out their swords for a duel; the fierceness of this political infighting is indeed a rarity in history.

That the Interior Minister and the National Police administrator are at odds is already a taboo in governance of any government; meanwhile, Hsu Kuo-yung and Chen Ja-chin endlessly cross swords, even involving the grudges in infighting between factions in the DPP. For all these infightings, the fountainhead can be attributed to the scenarios of succession after President Tsai Ing-wen got re-elected; the deployment for positioning by various DPP factions can hardly be brought under control, with various factions fighting for a place under the sun. Su Tseng-chang would never be shy to exhibit his supreme haughtiness; he would definitely use to the end the powers that the highest executive officer could employ. While with Hsu Kuo-yung's impulsive character, wasn’t he a "miniature" Premier Su?

With the pandemic before us, these high government officials consider factional interests as the first priority, not thinking about the importance of governance, and disregarding the image of the political party. How would it convince the public that the DPP rules the country with the public good in mind?

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