The Ascent of Confidants: The Disturbing Personnel Revamp

The Ascent of Confidants: The Disturbing Personnel Revamp

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

May 20, 2020

 Translation of an Excerpt

In the treacherous atmosphere of computer hacking and leaking of confidential information of the Presidential Palace, President Tsai completed the important personnel deployment for her second term. Looking at the line-up of both the Presidential Palace and the Cabinet, there are not too many bright spots, but it clearly shows the wrestlings of DPP factions, including Tsai Ing-wen's sophisticated deployment of the forces of the “Tsai faction”. The government's personnel layout clearly leaves the impression of "the ascent of confidants"; relatively speaking, it is obviously leaving "professionalism aside".

One of the most shocking changes was the post of Secretary-General of the National Security Council; Wellington Koo, the chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission, utterly without experiences in national defense, foreign affairs or cross-Strait affairs, was surprisingly given the important job. When the global political and economic situation is being revamped, and Mainland China’s military threat is being intensified, President Tsai appointed a "layman" to administer the national security department, leaving the outside world dumbfounded. When explaining the appointment, the government said that Koo had three major characteristics, i.e., "system integration capability", "rich legal professionalism" and "winning the deep trust of the President". In fact, none of these three major characteristics take into account national security professionalism; to put it bluntly, just because Koo has Tsai Ing-wen’s "complete trust" she handed the helmsmanship of national security to Koo, making national security an object of an experiment.

The phenomenon of the “ascent of confidants” in reorganization of the Presidential Palace and the Cabinet this time, Koo surprisingly could head the National Security Council; apart from confusing the value and definition of national security, what is even more worrying is: Will this become the central kitchen of the "Dongchang"?

[Editor’s note: Dongchang is a Ming Dynasty secret police organization equivalent to the modern-day Gestapo.]

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