The DPP’s True Colors of Governance by Sloganeering Revealed through Restarting of Nuclear Power Reactors

 The DPP’s True Colors of Governance by Sloganeering Revealed through Restarting of Nuclear Power Reactors

 United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)

June 12, 2017

 Translation of an Except

Because of annual maintenance and malfunctions, plus political factors, among the six reactors in Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) No. 1, 2, and 3, only one reactor was operating normally; at the time, the DPP was just one step away from the goal of a "nuclear-free homeland." Unexpectedly, at this crucial moment, the DPP has backpedaled. The Atomic Energy Council recently approved NPP No. 2’s reactor 1 to be reactivated for generation in parallel; Taipower also applied to reactivate NPP No. 3’s reactor 2. This big flip-flop slapped the Tsai government in the face full force.

"Taiwan independence" and "anti-nuke" have always been the DPP’s "two totems." The DPP's anti-nuke history started even earlier than its advocacy of ​​pursuing Taiwan independence; however, this anti-nuke advocacy began to bloom and bear fruit after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. In recent years, the DPP, in collaboration with environmental groups, launched wave upon wave of attacks against the KMT, not only having achieved the two results of both mothballing NPP No. 4 and not reactivating those existing reactors after they stopped operating for any reason, but it also made huge gains in the polling stations to regain power. The DPP does not lack economic and energy talents; it is impossible that it knows nothing about the power supply in Taiwan. The reason that the DPP allowed itself to be mired in a dilemma between sloganeering and reality before and after taking power is not due to ignorance, but political calculation with sophisticated exactitude.

A similar situation has also happened to the other totem, "Taiwan independence" of the DPP. Tainan Mayor Lai Ching-te, deemed a rising star in the DPP, a few days ago publicly said that he was "pro-China and loving Taiwan"; for this version, we not only failed to see any opposition from his Green Camp comrades, the Presidential Palace, surprisingly, echoed. The reason is obvious; after the DPP has labeled its rival as "selling out Taiwan" for many years, itself being anchored in the role of "loving Taiwan," to use "pro-China" to face the cross-Strait predicament, though it may not succeed, it may think it has responded to the electorate.

This is the extreme "governance by sloganeering"; true or false, fictitious or substantive all start from its own interests. For the DPP, even the two totems can be cut, abandoned or flip-flopped, so it is not difficult to imagine the fate of its other slogans.

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