Plebiscite Act Being Locked into an Iron Cage, What Distances Tsai Ing-wen from Carrie Lam?

 Plebiscite Act Being Locked into an Iron Cage, What Distances Tsai Ing-wen from Carrie Lam?

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

June 19, 2019

 Translation of an Excerpt

Utilizing Hong Kong’s million-people demonstrations against "repatriation to China", Tsai Ing-wen emphasized that she would stand on the side of the Hong Kongers, pledging to defend Taiwan's democracy. However, with a single turn, the DPP, nevertheless, used the extraordinary session of the Legislative Yuan (LY) to launch a surprise attack, railroading the amendment bill to the Plebiscite Act. The Act, as amended, stipulates that plebiscite elections shall be delinked from next year’s general elections, with plebiscite elections only once every other year. The Plebiscite Act, released from the "birdcage" only the year before last, is suddenly returned to an iron cage. What is the difference between Tsai Ing-wen’s brusque and crude approach to confiscate direct democracy and Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s attempt to forcefully railroad an amendment to the "Fugitive Offenders Ordinance" which would repatriate fugitives to Beijing in compliance with the latter’s wishes?

Perhaps the "anti-China card" was extremely useful, or perhaps seeing that the people of Taiwan were honest and gullible, Tsai Ing-wen was on the one hand firing the anti-China gun, and on the other manipulating in the area of domestic democratic politics; the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of government have all become her pawns. The LY extraordinary session started last Monday; the first salvo was to pass the amendment bill to the “Plebiscite Act”, confiscating the people’s right to plebiscites that the people used to enjoy, disallowing the redux in 2020 of the “hundred flowers bloom” scene of last yearend’s plebiscite elections.

The fury of Hong Kongers ignited by Carrie Lam because she wanted to revise the "Fugitive Offenders Ordinance", adding the “repatriation to China clause” was considered to have forsaken Hong Kong's democracy. In contrast, Tsai Ing-wen, while loquaciously proclaiming that she was “defending democracy”, did, nevertheless, with her own hands, undermine democracy, obstructing people’s exercise of their rights. Is she any better than Carrie Lam? More ironically, "plebiscites" have been regarded by the DPP as a "totem"; for many years, the DPP has been pursuing the right for plebiscites to become more open and liberal. Who anticipated, the past pursuit of democracy could not stand up to Tsai Ing-wen's wishes for re-election, becoming completely subservient to power overnight?

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