Tsai Ing-wen Is Afraid of Han, Gou, Chu, Ko? She Fears Not Even Vox Populi!

 Tsai Ing-wen Is Afraid of Han, Gou, Chu, Ko? She Fears Not Even Vox Populi!

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

July 10, 2019

 Translation of an Excerpt

In the 2020 presidential race, the KMT’s hopefuls, Eric Chu, Terry Gou and Han Kuo-yu all say "Tsai Ing-wen is afraid of me the most"; President Tsai Ing-wen, nevertheless, responded with a smile, saying "they fear me more." In campaign lingo, this has added new material for talking at tea. However, only Ko Wen-je indicated in the beginning of June: "All say how Tsai beat Lai Ching-te today, later she will do likewise to beat you; when I hear this, I am so fearful!"

Ko Wen-je was blunt in his words, and didn’t care too much about modesty; his "fear" was not said without reason. After the nine-in-one local elections, the defeated Tsai Ing-wen lowered her profile by personally going to the North Gate in Taipei to hold a "Tsai-Ko meeting" for the purpose of seeking rapprochement; Ko Wen-je asked for subsidies from the central government on the one hand, and demanded the easing of laws and regulations on the other; we saw only Tsai Ing-wen saying yes and nodding her head. Half a year later, for the long-delayed Twin Towers Development Project case, Ko Wen-je angrily criticized Tsai Ing-wen, asking "Do I really have to pay a call at the presidential residence?" The case was immediately rejected on the grounds of "national security misgivings." With such quick changes in the situation, in facing Tsai Ing-wen, how could Ko Wen-je not be "fearful"?

If looking at the governance record only, it was unquestionable that the people gave the Tsai government a lesson in the nine-in-one local elections. However, if thinking of how the Tsai government has been using "transformational justice" in hot pursuit of the opposition party, how it established the Dong Chang and Xi Chang (similar to the Gespapo), how it proceeded from blocking Kuan Chung-ming and plucking him to putting him on trial on a kangaroo court, how it confiscated the people's right to plebiscites, and how it vanquished Lai Ching-te to the extent of undermining the DPP’s values, especially when thinking that it was not enough to amend the "five laws pertaining to national security", upping the ante to introduce an amendment bill on "agents for the CCP", even shipping agricultural produce to the Mainland would be lumped under the shadow of "Mainland capital attempting to influence elections", honestly speaking, would Eric Chu, Han Kuo-yu, and Terry Gou truly not be "fearful"?

Whether in a Blue-Green duel or in a Blue-Green-White three-way race, the people's ballots will be the final judgment. For this reason, who is more powerful? It’s the vox populi! Who is afraid of whom? Tsai, Han, Gou, Chu, and Ko should all be fearful of vox populi!

However, in the eyes of political figures, "public opinion" is frequently manipulated, and not something that should be revered. Especially, although the Tsai government was met with a backlash of the vox populi in the 9-in-1 local elections, it still believes that by "glad to find a gun" it would be able to machinegun public opinion, "transformational justice" could befuddle public opinion, "national security misgivings" could even intimidate public opinion, and using public policies for electioneering could even buy public opinion. Tsai Ing-wen of course does not fear Han, Gou, Chu, or Ko, because she doesn’t even fear public opinion itself.

Lao Tzu said: "If the people don’t fear authority, then Great Authority has arrived." If the powers-that-be do not allow the people to lead peaceful lives, blocking the people's means of livelihood, when the people no longer fear the threats and oppression of the powers-that-be, then the powers-that-be would be devoured by the Great Authority of vox populi! Tsai Ing-wen should ponder again and again the reminder of Lao Tzu! 

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

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