Will the US Sit Idly By and Watch the DPP Confiscate Democracy?

 Will the US Sit Idly By and Watch the DPP Confiscate Democracy?

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

December 31, 2019

 Translation of an Excerpt

The legislative and executive branches of the US government expressed a high degree of concern about the questions of Taiwan's "Martial Law" as well as freedom and democracy of Taiwan in the 1970s and 1980s, and also indirectly pushed for the progression of democratization in Taiwan. However, for over more than three years in the past, with regard to a series of laws and political operations in contravention of democratic principles on the part of the DPP government, the US, nevertheless, has remained oblivious, even being questioned as the hand behind the scenes in the DPP's attempt to railroad the passage of the “Anti-Infiltration Bill”. Do the universal values of freedom and democracy have double standards? Or are they only tools for realpolitik and geopolitics? For the common ideals and long-term interests of Taiwan and the US, it is necessary for the US government to make a clear statement and explain lucidly.

The results of the nine-in-one local elections last yearend were entirely out of US expectations. The DPP nearly collapsed in the elections. The United States, in order to firmly grasp the direction of Taiwan's political development, and to implement its strategic objectives of halting the PRC's influences, is being mired in the myth that the anti-China DPP must continue its governance. Thus, it either secretly assists or passively doesn’t object to the “Anti-Infiltration Bill”, allowing observers to doubt whether the US loosened its convictions of freedom and democracy, which the US has consistently insisted on. Most US scholars have begun to ponder: faced with the challenges of Mainland China and Russia, the US at the present time is still the world's biggest superpower, but once it forfeits the moral high ground and authority of political legitimacy, its influence on international affairs would be reduced and its status of leadership would be eroded, eventually paying a more hefty price.

James Moriarty, Chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, indicated a couple of days ago that the US "has no intention to intervene in Taiwan's elections; this is not the goal of the US. The goal of the US is a fair procedure that reflects the will of the people, a good partner that rules in Taipei." Indeed, a neutral, objective and fair US position is conducive to the smooth operations of Taiwan’s elections. We earnestly urge the US to exert its moral authority to forcefully condemn the DPP’s “Anti-Infiltration Bill”, and at the same time, distance itself from this malicious piece of legislation. 

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