People Don't Trust Law Enforcement Because the Tsai Gov’t Is Abusing Power and Law

 People Don't Trust Law Enforcement Because the Tsai Gov’t Is Abusing Power and Law

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

January 6, 2020

 Translation of an Excerpt

The DPP railroaded the Anti-Infiltration Bill in the parliament, eliciting disputes of a high degree. With regard to the question of the law-making process and the question of substantive justice, President Tsai Ing-wen, who had ordered "legislative action within a specified time," only lightly said, "I believe that law enforcement agencies will enforce the law with a serious attitude". These words not only failed to dispel doubts, but also aroused even greater misgivings. The people's misgivings are based on not only the excessive "law enforcement" of the machinery of the state, but also on the DPP government's abuse of power and "of the law".

Looking back at the DPP’s governance in the past four years, the core has been "abuse of the law". If there is no law, it will make a law or amend the law. If there is already a law, then it will abuse the law or exceed the law. The victims have been lawful political parties at the upper level and the man in the street at the lower level. In the last few months, the machinery of the state under the governance of the Tsai government has been using laws and regulations to restrict the freedom of speech, pushing "abuse of law" to a plateau. Tsai Ing-wen, Chen Chu, Su Tseng-chang and other high DPP officials have been using the “spread of rumors offense” contained in the "Social Order Maintenance Act" to restrict critical commentaries. To up the ante for maintenance and control, the Tsai government has been using "performance points" as a means to exert pressure and as incentives on the police and the investigative agencies.

After the passage of the "Anti-Infiltration Bill ", the Mainland Affairs Council indicated that for those who engaged in exchanges with the sources of the infiltration, as long as they did not commit the offense of lobbying or the other four acts prohibited by the law, they would not violate the law. The question is that lobbying, political contributions, etc., are lawful expressions of freedom on the part of the general public and groups. According to the egregious record of numerous precedents in the DPP's abuse of power and double standards, it would be difficult for the people to believe that it would not use the law to purge those who are not subservient or not politically correct, even pinning the label of "having been infiltrated" at will for punishment.

"Democracy à la the DPP" is indeed quite an eye-opener, and is also testimony that the DPP, with complete control of government, is veritably "anti-democracy under the banner of democracy". If even the "University Act", the "Social Order Maintenance Act" and other laws that originally contained few political disputes can now be used by the DPP to purge dissidents and oppress different voices, then how could the people feel at ease now that the "Anti-Infiltration Act", which wields greater authority over life and death, has been handed to the Tsai government?

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