From Corruption to Authoritarianism, Tsai Ing-wen’s Path Must Be Stopped

 From Corruption to Authoritarianism, Tsai Ing-wen’s Path Must Be Stopped

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

January 9, 2020

 Translation of an Excerpt

Tsai Ing-wen has taken complete control of the government, yet lacks competence of governance. The entire country has been reduced to a tool for her to dole out resources, consolidate power, and eradicate dissidents. In order to manipulate public opinion, she hires cyber warriors through the party and government systems, thus she could not bring Slow Yang to face the law, rendering justice to Su Chii-cherng. She condoned factions to take over top positions in state-run enterprises; therefore, she tried to cover up such illegalities as the overextending of loans to Chingfu, lobbying cockroaches of Changhwa Post Corporation, the cash flow of NT$3 million of Chen Ming-wen, and the cigarettes smuggling case. She appointed Tsai Pi-chung, a lawyer of one of her factions, to the post of Deputy Justice Minister, who intervened and directed possible prosecution of cases under his purview, while attacking dissidents at the same time. The prosecutors and investigators in the criminal justice system have become yes-men, not daring to investigate the rich and powerful, only being morphed into Dongchang to “check the common folks’ water meters”. [Dongchang was a Ming Dynasty secret police organization equivalent to the Gestapo.]

"The dictatorial forces have extended into daily life ... Posting an article on social media to criticize a certain policy could be subpoenaed for investigation. When you sensed that invisible forces were watching, everything was too late. When you began to scrutinize your own statements and thinking, you no longer discussed current events with friends for fear of being tapped...", this was the content of a talk by Tsai Ing-wen at Columbia University last year, aiming to critique the Beijing regime, yet seemingly presaging today’s Taiwan. She criticizes the PRC on the one hand, and emulates its steps on the other.

A dozen or so years ago, the million-strong Red Shirts army launched a drive against corruption in order to topple Chen Shui-bian, persisting to safeguard democratic politics and the rule of law. Today, do people in Taiwan still have the same fury and determination to stand in front of Tsai Ing-wen's tanks of authoritarianism, defending the people for freedom from fear? This coming presidential election is not a choice between "sovereignty card" and "economy card", but a choice between "autocracy" and "democracy". The voters must apply the brakes to stop the resurrection of authoritarianism, preventing the backpedalling of democracy and the rule of law. Only so can Taiwan, after having lost the "economic miracle", avoid the burial of even the fruits of democracy together with it.

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