Almost before the controversy created by last month's presidential recall motion has died down, the next wave of calls for President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to step down is gathering force. The difference now is that it is no longer the pan-blue camp calling for his resignation, but rather a group of academics and former political prisoners. The media coverage is, as always, creating a stir, and this is worth a closer look.
Taiwan has seen a proliferation of political ideas since the nation turned its back on authoritarianism and stepped into the era of democracy and free speech. Trying to press the president to step down, whether for political or moral reasons, is a right we all have. Asking the head of state to step down is, however, an action of some significance, and without legitimacy, such demands will ring false and may lead to social turmoil.
The pan-blue camp's move to recall the president lacked that legitimacy, both from a legal and a political perspective, and it was clear as day that it was a politically motivated attack. The attempt failed at a high cost to the financial sector.
Democratic Taiwan has moved on from the party-state era, a time when the public was kept uninformed. People now know that opinions should not be discarded or given particular credibility on the basis of who espouses them. The crucial test these days is whether or not the argument is persuasive, particularly so when the issue at hand deals with a presidential resignation.
From this perspective, the view that the president should step down is unconvincing and, taking a more comprehensive view, also unrealistic. According to the media, Chen is being asked to resign because "he has lost his moral prestige and the public's trust." This is a subjective assessment containing no convincing arguments based on fact.
What's worse, one of the people behind the signature drive said on a call-in TV-show that the Presidential Office has become a center of lies and fraud and that the president "is but a dog with legal training." Such defamatory language has nothing to do with convincing arguments.
Those now demanding Chen's resignation claim that political leaders have replaced soul-searching with instigation of ethnic conflict, and that the public and academics have helped suppress the quest for democratic ideals by sympathizing with that position. This is yet another example of empty accusations without any foundation in reality.
Although people close to Chen were accused of swindling and corruption and then brought to court, mainstream public opinion opposed the presidential recall mainly because of the lack of clear evidence that Chen himself knew what was going on and tried to provide cover for those involved. This is an enlightened attitude that fundamentally conforms with the rule of law, and it does in no way go against the quest for democratic ideals.
Instead, many people are tired of the current goings-on because politicians and media outlets continue their wanton exposure and reporting of scandals for purely political reasons, claiming that their aim is to expose corruption while ignoring their responsibility to provide evidence.
Those demanding that the president step down are bringing serious accusations against the government, and are using the ethnic card to drum up support, without offering any evidence to support their charges, thus manifesting the same cursory and irresponsible attitude as other professional commentators exposing "scandals."
And it gets worse. Those wanting Chen to step down repeatedly call for democratic values to enrich the Taiwanese identity and demand that citizens constantly review and renew themselves. This is a laudable-sounding statement, but if the reviews being called for are unilateral, and if subjective moral judgements are passed on the president and the Democratic Progressive Party while nothing is said about the chaotic behavior of opposition politicians and media in recent years, it will only remain a matter of double standards, and that is no way to convince people.
What's more, double standards should not be stressed in a sound democratic society. Small wonder that people immediately criticized this latest discourse, saying that it lacked the fairness and justice required to find the truth.
In addition, a call aimed at the general public and based on comprehensive views, rationality and responsibility shouldn't ignore the unavoidable negative effect the president's resignation would have on the political situation. But this doesn't seem to be a major concern of the people behind this campaign.
The latest call for the president to step down is a political discourse promoted by egghead intellectuals; it is not a rational argument capable of convincing people. Despite that, the hype created by politicians and media outlets created a furor even before the statement was made public.
The traces of political manipulation are everywhere to be seen. First, an academic at the Academia Sinica and one of the drafters of the statement who is definitely not a pan-green supporter was described as standing close to the pan-green camp, because both the media and the supporters of the party-state complex like to see pan-green supporters lashing out at their own camp.
Second, it is clear that there are victims of the White Terror era among the originators of the statement, but it is still being said that it is a group of academics who want Chen to step down. This is both because talk of academia carries some weight and because the pan-blue camp is afraid of mentioning anything that would remind people of the political prisoners of the past.
Third, the media have fabricated a news story that the Taipei Society, which has a good reputation in academic circles, is echoing the call for Chen to step down -- ample evidence that the media are doing all they can to promote the illusion that people from every sector of society want Chen to resign. Needless to say, those calling for Chen's resignation are given epithets such as "incorrupt," "idealists" and "pillars of society."
In democratic Taiwan, it is not a crime to call for the president to step down. It is, however, a matter of major significance, so those who intend to use that right must do so out of consideration for society at large, rather than putting on the elevated and righteous airs of someone punishing a tyrant to save the people or trying to promote their own position by posing as crusaders for a clean society.
Lu Shih-hsiang is CEO of the Foundation for the Advancement of Media Excellence and an adviser to the Taipei Times.
Translated by Perry Svensson
Two weeks ago, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) raised hackles in Taiwan by posting to her 2.6 million Instagram followers that she was visiting “Taipei, China.” Yeoh’s post continues a long-standing trend of Chinese propaganda that spreads disinformation about Taiwan’s political status and geography, aimed at deceiving the world into supporting its illegitimate claims to Taiwan, which is not and has never been part of China. Taiwan must respond to this blatant act of cognitive warfare. Failure to respond merely cedes ground to China to continue its efforts to conquer Taiwan in the global consciousness to justify an invasion. Taiwan’s government
This month’s news that Taiwan ranks as Asia’s happiest place according to this year’s World Happiness Report deserves both celebration and reflection. Moving up from 31st to 27th globally and surpassing Singapore as Asia’s happiness leader is gratifying, but the true significance lies deeper than these statistics. As a society at the crossroads of Eastern tradition and Western influence, Taiwan embodies a distinctive approach to happiness worth examining more closely. The report highlights Taiwan’s exceptional habit of sharing meals — 10.1 shared meals out of 14 weekly opportunities, ranking eighth globally. This practice is not merely about food, but represents something more
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
RSS