Just as the party-state that Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) brought to Taiwan from China ended, the collapse of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is imminent.
The seeds of the KMT’s disintegration were sown in the 1990s, when the election for Taipei mayor was opened up, allowing Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) — who is now chairman of Broadcasting Corp of China — to challenge the KMT nominee, then-Taipei mayor Huang Ta-chou (黃大洲), as a member of the “Chinese” New Party.
The three-way race handed the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) nominee, Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), the victory.
Most New Party members belonged to an anti-Chinese communist, patriotic alliance. For a brief period, it had a voice in the Taipei area and in the legislature before it became embroiled in scandal.
In the 2000 presidential election, the KMT nominated former premier Lien Chan (連戰), irking former Taiwan provincial governor James Soong (宋楚瑜), who left the party and ran as an independent. This split the vote, and Chen was again gifted victory.
Lien and Soong joined forces in the 2004 presidential election, but were narrowly beaten by Chen. This was followed by two terms of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for the KMT and then two terms by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the DPP.
Next year’s vote is to be the eighth since the introduction of direct presidential elections, and yet the KMT has still not transformed itself into a Taiwanese political party, instead allowing itself to drift toward Beijing’s influence, rejecting Chiang’s anti-communist stance.
Jaw’s opposition to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) was born of the elitist, colonial mindset of the foreign regime. Soong was originally Lee’s right-hand man, but his ambition and disdain for Lien led to his downfall. Lee’s failure to transform the KMT into a Taiwanese party, and the stumbling progress of democracy in Taiwan in the post-party-state era, was essentially a matter of the conflict between “pro-China” and “pro-Taiwan” ideological stances.
The Republic of China (ROC) exists on Taiwan as a government-in-exile. The KMT has yet to come to terms with the fact that the People’s Republic of China has been China since the ROC lost its seat at the UN. This is why a nation that holds direct presidential elections remains unsure of its status as a country.
This is Chiang’s legacy.
The KMT’s presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), is in a similar situation that Huang and Lien were.
However, his footing is even less sure. Immediately after being nominated, he proved to be not up to the task and plummeted in the polls.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) is not a KMT member, but is regarded as one and aspires to replace Hou. In the post-Chiang era, a political party lacking strong leadership is sure to collapse.
Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) is benefiting from the pan-blue camp infighting and Gou’s opportunism, but none of this is beneficial to democratic Taiwan.
The local factions and local government councilors, who KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) has called “cowboys and snakes,” were once the KMT’s foot soldiers. Most of them threw in their lot with Soong in the 2000 presidential election.
Hou is neither a cowboy nor a snake, nor is he the whirlwind that was former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the KMT’s candidate in 2020. Gou’s aspiration to replace Hou has struck a fatal blow to the KMT.
The collapse of the KMT is a historical certainty. Bereft of its party-state power base and lacking its anti-communist raison d’etre, it is difficult to see what residual worth it retains.
Lee Min-yung is a poet.
Translated by Paul Cooper
To The Honorable Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜): We would like to extend our sincerest regards to you for representing Taiwan at the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on Monday. The Taiwanese-American community was delighted to see that Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan speaker not only received an invitation to attend the event, but successfully made the trip to the US. We sincerely hope that you took this rare opportunity to share Taiwan’s achievements in freedom, democracy and economic development with delegations from other countries. In recent years, Taiwan’s economic growth and world-leading technology industry have been a source of pride for Taiwanese-Americans.
Next week, the nation is to celebrate the Lunar New Year break. Unfortunately, cold winds are a-blowing, literally and figuratively. The Central Weather Administration has warned of an approaching cold air mass, while obstinate winds of chaos eddy around the Legislative Yuan. English theologian Thomas Fuller optimistically pointed out in 1650 that “it’s always darkest before the dawn.” We could paraphrase by saying the coldest days are just before the renewed hope of spring. However, one must temper any optimism about the damage being done in the legislature by the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), under
To our readers: Due to the Lunar New Year holiday, from Sunday, Jan. 26, through Sunday, Feb. 2, the Taipei Times will have a reduced format without our regular editorials and opinion pieces. From Tuesday to Saturday the paper will not be delivered to subscribers, but will be available for purchase at convenience stores. Subscribers will receive the editions they missed once normal distribution resumes on Sunday, Feb. 2. The paper returns to its usual format on Monday, Feb. 3, when our regular editorials and opinion pieces will also be resumed.
This year would mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the India Taipei Association (ITA) in Taipei and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in New Delhi. From the vision of “Look East” in the 1990s, India’s policy has evolved into a resolute “Act East,” which complements Taiwan’s “New Southbound Policy.” In these three decades, India and Taiwan have forged a rare partnership — one rooted in shared democratic values, a commitment to openness and pluralism, and clear complementarities in trade and technology. The government of India has rolled out the red carpet for Taiwanese investors with attractive financial incentives
RSS