New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate, has vowed that if elected, he would return compulsory military service to four months, while his political party has a track record of blocking arms deals with the US.
In an English-language article titled “Taiwan’s path between extremes: the Kuomintang presidential candidate lays out a plan to avert war with China” published in Foreign Affairs magazine, Hou wrote: “When it comes to relations across the Taiwan Strait, I have always believed both in maintaining peace while increasing dialogue and in maintaining peace through strength ... Taiwan’s most important priority should be to strengthen its national defense and deter the use of force by mainland China. To do so, I aim to build a strong military, enhance cooperation with partners and allies and increase our deterrence capabilities to better safeguard Taiwan and the island groups of Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu.”
When Hou was visiting think tanks in the US, he said Taiwan needed to increase its military strength not only to ensure cross-strait stability and Taiwan’s security, but also to mitigate concerns held by the rest of the world regarding the Taiwan Strait. Hou said that Taiwan should maintain dialogue with China to lower the risk of conflict and increase mutual understanding, adding that Taipei did not hold unrealistic expectations of Beijing.
It would seem that Hou is being disingenuous: When facing the Taiwanese public, he wants to cut military spending and reduce compulsory military service, whereas in the presence of US think tanks, he vowed to bolster national defense. Does Hou not know he is playing a double part, in the same fashion as the bat in Aesop’s fable of the battle of birds and beasts?
Even though Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has made it clear that the “1992 consensus,” means China’s “one China principle, no different interpretations” or “one China, two systems,” Hou, in vowing to “resolve any crises through cross-strait dialogue,” is the one still mumbling about the “1992 consensus,” the “Republic of China” and opposition to “one country, two systems” behind China’s back. Perhaps Hou considers mumbling his way through to be “dialogue.”
So far, the three opposition presidential candidates, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), independent presidential candidate Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) and Hou, have all visited the US.
Hou, who campaigned hard to prohibit the import of US pork and pork products containing ractopamine, has recently traveled all the way to the US. Gou, who once remarked that “democracy doesn’t put food on the table,” has twice visited the leader of the Democratic Party in his US-Taiwan flag patch embroidered cap. Ko, who said that Taiwan should maintain “equidistant” relations with China and the US, might now make a second trip.
It is all the more ironic that all three candidates, who have condemned the US or democratic values in the past, have now unanimously avoided China like the plague. Hou, who has maintained that exchange is better than antagonism, seems not to harbor any plans to visit China and conduct “exchange” activities. Gou, who has heavily invested in China, seems to not show any interest in wearing a Taiwan-China flag patch embroidered cap and pay the autocratic country a visit. Ko, who has already graced the US and Japan with his presence, has not made a “homecoming” visit to the country that he considers “one family.” In the eyes of Beijing, does Ko’s behavior fit so-called “equidistant” relations or is it more akin to one family all shunning an unwelcome relative?
Chang Kuo-tsai is a retired National Hsinchu University of Education associate professor.
Translated by Rita Wang
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