Since the rancorous and histrionic breakup of the planned “blue-white alliance,” polls have shown a massive drop in support for Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), whose support rate has dropped to 20 percent. Young people and pan-blue supporters seem to be ditching him.
Within a few weeks, Ko has gone from being the most sought after candidate to seeking a comeback.
A few months ago, he was the one holding all the cards and calling the shots, with everything in place for a rise to stardom. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was still dealing with doubts from its terrible performance in last year’s local elections, while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), has proved to be a relatively weak character who could not generate excitement. As long as Ko stayed ahead of Hou, he had a good chance of winning the three-horse race.
For Ko, winning the presidency would be a bonus. As the chairman of a third party that is just starting to expand its influence and power, he has his eyes set on boosting his party’s share of legislative seats. By characterizing the DPP as being in dereliction of duty, among other issues, he sparked a sense of deprivation and exploitation among the public, and established himself as the champion of an anti-DPP coalition.
As a master strategist, he has been careful not to cross the line or offend KMT supporters, because he is relying on strategic voting.
If he finishes second in the presidential election and the TPP emerges as the biggest opposition party ahead of the KMT, that would satisfy him.
However, Ko’s capriciousness and duplicity have come back to bite him. His flirtation with the KMT culminated in a joint statement by both parties last week, but being unable to bear the pressure from his party, supporters and his sobbing family, Ko broke the deal.
At the last-ditch meeting at the Grand Hyatt Taipei, Hou threw Ko under the bus by reading aloud text messages, resulting in the two parties going their separate ways.
Ko’s act of self-defeat — being open to run as second fiddle to Hou, whether out of fear of losing or due to a moment of frailty — awakened his supporters and TPP members to his true nature: The leader who vowed to bring reform and “return the country to young people” betrayed their trust by being willing to be vice president on a combined ticket.
While he might be seen as a master plotter, playing politicians against each another, perhaps the real Ko is one who seeks to “fake it until he makes it” while hoping people do not see through him.
Without a vision for the nation, he improvises on the campaign trail when he faces trouble.
It is ironic that Ko pleads for his supporters to not write him off when it was he who initiated the planned alliance with the KMT, showing that he does not have the spine for responsibility, and needs his wife and mother to save him.
With Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) joining Hou on the KMT ticket, Hou’s support has spiked, with deep-blue supporters rallying behind him. Ko, on the other hand, seems to have been abandoned, lacking allies and financial aid.
Even though he is not out of the game yet, Ko faces an uphill battle, just as Hou did a few months ago.
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
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS