In the wake of the presidential and legislative elections, many videos raising suspicions of election fraud have appeared on the Internet. Without any proof, some Internet influencers and voters who support the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) assert that the government “rigged the vote.” Some junior-high students who are too young to vote even said that they want to “teach the cheating Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) a lesson.”
This phenomenon shows that many Internet users lack independent thinking and judgement. It also highlights political forces that have “tacitly allowed” the young generation to sink into an agitated mood that could eventually cause a crisis in Taiwan’s democracy.
There has been plenty of discussion about the chaotic spread of disinformation on the Internet, but a still more noteworthy issue is that of political figures stirring up animosity. In all fairness, if the TPP can create for itself the image of a political party with plans for young people’s lives and use it to win their support, it would show that it is a party with a future. Other parties must either compete by proposing policies or learn to live with it.
Worryingly, there is a widespread phenomenon among young supporters of TPP Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of hostility toward other social groups, and this is an issue that needs to be looked into more deeply.
Ko admits that he admires former Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東). Ko’s erratic political track record shows that he wants to follow in Mao’s footsteps. In particular, the strategy of allying with secondary enemies to attack the main enemy is one that focuses solely on goals, with no concern for ideals. Ko has wavered between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the DPP, first collaborating with the DPP to get elected as mayor of Taipei and then trying to cooperate with KMT to oust the DPP government. Such tactics are indeed quite reminiscent of Mao.
Aside from this, the ideology of class struggle seems to have quietly penetrated Taiwanese society. In the buildup to the presidential and legislative elections, some Chinese democrats living in North America formed an election observer group of Chinese-language free media. After observing the campaign activities of various political parties, they found that “the way in which a certain party mobilizes young people replicates the [Chinese Communist Party] CCP’s early methods of mass mobilization.”
The CCP began by telling young people that as long as they followed the party, they could have everything they wanted. Next, the CCP incited the working class and peasants to overthrow landlords and capitalists, and then it launched the Cultural Revolution — a tragic nightmare that cannot be erased from the hearts of those who experienced it. It is therefore chilling to know that the specter of class struggle is lurking in Taiwan today.
The upsurge of any political phenomenon is sure to have a corresponding social and psychological basis. The younger generation’s dissatisfaction must be taken seriously. The government should not allow the nation’s rising GDP growth to make it complacent. It should pay more attention to the problem of unequal distribution, which is an issue of social justice. Political parties should put their heads together to seek public well-being by thoroughly reviewing the causes of problems and finding effective solutions. They should formulate policies that strengthen the social security net and reconcile the interests of various groups, instead of getting caught up in the pursuit of party interests and strategies while allowing people with ulterior motives to spread hateful ideas among the young.
Mark Chen is a former minister of foreign affairs and chairman of the Prospect Foundation.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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