On the night South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law, the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) legislative caucus wrote a curious post on Threads.
The post, which was later deleted, seemed to compare Yoon’s allegations of pro-North Korean forces operating within his government with the legislative obstruction by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) over the past year. By doing so, the DPP ironically and unwisely positioned itself in alignment with Yoon’s authoritarian actions.
The post concluded with the dramatic statement that the DPP, as “Team Taiwan,” is “at every instant on the vanguard against dark and evil global forces eroding the integrity of our country.”
Although the post was removed within one hour, the damage had been done. The DPP’s later claim that they were simply “crossposting international news to contrast with the domestic situation without any intent of supporting martial law” appeared an unconvincing attempt to downplay the situation by feigning naivete.
Compare that rash and politically damaging statement with the careful and measured tones employed by other governments in response to this incident.
US President Joe Biden’s administration’s initial statement came from US Department of State Deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel, who expressed “grave concern” over “the recent developments in the [Republic of Korea] ROK” on Tuesday last week. Patel’s remarks and all subsequent statements from the US government avoided using inflammatory language or attempting to use the situation to score domestic political points.
The media and public were simply presented with a straightforward and principled statement on the importance of finding a peaceful resolution in accordance with democratic governance and the rule of law.
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday last week said his government was observing developments in Korea with “particular and grave concern.”
Kyodo News reported that Ishiba told reporters that he was “not in a position to comment on South Korea’s domestic affairs.” Foreign interference, whether blatant or covert, is a habitual tool of authoritarian governments and therefore it has long been a wise rule to act with non-interventionist restraint when it comes to commenting on affairs in other countries.
While the DPP’s legislative caucus account is intended for a domestic audience, social media has no borders. It is not hard to imagine how South Koreans might perceive a post from another country’s ruling party, seemingly supporting Yoon’s martial law declaration, as deeply unsympathetic. Diplomatic crises have erupted over far more trivial incidents, and Taiwan is not in a situation where it can afford to make more unnecessary enemies.
I personally believe that the rash post was simply a carelessly thought-out opinion by a DPP social media staffer that went unvetted and is not indicative of more disturbing trends within “Team Taiwan” itself.
Nevertheless, the immediate consequence of that message is to provide the opposition with ready-made ammunition. The KMT has already latched on to that statement to accuse the DPP of “supporting martial law.”
The lasting lesson the DPP should take away is that they should not be reactionary when it comes to political messaging on live and ongoing events.
Ultimately, Taiwan’s fragile diplomatic position requires every political party, regardless of affiliation, to exercise extraordinary care when commenting on sensitive incidents abroad.
That is not only a matter of prudence, but of safeguarding Taiwan’s standing among like-minded democratic countries.
JC Shen is a Taiwanese student at Princeton University.
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