Hijacking victimhood
In any functioning democracy, being in the opposition does not grant you immunity from the law — nor does it entitle you to hijack the language of victimhood. Yet that is precisely what the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is doing.
If KMT members are under investigation for signature forgery in recall petitions, the right response is to cooperate with the legal process — not to throw tantrums in the streets. Instead, the KMT has chosen to weaponize the word “persecution” as if being investigated is the same as being oppressed. It is not. Investigations are not convictions. If they are innocent, let the courts say so, but wrapping oneself in the persecution flag to evade accountability is political cowardice — and an insult to real victims of political oppression.
Worse still is KMT Chairman Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) reckless accusation that President William Lai (賴清德) is “becoming a dictator.” That is not political rhetoric — that is character assassination masquerading as protest. Calling someone a dictator is not a slogan you get to wave around when the legal process does not go your way. It is a charge that, in a democracy, must be backed by evidence — not bitterness. If the KMT believes the president has crossed a constitutional line, they should take it to court, not to a megaphone.
Where exactly was this outrage when Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) appointee Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑), a former aide of then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), was arrested and detained for spying for China? Did the DPP scream political persecution then? No. It took swift and sober action, because national security and rule of law matter more than party loyalty.
The KMT’s circus-like pressure campaign on the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is not only unbecoming — it is dangerous. Undermining judicial independence for political drama corrodes the very democratic norms they claim to defend. At a time when Taiwan faces mounting threats from across the Strait, the last thing the country needs is a party more committed to stirring internal division than defending national unity.
In truth, what the KMT is doing is not resistance — it is regression. It is a cynical attempt to cast themselves as martyrs while distracting from potential wrongdoing — but this is not theater.
This is Taiwan’s democracy, and they should treat it with the respect it deserves. If not, they expose themselves not as defenders of democracy, but as opportunists willing to burn the house down just because they are not holding the keys.
John Cheng
Taichung
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