Taiwan’s Pseudo-Democracy

FROM SHIRTSLEEVES TO SHIRTSLEEVES

China Threat theorists and Taiwan independence fellow travellers, typically one and the same, are either blithely oblivious to Phase Three, or are deliberately looking the other way. Let’s not mince words. They are either stupid, or dishonest. I’m not sure which is worse. Their motive? To promulgate their simplistic Black versus White, Good versus Evil, David versus Goliath dichotomy, and provide themselves with an excuse to "contain, " translation, "premptively squash" China.

Let’s not be naive. Whether Lee Teng-hui’s real hand-picked successor is Lien Chan, or Chen Shui-bian, aka "Joshua," only Lee knows for sure. But when "Mr. Democracy" Lee Teng-hui "hand-picks his successor," we’re not talking about Ronald Reagan giving his blessing to George Bush, or Bill Clinton giving his blessing to Al Gore.

Taiwan’s political system, lest we forget, like mainland China’s, is explicitly modeled on the Leninist system of parallel governmental and party hierarchies, with real political power weilded not by government officials, but by party officials, the real powers behind the throne. In Beijing, the CCP calls the shots. In Taipei, the KMT.

A VOTE OF NON-CONFIDENCE

Taiwan has a bizzare, probably unique political polling convention, which to the best of my knowledge does not exist anywhere else in the world. Pollsters in Taiwan, after conducting their surveys, typically publish two sets of poll results.

The first is "zhi ze du" or "level of support" for the candidates. These percentage figures reflect respondents’ answers to the question, "Whom do you intend to vote for?"

Recent polls show independent presidential candidate James Soong leading with about 25% of the vote, Democratic Progressive Party candidate Chen Shui -bian trailing slightly with about 23% of the vote, and ruling Kuomintang nominee Lien Chan trailing noticeably with about 20% of the vote.

So far so good.

Now comes the funny part. Taiwan polls also include a second set of figures, called "kan hao du" or "degree of confidence." These percentage figures reflect the answer to the question "Whom do you think will win?"

Recent polls suggest 40% believe the KMT ticket of Lien/Siew will win, 18% believe the independent ticket of Soong/Chang will win, and 14% believe the DPP ticket of Chen/Lu will win.

How’s that again?

China-demonizers and Taiwan independence abettors like Gregory Mastel and George Will never tire of asserting that Lee Teng-hui’s Taiwan is a "lively/thriving/vibrant" democracy. Really? So why does Taiwan’s voting public, which intends to vote for James Soong by a considerable margin over Lee Teng-hui’s "hand-picked successor" Lien Chan, assume that Lien and not their own candidate will win?

The answer of course, is that the ROC voting public, in contrast to ignoramuses like Mastel and Will, know that Taiwan’s "lively/thriving/vibrant" democracy is a "farce/hoax/sham." The ROC voting public is painfully aware of the power of the KMT political machine. The ROC voting public is resigned to the likelihood that even though they intend to vote for a pro-reunification candidate, "Mr. Democracy" will probably manipulate the system to ensure a victory for his "hand-picked" successor, whoever the hell he is.

Welcome to Taiwan’s pseudo-democracy.

I TOLD YOU SO

Last week I predicted Chen Shui-bian would milk the Politically Correct, but historically fraudulent conventional reading of the notorious 2-28 Incident for all it was worth. See "Taiwan Independence and the 2-28 Incident."

Consider this CNA article:

228 INCIDENT VICTIMS REMEMBERED
Taipei, Feb. 28 (CNA)

"... Chen Shui-bian, the standard-bearer of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party, also visited the memorial park to pay tribute to the victims of the incident. Chen... said that if he wins the March 18 presidential election, he will push for the establishment of a national-level 228 memorial museum."

What can I say, except "I told you so."

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

The article by the CNA, or Central News Agency, Lee Teng-hui’s official government mouthpiece, characterizes the 2-28 Incident, which occurred February 28, 1947, this way:

"The 228 Incident was triggered when an elderly Taiwanese woman selling untaxed cigarettes in Taipei was severely beaten by an inspector of the Wine and Tobacco Monopoly Bureau."

The Taiwan Wine and Tobacco Monopoly Bureau was an oppressive statist bureaucracy imposed on the Chinese people of Taiwan by the Japanese colonial regime. There was no Chinese Wine and Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, certainly not at the time of the 2-28 Incident. Throughout several millennia of Chinese history it has been completely legal for private individuals to manufacture their own alchoholic beverages without any government interference whatosever. Note the deliberate omission of the word "Taiwan" from the name of the bureau.

"Faced by an angry mob, the inspector shot dead a bystander and fled to a nearby police station."

The panicked inspector, surrounded by an angry mob, fired a warning shot into the air. The shot went wild, accidentally killing a curiosity-seeker emerging from a nearby building. Note the deliberate and misleading implication that the shooting was cold-blooded murder, rather than manslaughter or wrongful death.

"Faced by Mass Protests and Rioting (emphasis added) and unable to control the situation, Taiwan Governor Chen-yi appealed for help to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in mainland China, who sent troops to the northern port city of Keelung, from where they spread out over the island, killing indiscriminately."

So what’s wrong with this picture? Here’s a hint. Riot control troops arrived in several waves. The earliest wave reportedly arrived on 3-03.

So what happened between 2-28 and 3-03?

BLAMING THE VICTIM

The answer? Taiwan separatist Quislings and diehard Japanese fifth columnists crazed with the spirit of "Kamikaze," spread out over the island, and in a sickening echo of the Rape of Nanking, indiscriminately slaughtered any and all mainland Chinese they encountered, women and children, young and old, then dumped their corpses into drainage ditches to float out into the Taiwan Straits.

Notice how any mention whatsoever of that abomination was completely missing from the Central News Agency "news" report. Instead the "news" report camouflages the massacre which ensued with the coy phrase, "mass protests and rioting."

This is typical of "news" reports relating to Taiwan independence. When it comes to the Big Lie, Jamie Shea and NATO have nothing on petty tribalist Taiwan independence hate-mongers.

The Taiwan independence elite are reminiscent of Japanese neofascists, who piously weep over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, while suffering selective amnesia at any mention of the Rape of Nanking, Pearl Harbor, the Bataan Death March, or Joseph Mengele-style "medical experiments" conducted on American and Chinese POWs by the Japanese Imperial Army’s notorious Unit 731.

BORN A TAIWAN PERSON,
DIE AN AMERICAN GHOST

Lu Hsiu-lien, aka Annette Lu, is the Democratic Progressive Party’s Vice-presidential candidate, Chen Shui-bian’s running mate. Antiwar.com readers may recall seeing her display her reverence for democratic governance and parliamentary procedure on CNN. She was the one standing on top of a table in the ROC Legislature, swinging a baseball bat at those who took exception to her views on Taiwan independence.

Last week Annette declared on a Vice-presidential candidate debate, televised island-wide, that "sheng wei Taiwan ren, shi wei Taiwan guai," or "I was born a Taiwan person, and will die a Taiwan ghost." The Taiwan independence elite, I’m sure, was moved to tears.

That was before James Soong’s campaign committee made public a fascinating little tidbit on ol’ Annette. Apparently Ms. Lu was the proud owner of a burial plot in the good ol’ US of A. Imagine that.

Now I suppose her ringing declaration of undying devotion to Taiwan will have to be amended somewhat, to "Sheng wei Taiwan ren, shi wei Mei Guo guai. " For those who don’t speak Chinese, that’s "I was born a Taiwan person, and will die an American ghost."

So much for the Taiwan independence elite’s braggadocio about being "martyrs for their beloved Taiwan."