KMT’s presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu is back from her time off to reflect. She has presented a 8,000 word manifesto that “contains little mention of anything concrete afflicting the people of Taiwan — income inequality, wages and employment, energy, environmentalism, regional issues, highways, harbors, airports — simply nothing.
By Michael Turton, The View of Taiwan
Published with permission, read the original here…
She’s back! KMT presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu is back from her time off to reflect. Apparently the only reflecting she did was to look in a mirror… which told her she was the fairest candidate of them all…
My man Solidarity.tw pointed out on Twitter that Hung’s three-day retreat was to a Buddhist temple deep in the throbbing Deep Blue heart of Zhonghe in the City Formerly Known as Taipei County, where from nearly 500 meters up she could look down on Taiwan. To reset the campaign, she simply withdrew even more deeply into her Deep Blue ideological bubble, emerging with renewed delusional ideological ferocity. As a catastrophically witty friend of mine put it on FB: “I see she’s had a rewarding weekend with the Analects of Confucius.”
Hung quickly hit campaign trail, and the DPP dismissed her remarks. The KMT news organ reported the words of the Great Schoolmarm:
Hung stated that she had thoroughly thought over all important issues in the last three days, and decided to “take the necessary path.” She noted that our country had become “sick,” and “the cause of the illness was not government policies, but politicians like us.”
…
Hung vowed to consolidate and deepen the “1992 Consensus: one China, different interpretations” while lauding President Ma Ying-jeou’s great contributions to cross-Strait relations. She noted that both sides of the Taiwan Strait should engage in political consultations. She advocated that both sides should sign a peace accord under three principles: respecting the Constitution of the Republic of China, upholding Taiwan’s parity and dignity, and following public opinion.
Hung argued that everyone in Taiwan clearly realized that the unsolved cross-Strait issues had made the Mainland the scapegoat for all the problems Taiwan was currently facing. Furthermore, Taiwan failed to accurately evaluate significant changes on the Mainland, which in turn became a breeding ground for populist politics in Taiwan, Hung said, adding, “If this is the foundation for all of Taiwan’s problems, I would first tackle it to create real peace across the Taiwan Strait.”
Hung noted that when a group of students launched a protest against the cross-Strait Services Trade Agreement in March 2014, dubbed the “Sunflower Student Movement,” developments in cross-Strait relations began to face a deadlock. She asked whether Taiwan had to continue avoiding political issues or choose the DPP’s tactics to confront the Mainland.
Nothing has changed since her June speech to the KMT Central Standing Committee. The focus is still on China and the DPP is still the Great Satan which is creating chaos and disorder in society. Her 8,000 word manifesto — the perfect length for our 144 character age — contains little mention of anything concrete afflicting the people of Taiwan — income inequality, wages and employment, energy, environmentalism, regional issues, highways, harbors, airports — simply nothing. Instead, it froths over with existential frustration about the hysterical rumor-mongering press, populism, and the like. When she comes into office, all that will change! Discipline is what this nation needs! You can almost hear her slapping her open palm with a ruler as she gazes, eyes narrowed in suspicion, around the classroom…
Solidarity lived-tweeted it on Twitter, and observed that the final third was about her. A well-structured triparte sample from that section:
靜思期間，我反覆與自己對話。我的參選，在眾人眼中或許是個偶然，但何嘗不是否極泰來，正面力量必會湧現的必然？我會堅持參選的初衷，高舉「真誠、理性、和平」的大旗，用真誠來揚棄虛假，用理性來擊潰民粹，用和平來開啟大道，這樣我才對得起自己，也才對得起支持我的每一個人。因此我將視這次選舉意義為：這是國家領導人人格上「真誠與偽善」的抉擇；這是國家決策上「理性與民粹」的抉擇；這是國家方向上「和平與逃避」的抉擇。
During meditation, I repeatedly engaged in self-dialogue. My candidacy, in the public’s eyes, may be unexpected, but out of it may come good fortune — is it inevitable that a positive force appears? [rhetorical question — mt] I will stick to the original intention of my candidacy, holding up the banner of “sincere, rational, peaceful”: “sincerity” to eliminate the false, “rationality” to defeat populism, and “peace” to open the road. In this way, I will be able to face myself, yet also be worthy of everyone’s support. Thus, I will treat the meaning of this election as: among the personalities of the national leaders, there is a choice between “sincerity and hypocrisy”. This is also a choice between “rationalism and populism” in national decision-making. Finally, this election is a choice between the directions of “peace and escape” in national decision making.
Such paragraphs show how Hung views herself as a leader in the Confucian tradition — leadership is a moral act, the election is a moral cockpit offering moral choices, and all depends on the righteousness of the leader. Of course, for Hung, it is axiomatic that this righteousness is defined and legitimated by its coherence with KMT ideology…
…Whereas Tsai is a leader in the modern tradition, a policymaker and thinker who talks about things like housing, energy, and income, yet is also capable of calls for progressive, human-centered moral action. Tsai’s pragmatism and kindness represent the best of the Taiwanese spirit.
Hopefully Hung will come out with more papers on specific policies. There’s not much more to say. SDP leader Fan Yun put it best (TT), growling:
“Governing the nation is not a composition contest.”
