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One Side, One Country numbers grow
GROUNDSWELL:The pro-independence group is largely
supportive of Tsai Ing-wen, but has led to concerns that it might increase the
divisions plaguing the DPP
By Vincent Y. Chao / Staff Reporter
The ranks of the fiercely pro--independent One Side, One Country alliance are
swelling and could prove to be a major force in the upcoming Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) legislative primaries.
Established by former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) office in August, it has
already recruited members for several key competitive elections across the
country and has attracted support from some DPP heavyweight politicians.
Staff at the former president’s office plan to release on Tuesday a roster of 11
sitting DPP lawmakers and potential nominees who have pledged their support for
the alliance, which originally was comprised of mostly DPP and independent local
councilors.
“Many more DPP contenders still want to join and we are currently in
communication with them and assessing their electoral districts,” said Chen
Sung-shan (陳淞山), the former director of Chen’s office, who helped set up the
alliance.
“There could be more rosters in the future,” he added.
Heavily supported by pro--independence groups, the movement originally consisted
of 45 local councilor candidates — including the former president’s son, Chen
Chih-chung (陳致中), an independent — for last year’s special municipality
elections.
After 33 of them were elected in November, the organization turned its attention
to the legislative elections this year, office staff said. One of the main ideas
of the alliance is that Taiwan and China are two separate countries.
The group has remained largely supportive of DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s
(蔡英文) leadership, but has called on the DPP to be more vocal in opposing the
Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China.
The current director of Chen Shui-bian’s office, Jack Chen (陳嘉爵), said yesterday
that Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政), a Soochow University political scientist with close
connections to Tsai, had also joined the group. Lo is running in Banciao
District (板橋), New Taipei City (新北市).
Lo, who also runs the Taiwan Brain Trust, was a onetime spokesperson for Tsai,
although he has insisted that his addition was because of ideology and
unconnected to intra-party politics when reached for a comment.
Other members include DPP legislators Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬), Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲),
Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) and seven other prospective candidates also including Jack
Chen himself, who is running in Taipei City’s Zhongzheng-Wanhua District
(中正-萬華).
Chen Shui-bian has previously compared the One Side, One Country alliance, which
refers to Taiwan and China, to the US Tea Party movement, saying that both focus
on -defending fundamental ideas — in this case, Taiwanese independence.
Both his group and the Tea Party “support the most basic ideas and will remain
loyal to the most fundamental principles,” Chen Shui-bian said in a statement in
October.
Members of the group are expected to help one another campaign for office,
especially in closely fought races, but it has led to concerns that it could
create fissures within the DPP, already rife with factionalism.
It is also still unclear whether voters will accept their connections with the
former president serving a 17-and-a-half-year sentence for taking bribes and
laundering money.
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