How far is KMT rule
inevitable?
By Ian Inkster
Much of the seemingly astute foreign commentary during and since the election
clearly did not help the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in any way. The
Western press emphasized that the election was free and peaceful, the result and
the process reflecting continuity and the strength of Taiwanese democracy.
Liberals in Europe stressed how the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) victory
protected stability in the region, the US was relieved that China was persuaded
to refrain from any overt posturing or threatening (contrasted with the 2000
presidential election) and of course China saw the result as a condition for
further strengthening economic relations, as a working base for increased
cultural and political influence within Taiwan.
On the other side of this political coin, even among liberals and democrats in
many places, the failure of the DPP has been seen as a confirmation of the
progress of Taiwanese democracy. Furthermore, the fulsome support for the result
among the social media in China, that might be seen as the principal voice of
the growing middle class there, could spell the death knoll of truly effective
DPP opposition for some time.
If it is true that Chinese progressive elements and popular sentiment welcome
the recent result as an indication that peaceful transition toward democracy
might also occur in China, then we might summarize that the KMT is presently the
happy child of powerful global forces on all sides.
Under such conditions, bereft of international prestige, suffering the loss of
its charismatic female leader and still unconvincing as a party of social and
political reform within the nation, the focus of any surge of energy or radical
activity on the part of the DPP is presently impossible to discover. It will be
fatal if, in blundering toward a speedy recovery, the DPP simply rehashes in
shriller tones the same old politics ˇX China and corruption, but not much else.
It could be argued ˇX against the opinion of so many foreign commentators ˇX that
any retraction of the DPP, leaving the field open to the KMT, would be a tragic
setback for Taiwanese democracy and hardly representative of a model to be
followed by aspiring democrats elsewhere, including Chinese democrats.
We have two parties: One party, the KMT, is old and redundant and bears a savage
and terrible history, but wears slightly better suits. It wins elections. The
other, the DPP, is young, often hysterical, open to charges of duplicity at its
core, and dismally without real ambition to improve Taiwanese political and
social life. It loses elections.
To go on voting for the first ˇX as Taiwan did this month ˇX is to live in a very
gloomy yet dissolute past and to deny the achievements of the last generation.
To vote for the second is to take a risk on a rather flaky bunch of folk, who
quarrel as much among themselves as with the KMT, are easily persuaded from
paths of political righteousness and who seem reluctant to address the totality
of the major social and economic problems facing Taiwan.
The KMT has traditionally been the party of martial law, corruption and
strong-arm tactics, and has shown its utter pragmatism in its unequaled
about-face from the party in historical opposition to China to the party in
symbiotic alliance with China. As has been argued in previous columns, the
election result arose from a political situation in which the issue of China and
its economic and political relations with Taiwan is a rhetorical driver that
overrides any considered political debate.
Indeed, the DPP, battling against a political inertia at least partially
determined by the overwhelmingly KMT-dominated permanent public institutions of
this country, seemed always far too prone to buy into the issues as defined by
the KMT political wing. And thereby a new democratic push did not, could not,
disturb the central position of the ˇ§handling Chinaˇ¨ issue, which together with
a very confused and partial charge of corruption, lost democracy to nationalism
in 2008 and has just this month dealt a wounding blow to liberalism within
democracy.
It should be emphasized that all of this has resulted in bad politics on both
sides. It must be admitted that to be severely skeptical of the KMT is not,
automatically, to be supportive and optimistic about the DPP. Given no
alternative that makes any sense, this is surely a national tragedy.
On the one hand, the KMT government has yet to show its democratic credentials ˇX
plans for not merely creating growth and jobs, but for turning toward a more
sympathetic and liberal program of reform of working conditions, the urban
environment, facilities for an increasingly aging population, welfare and
insurance provision ˇX a turn that might better convince democrats of its
political veracity than its earlier turn on China.
However, similarly, the DPP was not really tested in the recent presidential
contest. The commanding rhetoric on China once more embroiled all debate,
leaving little room for any convincing DPP presentation of social and political
policies.
So it does seem a reasonable question to ask right now. Given the centrality of
the China question in Taiwanese politics and the failure of the DPP to develop a
truly coherent and well-publicized policy package for economic growth as well as
social and cultural progress, is it inevitable that the KMT will now grow from
strength to strength with little internal opposition?
Turn the question around: What will stop the KMT in 2020 boasting continuous
rule in Taiwan over a period of 70 years, with a mere hiccup of eight years ˇX
during which the Legislative Yuan remained under KMT control ˇX disturbing its
dominance? This question might now take up the energy of the DPP and others. A
few suggestions are in order.
First, scrap reliance on old China rhetoric. It has only won elections up until
now, it will not solve Taiwanˇ¦s problems over the next few years.
Second, consider ways in which the DPP might lead both a more open and embracing
politics as integral to any serious, critical review of China relations. Tsaiˇ¦s
introduction of the notion of consociational democracy was too confused and too
late to be effective in the recent election, but it might be developed over the
next few months as a way of opening up an inclusive, intelligent consideration
of relations with China. More all-party forums for such discussion would surely
be supported by a wide spectrum of Taiwanese citizens.
Third, the DPP leadership must run this in parallel with a firm switch toward
well-funded policies on domestic social and cultural problems. These must be
presented to the public clearly and as soon as possible.
Once such a combined response to electoral failure becomes visible and matures,
it is feasible that the DPP will become increasingly well-placed to advance both
social reform within the country and the soft power of Taiwanese democracy in
both the regional and international spheres. The first and the second processes
in combination will hugely increase the likelihood of electoral victory in
coming years. The second, on its own, will over time alter international opinion
about the value and status of Taiwanese democracy, raise Taiwanˇ¦s soft power in
East Asia and allow the Chinese middle classes a view of an advanced East Asian
democracy that is worth nourishing.
Ian Inkster is a professor of international history at Nottingham Trent
University and a professor of global history at Wenzao Ursuline College,
Kaohsiung.
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