Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A912-W593

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A912-W593

Release Date: January 30, 2016

发布日：2016年1月30日

Topic: My Views of the Presidential Election in Taiwan -- Wei Jingsheng

标题：看台湾大选 -- 魏京生

Original Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)

此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

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My Views of the Presidential Election in Taiwan

-- Wei Jingsheng

The Presidential election in Taiwan is over. No surprise, Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DDP) won the election and will become the next president. What is surprising is that the new political force in Taiwan, those representatives that are neither blue (i.e. pro-KMT, Kuomintang), nor green (i.e. pro-DDP), and non-middle, won several seats in the Legislative Yuan. Yet it seems the dark blue and dark green parties have quit from the political arena.

These phenomena illustrate progress and maturity in Taiwan. The voters in Taiwan have obviously matured from what was in the past. They are no longer troubled by the fear of the trap of the Communist Party in China. They do not need anymore to blow whistles while walking in the night, to use independence as a way of self-comfort. The Republic of China has always been an independent country. Others may not recognize you, but you must recognize yourself. If you want to take care of yourself, then you cannot rely on the charity of the others.

There are a lot of media, especially of the media in Chinese language, evaluates Tsai Ing-wen's came to power represents the Taiwan electorate become more support of Taiwan's independence. If Tsai Ing-wen and her Democratic Progressive Party thought so, then it would be really wrong. That kind of misjudgment would guide her policies and political posturing go astray and cause unnecessary losses to Taiwan.

According to my observation, the victory of Tsai Ing-wen this time is due mainly to the resentment of the electorate in Taiwan towards (current President) Ma Ying-jeou's groveling attitude toward pro-Communist China. In particular, they dislike that he flew to Singapore to meet with Xi Jinping, in the way as a courtier responding to the summons of the emperor. Even though I was in the USA, I could feel a sense of the humiliation of the people in Taiwan and felt embarrassed for them. This electioneering action of Ma Ying-jeou may be considered as the last straw that broke the back of the giant camel of the KMT.

It is not coincidental that several KMT candidates have a strong pro-Communist Mainland complex. Eric Chu, head of the KMT party who was running for the presidency of Taiwan, visited Mainland China right before the election in the way of an emperor of a tribute country meeting with his Suzerainty with the demeanor of requesting support. His predecessor who was running for the presidency, Hung Hsiu-chu, was even lower. She openly stated she would betray Taiwan to the Communist regime in China. I suspect they are not living in the real world, and were brainwashed by the media in Hong Kong and Taiwan to the degree that they dared to threaten their own people by having the Communist army attack Taiwan.

Let us not discuss whether Xi Jinping dares to attack Taiwan or not. From the urgent mentality of Internet users in Mainland China, it would be better for Xi Jinping to attack Taiwan soon, or attack the Diaoyu Islands, or have a battle with the United States in the South China Sea. Thus the Communist regime would collapse a little bit faster and democracy in China will be realized earlier. So why not?

Unfortunately, Xi Jinping is not that stupid. Doesn't he know that the SS army of the Communist Party is too rotten to fight in a war? He knows better than us. Doesn't he know that the fierce struggle within the Communist Party has intensified, with a lot of people waiting for him to fall, and who would even step solidly on his back when he fell? He knows better than us. Doesn't he know that the United States is becoming more and more intolerant of the Communist hegemony in Asia and is implementing a strategy of containment? Of course, he has this much intelligence. We should not treat him as a fool.

So if even the netizens in Mainland China and people in Taiwan know these facts, why don't these bigwigs of the Kuomintang? It is related to the century-old dictatorship tradition of the Kuomintang, as well as its traditions of grooming their successors. Differently from the mechanism of competition in the DPP, the members of the KMT only pay attention to their superiors and lack independent thinking. This is the fundamental reason that they misjudged the situation.

In an authoritarian tradition, one is used to giving orders when one gets the power. Solving the internal struggle in a vicious way is inevitable. While facing rivals, it is easy to ruin oneself. This inevitability runs against the fundamental principles of democracy. The premise of democracy is to conduct internal struggles in peaceful, rational and non-violent ways. Intrigue and violence may only be applied to foreign enemies and criminals, but not for internal politics. The losing minority survives as the loyal opposition. In this regard, President Ma Ying-jeou has lost people's hearts and the KMT must be reorganized.

Fortunately, after the election, there have been signs of the collapse of the Kuomintang. These old KMT leaders lost their credentials to convince their people, so the new generation is on the rise. This could be the rebirth of KMT as true opposition in Taiwan. It is a great opportunity for it to progress with the times. It is also the inevitable trend of normalizing democracy in Taiwan. Without the removal of the decrepit necrosis part, the new force cannot function properly. The DPP has completed its metamorphosis in the competition, while the KMT is about to begin the process.

The democracies in East Asian countries have all struggled with the interference of violence and elderly leaders. More than a century has passed, these countries are still struggling in the shadow of the old men's interfering politics, and still hovering between success and failure. This is partially related to the oriental culture of respecting the elderly, as well as the elder leaders not being accustomed to letting go of the power.

After having tasted the sweetness of power, they are not accustomed to the loneliness in letting it go out of hand. This mood is alike in the East and West. The solution cannot rely on one's self-consciousness. It must to be limited primarily via a strict system. When the older leaders refuse to give up power it is detrimental to the young people, which results in that they never grow up and lose ground to rivals in the competition.

If they only lose to their rivals in an internal competition, it is not a serious problem. But in the situation Taiwan is facing the enemy wants to eat Taiwan all the time. Besides to bowing for mercy to its enemy, what else could a mindless ruling clique of Kuomintang, a weak ruling group, do?

I hope these elder leaders of KMT, these several generations of old people who were nurtured in the authoritarian era, can (practice what Confucian said of) "restraint of oneself, in an effort to resume the good customs" to withdraw from the political arena as early as possible. They should leave the arena to the young and middle-aged politicians to sway, to compete, to fail, to run into obstacles, then gradually mature. There is an old saying that "failure is the mother of success". There is a common Chinese saying that "disadvantage is a blessing". Both are speaking of the same wisdom.

The young people today are not the traditional young people. They are less dependent on their fathers' aegis, with more independent thought. The traditional Chinese methods of cultivation would gradually erode their ability to think independently, erase their original courage and determination, and obliterate their competitiveness during the gradual promotion process. In a competitive world, this is really frame them.

If Taiwan's opposition parties cannot mature as quickly as possible, Taiwan's democracy cannot mature. For a democratic system, the opposition parties are even more important than the ruling party. I estimate that after this election, Taiwan's opposition parties will develop quickly and mature. They will become closer to the people and will be able to see the international and domestic situation more clearly, thus making Taiwan's democracy invincible. In the process, the opposition will be ready to rule in the event of change.

I hope this process will happen rapidly. I hope that that the ruling party and opposition parties in Taiwan will mature, to set an example for democracy in Asia.

To hear Mr. Wei Jingsheng's related commentary, please visit:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/RFA/RFA2016/WeiJS160127TaiwanElection.mp3

(Written and recorded on January 27, 2016. Broadcasted by Radio Free Asia.)

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中文版

Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A912-W593

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A912-W593

Release Date: January 30, 2016

发布日：2016年1月30日

Topic: My Views of the Presidential Election in Taiwan -- Wei Jingsheng

标题：看台湾大选 -- 魏京生

Original Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)

此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

如有中文乱码问题，请与我们联系或访问:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2016/report2016-01/WeiJS160130TaiwanElectionA912-W593.htm

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看台湾大选

-- 魏京生

台湾的大选结束了。不出意料之外，民进党的蔡英文获得了胜利，将出任下一届总统。出乎意料之外的，是台湾的新生力量，非蓝、非绿、非中间的民意代表获得了几个立法院议席。而极蓝和极绿的政党，则退出了政坛。

这些现象说明了两个进步，一个成熟。台湾的选民明显比过去成熟了，不再困扰在害怕共产党的陷阱之中；也不再需要走夜路吹口哨，用独立来自我安慰。中华民国本来就是个独立的国家，别人可以不承认你，但自己不可以不承认自己。想照顾好自己，就不能依靠别人的施舍。

有不少媒体，特别是中文媒体估计：蔡英文上台代表了台湾选民更加支持台湾独立的话题。如果蔡英文和她的民进党也这么认为，那就大错特错了。那会因为误判形势而导致政策和政治姿态走入歧途，给台湾带来不必要的损失。

据我的观察，蔡英文这一次大获全胜，主要是选民对马英九卑躬屈膝的亲大陆政治姿态的反感。他们特别反感他的是几个月前，像臣子应皇帝召见一样，飞奔到新加坡觐见习皇帝。连我在美国都能感觉到台湾人民的屈辱感，都在替台湾人民脸红。马英九的这个助选动作，可以说是压跨国民党的最后一根稻草。

无独有偶。国民党的几个候选人都有浓厚的亲大陆情结。朱立伦选前赴大陆访问；颇有古代儿皇帝觐见宗主，请求支援的风范。洪秀柱更是等而下之，竟然直言不讳的要把台湾卖给中共。我怀疑他们真的不食人间烟火，而且被港台媒体洗了脑，竟然敢用共军攻台来威胁人民。

先不论习近平是不是敢于攻打台湾。以大陆网民的急切心态来看，习近平最好赶快攻打台湾，或者攻打钓鱼岛；或者在南海跟美国干上一仗。这样共产党就垮得快一点，中国民主也就快一点了。何乐而不为？

遗憾的是，习近平没有这么笨。他不知道共产党的党卫军腐败不堪一战吗？他比咱们知道得更清楚。他不知道共产党内斗尖锐激烈，很多人等着他落马，甚至不惜踩上他几脚吗？他比咱们知道得更清楚。他不知道美国越来越不能容忍中共称霸亚洲，正在实行围堵策略吗？当然，他有这点儿智商，不要把他当傻瓜。

既然大陆网民和台湾百姓都知道这些，国民党大佬们为什么不懂？这和国民党作为百年老店的独裁传统有关，也和他们培养接班人的传统有关。和民进党的竞争机制不同，国民党人的两眼只盯着上级，缺乏独立思考能力。这是他们看走眼形势的根本原因。

作为独裁传统，一旦权在手，便把令来行。以狠毒方式解决内部斗争，是必然趋势。在面临对手竞争时，很容易把自己搞垮。这和民主政治的基本原则背道而驰。民主政治的前提，就是和平、理性、非暴力地进行内斗。阴谋和暴力只对外敌和罪犯，法定不得用于内部政治。在这方面，马英九不得人心，国民党也必须重组。

好在选后已经出现了国民党崩溃的苗头。老朽们已经压不住阵脚，新生代正在崛起。这是国民党真正作为反对党的重生，是与时俱进的大好机会，也是台湾民主走向正常化的必然过程。老朽坏死的部分不去掉，新生力量就不能正常发挥作用。民进党在竞争中完成了新陈代谢，国民党也即将开始这个过程。

东亚国家的民主政体，都是在暴力干政和老人干政中挣扎过来的。一个多世纪之后的今天，它们仍在老人干政的阴影中挣扎，仍然在成功与失败之间徘徊。这和东方文化中尊老的传统有一定的关系，也和老人们不习惯放手权力有关。

尝过了掌权的甜头，不习惯放手后的寂寞，这种心情在东西方都一样。解决的方法不能依靠自觉，必须主要靠严格的制度来限制。老人们不放手，实际上是害了年青人，使他们永远长不大，在竞争中输给对手。

在内部竞争中输给对手，还不是严重的问题。台湾的形势，面临着时刻都想吃掉你的敌人。像国民党那种没头脑的执政集团，软弱的执政集团，除了向敌人低头求饶以外，还能是什么表现呢？

希望国民党的老人们，在威权时代培养起来的几代老人们，能够克己复礼，及早退出政治舞台。应该把舞台让给中青年政治家们挥洒，去竞争，去失败，去碰钉子，然后逐渐成熟。老话说失败是成功之母，俗话说吃亏是福。就是上边这个道理。

如今的年青人，早已不是传统的年青人了。他们更加脱离长辈的卵翼，更加富有独立的思想。传统的培养方法，在他们逐级升迁的过程中，会逐渐磨灭独立思考的能力，磨灭原有的勇气和魄力，磨灭他们的竞争力。在竞争的世界中，这就是在陷害他们。

如果台湾的反对党不能尽快成熟起来，台湾的民主就不能成熟。对民主体制来说，反对党甚至比执政党还重要。估计在这次大选之后，台湾的反对党会迅速发展成熟。他们会更加贴近老百姓，会更加看清国际国内的形势，让台湾的民主立于不败之地。

我期望这一过程迅速到来。我期望台湾的执政党和在野党都成熟起来，为亚洲的民主树立榜样。