My money are on no 2. That said, the DPP will ensure that there are enough scandals about the KMT.
KMT should change its party emblem so that the ROC flag no longer some sort of an KMT representation. At the same time I think DPP should change its own and remove the map of Taiwan.
This cartoon shows the blogic, blue-logic, that prompts people to claim the KMT emblem is somehow different from the ROC emblem.
I think the McDonalds logo is a great replacement. China can take the KFC one. The US can tale Starbucks, Canada can take Tim Horton…
If the Republicans win the US presidential election…
And if the Democrats win it (especially Hillary)…
The flag of Florida is still an homage to the Confederacy. Plenty of Southern American flags still are. Of course, the Confederacy lost. The ROC lost on the mainland, but they won Taiwan.
Instead of coming up with different symbols, all Taiwanese political parties could instead adopt a variation of the ROC/KMT sun distinguished only by the size of the white sun relative to the blue circle.
It could continue to fight for what’s best for the citizens of the Republic of China. Or as Commonwealth countries put it in their monarchy*: the Loyal Opposition.
*If the ROC was a monarchy, which it isn’t. Huzzah!
I agree with the notion that a democracy works best when there is a functional and credible opposition. My sense is that notwithstanding the 2014 and 2016 electoral losses, there are still many Taiwanese who support the KMT and believe in large portions of its platform. Like any party that has suffered an electoral rebuke, the KMT will have to consider if such loss represents a rejection of any of its core beliefs, and if so should the party then work on trying to better explain and convince voters of the benefits of the party position, or should the party change its position to be more in line with what the voters want. Ultimately, the voters will pick whether the KMT, NPP, DPP or some combination of other parties is a viable Loyal Opposition.
Both the DPP and KMT have had to recalibrate and adjust their policy positions over the last 30 years. On the big picture China question, the DPP went from the Full TI party to a “status quo”/TI Light party. Simultaneously, the KMT went from the Reconquest party to a 92C/TI Light (mostly) party. It will be interesting to see if and how the KMT recalibrates in coming years, and likewise for the DPP when (like any party) they inevitably lose support at some future point.
If it turns out that the Taiwanese electorate consistently rejects “Chinese nationalism” (I don’t believe they have yet), I wonder if one can have a KMT that doesn’t espouse “Chinese nationalism”? Eventually the Old Veterans will completely pass from power, and the remaining KMT will be left with a tough choice.
[quote=“Zhengzhou2010”]
If it turns out that the Taiwanese electorate consistently rejects “Chinese nationalism” (I don’t believe they have yet), I wonder if one can have a KMT that doesn’t espouse “Chinese nationalism”? Eventually the Old Veterans will completely pass from power, and the remaining KMT will be left with a tough choice.[/quote]
KMT’s winning platform from 2008 to 2012 wasn’t “Chinese nationalism.” Those who voted for KMT for the reason of Chinese nationalism weren’t large enough in numbers to carry the outcome of the elections.
People voted because MYJ said that he was open to TI if that’s what the people wanted, and stressed that his main focus would be the economy. MYJ and KMT kept repeating that they were pro-business and not pro-China. However, after being left fully in control of the government for 8 years, that sadly turned out to be a lie. They were pro-China, and pro-business alright, but they weren’t interested in improving the economy of the average people. MYJ’s main focus was for the numbers to look as if Taiwan is doing great, by funnelling money into the pockets of the wealthiest few.
[quote=“hansioux”][quote=“Zhengzhou2010”]
If it turns out that the Taiwanese electorate consistently rejects “Chinese nationalism” (I don’t believe they have yet), I wonder if one can have a KMT that doesn’t espouse “Chinese nationalism”? Eventually the Old Veterans will completely pass from power, and the remaining KMT will be left with a tough choice.[/quote]
KMT’s winning platform from 2008 to 2012 wasn’t “Chinese nationalism.” Those who voted for KMT for the reason of Chinese nationalism weren’t large enough in numbers to carry the outcome of the elections.
People voted because MYJ said that he was open to TI if that’s what the people wanted, and stressed that his main focus would be the economy. MYJ and KMT kept repeating that they were pro-business and not pro-China. However, after being left fully in control of the government for 8 years, that sadly turned out to be a lie. They were pro-China, and pro-business alright, but they weren’t interested in improving the economy of the average people. MYJ’s main focus was for the numbers to look as if Taiwan is doing great, by funnelling money into the pockets of the wealthiest few.[/quote]
There is a certain school of thought within the Chinese Nationalist (or Patriots) community that the equalizing disposable incomes of both sides of the strait would kill off the appetite for Taiwan Independence. A natural extension of that logic is once the “lower class” street vendors of Taiwan take Chinese tourists’ money, Taiwanese people would realize that their previous impression that the Chinese were poor would vanish. Ma’s entire 8 years of rule follows this philosophy, but this social experiment ultimately failed because the logic depends too much on a subjective mindset.
I think most Taiwanese, when they talk about TI, aren’t talking about a Republic of Taiwan.
False. Taiwanese are thinking it, but Taiwanese politicians just can’t say it.
How’s this for a true statement: when KMT supporters talk about TI, they aren’t talking about a Republic of China.
I’m curious as to how Dirt would answer if he was travelling overseas and someone asked him his nationality. Chinese?
False. Taiwanese are thinking it, but Taiwanese politicians just can’t say it.
How’s this for a true statement: when KMT supporters talk about TI, they aren’t talking about a Republic of China.[/quote]
Just my guess, but I’d conjecture that about 30% of Taiwanese mean a ROT, another 30% means a sovereign ROC that forswears any kind of United China, and another 30% means a sovereign ROC with a vague possibility of future unification with a democratic China. The remaining 10% are amenable to some kind of unification with the PRC in a nearer time and a small handful are okay w/1C2S.
Of course to the CCP, any kind of ROT or sovereign ROC are all just shades of TI.
I grew up in the US. And I do answer Chinese. I am from the Republic of China. It’s not uncommon for those of my generation. Had the PRC of previous generations been less arrogant (or the Generalissimo been less stubborn), I believe that many people on Taiwan would consider themselves Chinese in the same way that North and South Korea consider themselves Korean. It’s truly ironic that it was the Chiang’s that helped the Taiwanese identity to grow after the Japanese tried to extinguish it.
Roughly speaking, more than 60% of the population considers themselves Taiwanese and not Chinese.
That’s 60% for a Taiwan that is separate from China, regardless of whether you call it “independence” or whether you call it a “Republic.”
Last time I checked 60% constitutes a majority.
So the KMT has now lost the Presidential election in 2020, and subsequently suffered a series of recent setbacks, including initiating and supporting four referendums and then losing all four. They then lost a by-election they had precipitate by recalling Chen Po-wei, leading that seat in Taichung to be handed to the ruling DPP.
What would it take for the KMT to turn things around? The first step, argues SOAS Professor Dafydd Fell in the piece linked below, is to learn lessons from their series of defeats since 2014. There’s little indication that they are doing so.
Guy
Remember Hung Hsiu-chu? For newbies, this was the KMT’s preferred candidate for our nation’s president in 2016—eventually yanked by the party as it was clear her views on cross-strait matters made her unelectable.
She’s apparently now in Beijing for the opening of the Genocide Olympics, because of course she is.
https://twitter.com/brianhioe/status/1489251563915059205?cxt=HHwWioDRhYaa8aopAAAA
Guy
You certainly called #2. Nice one.
- Stop giving interviews
So much cringe.