Taiwan's Fraudulent Election

Taiwan's Fraudulent Election
Bevin Chu
March 24, 2000

Clinton in Wonderland

Taiwan election shows vitality of its democracy, says Clinton
Agence France Press, March 18, 2000
WASHINGTON -- President Bill Clinton on Saturday hailed the the election of Mr Chen Shui-bian as President of Taiwan. [sic!]
"I congratulate Mr Chen Shui-bian on his victory," the US leader said in a statement released by the White House. "This election demonstrates clearly the strength and vitality of Taiwan's democracy. I believe the election provides a fresh opportunity for both sides to reach out and resolve their differences peacefully through dialogue," he said.

Whether Slick Willy actually believes this arrant nonsense, or merely feels compelled to pay pro forma lip service for "diplomatic" reasons, only he knows. But libertarian anti-interventionists need not be bound by the Orwellian Newspeak of beltway insiders, and are free to tell it like it is.

Meanwhile, back in the Real World

On March 18, 2000, history repeated itself. The Republic of China's Y2K presidential election turned out to be a replay of the 1994 Taipei mayoral election. In 1994 "Mr. Democracy" Lee Teng-hui, Chairman of the KMT, coerced Mayor Huang Ta-chou, the KMT incumbent, who knew he was unelectable due to voter dissatisfaction with his job performance, to run in a three way race.

What was Lee Teng-hui's motive?

Lee is a pro-Japan Quisling and a covert Taiwan separatist. In an infamous 1995 interview with the late Japanese journalist Ryotaro Shiba, Lee likened himself to Moses, leading his people out of Egypt, i.e., China, and to the promised land, i.e., Japan. Lee later likened rabid separatist Chen Shui-bian of the "opposition" DPP to Mose's successor, Joshua.

Lee wanted to split enough of the pro-reunification vote from the pro-reunification New Party's Jaw Shau-kang to ensure that Chen Shui-bian would ascend to office of Mayor of Taipei, a traditional stepping stone to the Republic of China's presidency.

This sleazy, anti-democratic electoral sleight of hand, calculated to deny the voters a result which actually reflected the popular will, was referred to as "qi Huang, bao Chen," or "dump Huang, save Chen," and successfully handed the keys to the City of Taipei to Chen.

Deja Vu All Over Again

Now, fast forward to March 18, 2000. KMT Party Chairman Lee Teng-hui deliberately coerces his own party's unelectable Lien Chan, whose numbers are mired in the low to mid teens, to run against the immensely popular pro-reunification James Soong, whom Lee excommunicated from the KMT and who subsequently ran as an independent.

As in 1994, Chen Shui-bian, aka Joshua, wins again. This dog and pony show was referred to as "qi Lien, bao Bian" or "dump Lien, save Bian." This time, by a slim margin of 300,000 votes out of 12 million registered voters and an 83% voter turnout, Chen was handed the keys to the Presidential Palace. Soong received 37% of the vote. Lien received 23%. Again, this split the pro-reunification vote, clearing the way for rabid separatist Chen to squeak by with a mere 39% plurality.

Sixty one percent of the voting public in the Republic of China voted against the separatist Chen. Taiwan's Y2K election may be a lot of things, including a cruel hoax perpetrated against a politically naive electorate still struggling to cope with the darkside of "democracy," but the one thing it is categorically not is a mandate for Taiwan independence.

Better Living through Chemistry

Even many of those who voted for Chen did not do so because they advocate Taiwan independence. They voted reluctantly for Chen's party, the DPP, and only because they could no longer endure the KMT's endemic corruption. They voted for Chen only because Lee Yuan-tse, the ROC's only Nobel Laureate (for Chemistry), abused the power of his office.

Lee, a Taiwan independence diehard and head of the prestigious taxpayer funded Academia Sinica, went on TV in a slick campaign ad endorsing Chen. Oozing with sincerity, Lee assured borderline Chen supporters who harbored grave reservations about Chen's fanatical separatism, not to worry. He, Lee, would transform Chen from a separatist Mr. Hyde into a "kinder, gentler" Dr. Jekyll, who would make peace with the mainland, presumably through chemistry.

Chen has thanked Lee profusely, convinced that many undecideds swallowed Lee's appeal hook, line and sinker.

Are Run-off Elections Undemocratic?

In many European and western hemisphere democracies, election laws would mandate a run-off election to establish an absolute majority and solid electoral mandate. If such a run-off election were held in Taiwan, right this minute, Chen Shui-bian would lose by a landslide, and the Taiwan independence elite damned well knows it.

Yet this obscene travesty of the "democratic process" is going to be spin-controlled by Taiwan independence Quislings and China-hating beltway bombardiers as "the Taiwanese people's yearning for freedom and independence." Count on it.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Opinion Polls

The week before the election Lee not only misused party resources, but public resources to brainwash trusting pro-reunification KMT members to "save Lien, dump Soong," on the false pretext of preventing the pro-independence Chen from winning.

Among his many transgressions, Lee violated ROC election laws, which prohibit the release of poll results starting ten days prior to election day. The purpose of these laws are to prevent the misuse of phony polls designed to influence election results.

What did "Mr. Democracy" do? Lee ordered the release of not one, but two sets of poll results. One real, one phony.

Real poll results, which accurately reflected how far Soong was in the lead, were supplied to the "opposition" DPP Chen Shui-bian's campaign committee, helping them fine-tune their campaign tactics to shifting public moods.

Phony poll results, which falsely alleged Lee Teng-hui puppet Lien Chan was leading Soong, were deliberately leaked to the public at large. Thousands of red cloth election banners with the white characters "qi Soong, bao Lien" or "dump Soong, save Lien," were cranked out and distributed island-wide. This had the predictable effect of panicking at least several hundred thousand, if not millions, of grassroots KMT members to do just that.

Many grassroots KMT members who have never been able to bring themselves to believe Lee was in fact a "separatist wolf in reunification sheep's clothing," obediently voted for Lien. They now realize, too late, how badly they were duped.

The Japanese Connection

Hsieh Chi-ta, a New Party legislator and former judge, respected even by her political enemies as a stateswoman of impeccable honor, has done her utmost to encourage both the protestors and riot police to remain calm, however righteous their anger might be.

As she spoke she reminded the media and the Taiwan public about an aspect of the cross Straits crisis which is often neglected, deliberately, the Japanese Connection.

Even elementary school girls in Japan, when they receive an award, stand and shout "Lee Teng-hui, wan sui!" or "Long live Lee Teng-hui!" Naturally they do it in Japanese, not Chinese. But why do they perform such a bizzare ritual at all? What does Lee Teng-hui have to do with Japan?

The anwer is, plenty.

They do it because everyone in Japan, even adolescents, know that Lee Teng-hui is to coin a phrase, a "Japanese cuckoo's egg in China's nest." They do it because they know Lee Teng-hui is deliberately engineering an apocalyptic showdown between China and America. They do it because they know China-haters like Chris Cox are too dense to realize that while his irrational bigotry is focused on China, he has forgotten which Asian nation bombed Pearl Harbor. They do it because they want Japan to stand on the sidelines while China and America destroy each other, and when the dust has settled, assume the mantle of Asia's premier superpower.

Japan's Proposal

None of this is a secret if one knows where to look. Just read Lee Teng-hui's book "Taiwan's Proposal," ghost-written by a Japanese neofascist and published in Japan, not Taiwan. Pray tell, why is a book entitled "Taiwan's Proposal" authored and published in Japan by militant Japanese right-wingers? Is "Taiwan's Proposal" really Taiwan's Proposal, or "Japan's Proposal?"

Much of what I write probably comes as a shock to those who don't speak Chinese and hence have little clue about what's actually going on in Taiwan, including instant experts among our sanctimonious foreign policy elite. But it's hardly a secret to anyone who speaks Chinese, lives here a few months, and spends a little time watching the surfeit of nightly "McLaughlin Group" type political talk shows.

A Taiwanese Tiananmen

If only my fellow Americans back home could receive live Taiwan cable TV news coverage. What they would witness is a Taiwanese Tiananmen Incident. Outraged grassroots KMT members who voted for Soong, have joined outraged grassroots KMT members who voted for Lien. Together with support from other segments of the Taiwan public, they are protesting in front of KMT party headquarters, and are refusing to leave until Lee resigns his party chairmanship.

They are chanting, among other slogans, "Lee Teng-hui, xia tai!" or "Lee Teng-hui, step down!" The flag they are waving is the red, white and blue flag of the Republic of China, not any so-called "Taiwan" flag.

The protestors are protesting not against "democracy," but against anti-democratic chicanery and election fraud inflicted upon them by their own party chairman, a "stealth separatist" who delivered their nation into the hands of the DPP's Chen Shui-bian, a opportunistic traitor belonging to another party.

At Tiananmen, protestors chanted "Deng Xiaoping, xia tai!" Lee Teng-hui gloated. Now Lee's political chickens have come home to roost.

The Ministry of Truth

What has the Fifth Estate's response been? Lee Teng-hui's state-controlled Taiwan media, and much of the mainstream western media, with a few noteworthy exceptions which deserve high praise, have been sniping at the protestors, portraying them as a "mob," as "anti-democratic," as "sore losers." They have been self-righteously demanding of the protesters "Why don't you accept the results of a democratic process?"

Chen's Clintonian Doublespeak

To which one might ask, why doesn't Chen Shui-bian, President Elect of the Republic of China, accept the result of a democratic process? Chen began his "acceptance speech" with a ringing declaration about how "the Republic of China's presidential election" had been successfully concluded, and how he had been elected, get this, "President of Taiwan." He did not refer to "the Republic of China" again. After that it was Taiwan this and Taiwan that.

On previous occasions Chen has stated, in classic Clintonian doublespeak, that "Taiwan is a sovereign and independent state, its current name is the Republic of China."

Right. Oral sex is not sex. It all depends on the meaning of the word "is."

What Chen did was equivalent to crossing his fingers while lying through his teeth. The office he ran for was "President of the Republic of China," not "President of the Republic of Taiwan." Republic of China voters who cast their ballots, cast them for a president of the Republic of China, not a president of the Republic of Taiwan.

The fact is Chen offered himself as a candidate under false pretenses. Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian both committed election fraud. What resulted was the farthest thing from a "free and fair election."

If Chen wants to run for President of the Republic of Taiwan, he is free to do so. I suggest however that Chen first state clearly what he is doing in advance, so voters can decide if those terms are acceptable to them, and Chen first establish a Republic of Taiwan before deciding he has a right to be its President.

The latter would call for first waging a successful war of independence. Good luck on both counts.

Chen will not succeed in his dream of Taiwan independence. Never mind Beijing. Patriotic Chinese on Taiwan, who are "mad as hell and aren't going to take it any more," and outnumber pro-Japan Quislings, won't let it happen.

Names Change, Patterns Remain

Let me keep it real simple. Chen Shui-bian did not win this "democratic" election. "Mr. Democracy" Lee Teng-hui conferred the Republic of China's presidency on his designated heir Chen Shui-bian, the same way Deng Xiaoping conferred the Chairmanship of the Chinese Communist Party on Jiang Zemin, and the same way Chinese emperors have conferred the imperial throne on their successors since time immemorial. Chen Shui-bian is merely China's newest emperor.

"Mr. Democracy" vs. Pro-democracy Demonstrators

The PRC government tolerated a sit in demonstration which paralyzed the heart of Beijing for several months before finally losing patience and brutally inflicting deadly force against the protesters.

"Mr. Democracy," Lee Teng-hui waited all of two days before ordering helmeted riot police to drive pro-democracy protestors from the plaza in front of KMT headquarters. The police obliged, clubbing unarmed, elderly KMT members with heavy batons. White-haired senior citizens have been hospitalized with concussions. I myself was lucky, and was merely soaked by water cannons.

What is being released is 12 long years of pent-up rage and frustration endured by patriotic Chinese on Taiwan as they watched the Quisling Lee Teng-hui hijack their beloved country before their very eyes.

Taiwan's Imelda Marcos takes a Powder

Lee Teng-hui is currently in hiding. His staff told Mayor Ma Ying-jeou of Taipei Lee had "a mild case of the flu" and needed rest.

Yeah, right. "Mr. Democracy" is probably quaking in his boots at the prospect of being spotted in public by the Republic of China's citizenry. Remember what happened to the Ceaucescus? Long overdue comeuppance for a petty tyrant.

Tseng Wen-hui, aka Mrs. Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan's own Imelda Marcos, has been reported seen boarding a plane at Taoyuan Airport, accompanied by fifty, count 'em, fifty suitcases, bound for Switzerland. Local political observers don't think she's on a two week vacation.

The drama, now into its third day, continues to unfold as I write. Tensions remain high. Stay tuned for further developments. In the meantime, will someone please notify Human Rights Watch? Amnesty International? How about Mike Chinoy? Richard Gere even? Anybody?