12.29.05
The buck stops with CSB
“The buck stops here” is a noble statement which shows a willingness to take responsibility for your decisions. “The buck stops over there” is slightly less edifying to hear. No prizes for guessing which version Taiwan’s ever-impressive-politicians are keen on.
The FT recently ran an article by Kathrin Hille which featured a bunch of senior DPP politicians laying into President Chen Shui-bian. The article itself was pretty poor - I don’t want to repeat the fairly comprehensively analysis of it by Michael - but the interesting issue for me was the lack of introspection by DPP members, and their willingness to blame the boss. Five different DPP politicians were quoted - all of them either saying or implying that all the Government and the DPPs problems were down to Chen (as against an unnamed presidential aide who defended him). The best quote to illustrate this was:
“I don’t believe that clean government is the most important issue on our reform agenda,” says Lin Cho-shui, a veteran DPP lawmaker. “A much bigger problem is that Chen Shui-bian’s mysterious leadership style and his short-term opportunistic decision-making don’t work any more.”
Anyone who tries to downplay the importance of tackling corruption in Taiwan is either a) A liar, b) Completely clueless, c) On the take themselves, or d) All of the above. Of course, because corruption is endemic, it is not something that can neatly be blamed on someone else. It also can’t be solved simply by picking on a scapegoat.
This complete unwillingness by many senior DPP members to take a hard look at their party and go beyond a simplistic laying of blame on one of their members is important because it comes during the campaigning for the next DPP Chairman. Of course, some of it is down to which candidate they support: since Yu Shyi-kun is widely seen as Chen’s choice, supporters of the other two candidates are likely to lay into Chen as a way to promote their own candidate. However, it’s also in danger of turning the election into a Catch-22 situation: If Yu wins, then there’s no real powershift in the DPP, and so nothing will change, while if Yu loses, then all the DPPs problems will be blamed on Chen, meaning that nothing will change (apart from the leader).
It’s not all bad news though: The DPPs willingness to criticize their most senior member during their chairman elections stands in stark contrast to the recent KMT chairman election - where both candidates felt it necessary to be nauseatingly obsequious to a man who had led their party to two presidential election losses, lost them their majority in the legislature (twice), and nearly bankrupted the richest political party in the history of mankind. At least the DPP expects their leaders to take some responsibility - they’ve just got to learn to take some responsibility themselves too.
Chen ‘flip flopping’ on China?
On a completely separate note, the article makes this claim:
Mr Chen’s government has frequently changed policy direction, most obviously in relations with China. After pledging more economic exchanges across the Strait early in his first term, he later turned to aggressive anti-China rhetoric and last year played to pro-independence sentiment in a re-election campaign that provoked the mainland.
I’ve seen this claim again and again in various forms, and I don’t understand it. From my perspective, Chen has been completely consistent in his policy on China: He has consistently adhered to the 1999 DPP Resolution on Taiwan’s future (which states that Taiwan is an independent nation), has consistently refused to accept the ‘One China’ principle as a precondition to talks, and has consistently pushed for increased economic links within these limitations. Just about the only promises which he’s been able to keep from his inauguration speeches were his “5 noes” promise on China. Fiery rhetoric around election time is one of Chen’s trademarks (and usually a vote-winner), but it doesn’t imply any change in his policies. So, what policy shifts are we talking about here?
wolf said,
December 29, 2005 at 6:53 pm
The first quote is spot on.
Taiwan's Other Side said,
December 30, 2005 at 10:05 pm
So the DPP gets elected based on promises to be different, and then turns out to be just as willing to play the blame game as the old KMT. How is that a good thing?
Though the KMT restrained itself from publicly blasting Lien Chan, it has made and will continue to make dramatic changes to his policies. That’s perfectly in line with Chinese cultural norms, and characterizing it as a weakness misses the point.
The View from Taiwan said,
January 1, 2006 at 1:48 pm
and acrimony. Lin’s analysis suggests, as I have pointed out before, that the next Chairman is going to spend a lot of time in conflict with Chen Shui-bian. And this bodes ill for the 2006 legislative elections. UPDATE: (01/01) David at jujuflop hasa similar analysis that goes one more step: This complete unwillingness by many senior DPP members to take a hard look at their party and go beyond a simplistic laying of blame on one of their members is important because it comes during the campaigning for the next DPP
Michael Turton said,
January 1, 2006 at 9:30 pm
That’s perfectly in line with Chinese cultural norms, and characterizing it as a weakness misses the point.
Well, if it perfectly in line with Chinese cultural norms, then it must be OK!
Michael
David said,
January 2, 2006 at 2:54 pm
TOS: I’m not sure I understand your question - I wasn’t exactly praising the DPP. The only vague positive is that they are managing to allocate blame within their own party - which the KMT don’t seem to be able to do yet (unless you count blaming LTH).
As for the KMT ‘restraining themselves from publicly blasting Lien Chan’, that just sounds so bizarre. The KMT made him chairman after he had been humiliated into 3rd place in the 2000 election, there was then precious little criticism of him after the flop of the 2001 election (and certainly no suggestions of him stepping down), and of course he did absolutely nothing wrong in the 2004 presidential election. I don’t think it’s a cultural thing to reward failure quite so completely…
Also, I have seen no substansive changes to KMT policy since he stepped down; a change in style, certainly, but I suspect Ma is being held back from any real changes by Lien and co.
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