Left Flank

Taiwan Echo utters a panegyric for the narrowly ruling DPP:

Awaiting ahead for Taiwanese is again a sinolized society hijacked by never-fading local warlords --- which is what Taiwanese fought so hard to get rid of. Now they welcome it back with their own ballots.

OK, this is not the anti-Beijing argument, is it?

Taiwan's main opposition Nationalist Party (KMT) thrashed the ruling DPP in legislative elections on Saturday, strengthening its bid to recapture the presidency in March and heralding better relations with China.

I'm amazed any news organization could gloat about a rapprochement between republican Taiwan and autocratic China as anything other than a defeat for freedom and moderation. But, that's what the line has been:

I suppose it is pointless to observe that Chen was widely hailed as pragmatic and conciliatory when he came to power in 2000 and has remained a "moderate" -- only in the Cloud Cuckoo-land of writing on cross strait relations can a lifelong moderate who advocates peaceful democratic change like Chen Shui-bian be portrayed as a "radical." But heck -- why refer to the complexities of history when you can source ideas from the KMT so much more easily?

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Taiwan threatens no one. It carries out policy by peaceful means. It has done so since anyone can remember. And yet, pundits can write that our moderation is "fragile." At any moment, we could break out into.....what? A public referendum? An attempt to enter the WHO? The mind reels. For crissake we're a frickin' democracy here! We're moderate by definition.

Another travesty of the FT article is this:

The KMT won its landslide victory »because Taiwanese people have used their wisdom to vote against corruption and incompetence in the government,» said Tsai Chin-lung, who won a seat in Taichung for the party. »Taiwanese people are really outraged with what the government is doing,» he said.

The result shows that the people of Taiwan want change, said Chao Chien-min, professor at National Chengchi University. »The second thing is the economy: Chen Shui-bian doesn't understand the economy. He always thinks it's OK just to be political.»

To which Michael Turton also replies:

One predominant myth that colors academic discourse on Taiwan, which I have frequently argued against, is that local voters prefer candidates who are not corrupt. I think this election will forever do that myth in. The middle class here does not want clean government -- it wants government that will assure the flow of funds from the center out to the electorate -- and clean government won't do that. The preference for corrupt candidates -- of which there are countless examples here in Taiwan -- also bodes ill for democratic development in China. Jim Mann has already argued in his recent book The China Fantasy that the middle class in China will ally itself with the authoritarian state to protect its privileges against urban and rural poor. Here is another incentive for them to keep the authoritarian state in being -- corruption helps sustain the political economy of local contracting and development that keeps local middle classes happy.

Beijing and the KMT are doing a wonderful job undermining Taiwan's independence, and the Bush administration deserves the assist.