Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: Lai Ching-te/Facebook
PRESIDENT LAI CHING-TE surprised with a speech over the weekend at a National Day concert held at the Taipei Dome. The concert is the opening event for National Day celebrations in Taiwan.
Because National Day celebrations are organized by the president of the legislature, with the KMT holding a narrow majority in the Legislative Yuan, National Day celebrations are organized by the KMT under the auspices of Han Kuo-yu this year. As such, with the design aesthetic of the celebrations decided by the KMT, in many ways the KMT has set the tone for National Day celebrations this year.
In line with its political narrative that the ROC has been denigrated by the DPP, Han made an unusual metaphor last week, claiming that “the Republic of China is like a dark and thin old man [who] has been locked up in a black hut for the past eight years.” To this extent, former president Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT, in comments at Harvard’s Fairbank Center last week, tried to paint Lai as a troublemaker, claiming that Lai was dangerously provocative in pushing for independence on the basis of comments by Lai stating that the ROC is not subordinate to the PRC and describing Chinese president Xi Jinping as “very clear, gentle and humble”.
This is what set the stage for Lai’s comments, then. In particular, during his National Day concert comments, Lai leaned heavily into the ROC, stating that the PRC is not the motherland of the ROC, seeing as the ROC is celebrating its 113th birthday this month while the PRC is celebrating its 75th anniversary. On the other hand, Lai said that the ROC could actually be considered the motherland of those in the PRC above 75 years old.
Photo credit: Lai Ching-te/Facebook
The DPP has backed Lai’s comments, while the KMT has reacted strongly against it, trying to paint Lai as not, in fact, truly venerating the ROC or somehow trying to paint Lai as pro-Japanese. This proves an odd reversal for the DPP, of course, which historically was antagonistic to the ROC and viewed it as a colonial imposition on Taiwan. Yet Taiwan increasingly embraced the ROC under the Tsai administration, emphasizing that the ROC has never been part of the PRC, as well as a means to avoid any misperception that asserting Taiwan’s sovereignty means a declaration of Taiwanese independence.
If there were concerns that Lai intended to push for Taiwanese independence, based on his past record of statements such as being a “pragmatic worker for Taiwanese independence”, Lai’s comments are presumably aimed at combating this perception. Namely, American voices on policy have sometimes become convinced that Lai’s inaugural address–in spite of repeatedly emphasizing the ROC, as well as that he intended to continue Tsai’s stances–was intended to spite the US and represented Lai pivoting away from Tsai’s position on Taiwan’s sovereignty. This proves a moment in which experts focused on Taiwan and those with concerns that are more focused on greater China deviated in terms of perceptions.
At the same time, one notes that Lai has continued a combative tone toward the KMT. It is clear that embracing the ROC to such a strong extent, pushing the KMT into the strange position of disavowing the ROC even as they have attempted to frame the DPP as denigrating the ROC. Lai’s comments, in this sense, go to highlight the KMT as having drifted quite far from its original values while also depicting the KMT as having self-contradictory positions, in which the only actual logical consistency is fidelity toward China.
Consequently, Lai probably aims to accomplish several aims with his comments. Lai no doubt is aware that his comments come off as strange for a DPP politician. So, in this sense, Lai aims to frame the DPP as flexible on the issue. On the other hand, it is clear that Lai’s comments are aimed at driving home the point of the KMT’s contradictory and untenable position at present. The speech is very clearly aimed at emphasizing this sort of political irony.
It is to be seen whether Lai modulates and moderates his comments for his actual National Day address on October 10th. After all, Lai could potentially be more aggressive in comments before the National Day address, while modulating the pointedness of statements directed toward the KMT during National Day itself. However, it is also possible that any attempt by Lai to present himself as moderate is still perceived as pro-independence–simply due to being Lai, rather than Tsai, even if saying the same words.