President Tsai to Blame for Lin's Plagiarism Crash
United Daily News Editorial, August 12, 2022
Lin Chih-chien, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)'s candidate for Taoyuan mayor, announced his withdrawal from the candidacy in the afternoon of August 12. The “Thesis Gate" originated from a small lie, which led to the change of candidate by the DPP in the last minute. President Tsai Ing-wen's remarks "'stand in unity behind Lin's innocence" agitated party members to defend Lin. This is like pouring oil into the fire. Now that change of candidate becomes a reality, President Tsai should be the main culprit in DPP.
During the heated debate over the Thesis Gate, President Tsai has expressed her support for Lin at least three times. On July 7, when the Thesis Gate broke out, Tsai defended Lin in her Facebook; on July 28 President Tsai convened a meeting at her residence and asked the local faction leaders to continuously defend Lin; on August 10, in the DPP’s Central Standing Committee meeting, Tsai still insisted on "standing in unity behind Lin's innocence." In other words, if there were no blessings by President Tsai on the issue, Lin would have withdrawn the candidacy long ago and would not have to endure the agony until now.
President Tsai has been on full throttle in defending Lin, which put most DPP members in "the Train to Busan," who can only charge forward with their heads covered or risk becoming zombies biting people at random until the train derailed and disaster resulted. Unfortunately, those who had the courage to advise putting on the brake to avoid more casualties were demanded by those poisoned party member passengers in the train to quit the party.
What is worse, President Tsai decided to confront National Taiwan University (NTU) after its academic ethics review committee determined that Lin has committed plagiarism and revoked Lin's master degree. The DPP even accused NTU of political persecution. Historically, those authoritarians who confronted with NTU always ended in failures. President Tsai is no exception. The DPP blindly defended Lin over the obvious evidence of plagiarism. How absurd is that!
The DPP is known for its skills in elections. If it had not been irreversible, the change of candidate would not have been occurred. With Lin's withdrawal and Tsai's about-face, the followers in the train finally realized that believing in the party is like having faith in the dreams. After Lin's withdrawal, DPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng, who strongly defended Lin in the process, took over the candidacy. The public suspects that this is like "asking the patients to run the asylum!"
On top of that, and more critical, President Tsai decided to "change Lin" at the DPP election strategy committee meeting in her residence. President Tsai, who concurrently serves as chairwoman of the DPP, decides on all the posts in the cabinet. In the past, it is common for the Office of the President to deny the rumor on the personnel changes and appointments and then confirm it later. So, when the DPP denied in public several times that Lin would be changed, the change occurred at last nonetheless, the public is used to it. If state apparatus could be exploited in this dubious way, it is no surprise that there are many Lins in the DPP.
Ceaser's wife must be above suspicion, so is the integrity of the president. Should President Tsai keep on abusing people's tolerance, the state leader's social credibility will be lost forever!