Rotten Wood and Brute Beasts：Tsai Administration Shockingly Resembles Late Han Dynasty
United Daily News Commentary, December 21, 2022
Terry Gou, founder of Foxconn, has called for procuring the next-generation BioNTech vaccine, but Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan sarcastically compared Gou to a “BioNTech salesperson.” On December 21, Gou responded citing a passage from the classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, “Incompetent and corrupt officials abundant in the court behave as beasts, feasting on ill-gotten gains,” suggesting that officials should feel the pain of the people and seek wiser counsel. Mr. Gou’s words traveled through ancient and modern times, and the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen today strikes an unfortunate resemblance to the twilight years of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Many people feel so.
In face of the Tsai administration’s chaotic vaccine procurement, Gou cited a passage from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the "Marquis of Wuxiang scolded Wang Lang to Death," to once again criticize the Tsai administration. In addition to the aphorism quoted above by Mr. Gou, the passage following that is even more true: “Heartless officials reign; the most shameless in power; as a result, society is in ruins as well as the lives of the people.” Just as Chancellor Zhuge Liang (181-234) of Shu Han scolded Minister Wang Lang (died 228) of Wei in Chinese history, now Mr. Gou scolds the government. The story in Romance of the Three Kingdoms has become a prescient metaphor, with the loss of public approval the epitaph of the Tsai administration.
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is reviewing the reasons behind its serious setback in the recent local election but has not reached any concrete conclusion. The people have only seen the distribution of power to those in power and no will for reform. It is not only Mr. Gou that cannot stand for it any longer but also former DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-fang, who recently called on the president to leave politics for greener pastures of leisure. First, former President Chen Shui-bian became a top-notch embezzler and President Tsai now has transformed from a political innocent to a tyrant of old in the eyes of the DPP. Democracy has created a feudal leader with incompetent and merciless officials in government. How has this happened?
As DPP leader, Tsai used to win the hearts and minds of the people by relying on the small dollar fundraising strategy of "three piglets.” At that time, she received change and support from small stalls stained with oil stains. It was once a heartwarming story. Now she competes for power and profits, and hard-earned taxpayer money has gone down the drain. Officials live in luxury while the people are left in the dust. In order to block other vaccines to profit Medigen, it not only delayed epidemic prevention but also shed valuable lives. In order to protect President Tsai’s “favorite boy,” the entire party chose to ignore right and wrong and made war against National Taiwan University and Tzu Chi Foundation. Times surely have changed.
The Tsai administration estimates that the tax revenues will exceed NT$450 billion (about US$14.6 billion) this year. Many have called for prioritizing the repayment of taxes back to the people and not for it to be diverted to political interests. However, the Ministry of Finance does not intend to repay taxes to the people but use the revenues to reduce debts. What was said during President Tsai's New Year's Day address in 2019 has been forgotten, and the promised repayment—that the people should share in economic growth dividends—is no more.
In fact, when Tsai ran for president in 2012, she put forth a "Ten-Year Platform.” At that time, she advocated the redistribution of wealth and public provisions, social welfare, and employment policies to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the “Ten-Year Platform," but President Tsai has never been farther from her ideals.