Executive Yuan Became Central Kitchen to Launch Internet Attacks Against Political Opponents
United Daily News, November 18, 2020
After Executive Yuan Spokesman Ting Yi-ming triggered the beef noodle storm by his remark, Premier Su Tseng-chang has apologized several times but still not been able to pacify the outrage of the people. At last, Premier Su could only let Ting resign to quell the storm. In observing the context of the event, we conclude this case is not simply one of Ting’s slip of tongue or misspeak, but an elaborate scheme of the Su cabinet to engage systematic attacks against the opposition parties. In other words, this is every inch a case of political scandal. The government tried to “cut the losses” to obscure the focus, people won’t let them get away with that.
Taipei Mayor Ke Wen-je criticized for days the policy of importing ractopamine pork, sparring with the central government repeatedly. Last week, after a year of absence, he showed up again in the cabinet meeting of Executive Yuan and presented four proposals about importation of ractopamine pork in the presence of Su. Unexpectedly, right after Mayor Ko stepped out the Executive Yuan, Ting immediately held a press conference without paraphrasing the cabinet meeting content as usual, instead he showed some charts and pinpointed directly the beef noodle festival hosted by Taipei using ractopamine beef. As a consequence, a series of storms were set off.
A week earlier, the mini-editor in the spokesman office of the Executive Yuan was caught on the spot while editing charts in Legislative Yuan to attack opposition party, openly using Executive Yuan as a working base for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), turning party affairs into government affairs. The charts edited by mini-editor didn’t appear in face book of Executive Yuan, but in face book of certain green camp’s cyber army side wings, then immediately spread massively by green cyber army. Until now, the outer world began to realize that the reason the green camp side wings and its legislators can always produce charts to attack and take lead on internet to ambush opposition party was because the “central kitchen” was providing them with raw material and products. Social media editors of the Executive Yuan used public funds during office hours to make charts and propaganda materials for cyber army side wings to attack political opponents. Such actions, a treacherous manipulation of democratic politics, violate the principle of administrative neutrality in the government.
Ting, who in the capacity of spokesman published misinformation to attack an opposition party mayor and innocent stores, is seriously unqualified and the extent of his rumor creating is obviously law breaking. Furthermore, this press conference was not improvised, but from the time slot and way of presentation, was obviously through intensive arrangement in advance. No wonder Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang described the cabinet meeting of the Executive Yuan as a “mousetrap banquet,” a grand central government scheme with the purpose to “assassinate” opposition parties by notorious means.
In the meantime, some keen observants also found that some side wings of the DPP had posted on Facebook two weeks earlier the exactly same charts used by Ting in the press conference. Added up to the earlier mini-editor incident of Executive Yuan, the outer world conjectured that those charts were from the same “central kitchen” where cyber army and mini-editor were interchanged. In the past, people thought the so-called green camp side wings were only group of pro-DPP political activists. But now they were actually a massive army with ammunition provided and raw material fostered by the DPP administration, aiming to assist DPP in attacking political opponents, an ugly deed of anti-democracy.
This was not the first time Su cabinet sabotaged a mayor of opposition party. While Han Kuo-yu was the mayor of Kaohsiung city, Su roll-called Han many times for not attending the cabinet meeting. After Han finally came to attend the cabinet meeting, the Executive Yuan overnight edited video of seeming dozed over the meeting to smear Han. The Executive Yuan repeatedly used this “mouse trap” decoy, this time they were waiting for Mayor Ko to initiate criticism to massively attack him. A premier views opposition party leader as nemesis, will he cherish the democratic institution and culture of the nation?
After the Tsai administration announced to open the importation of ractopamine pork, the tactic of “circle the beef to rescue the pork” sallied forth in full strength. Earlier, Minister Chen Chi-chung of the Council of Agriculture repeatedly criticized the food safety autonomy ordinances of local governments, claiming if they insist zero-ractopamine beef inspection, all beef steak restaurants will be closed. If we review the comments of Chen and compare with those recent offensives of the DPP, we can come to realize it is a series of tricky “composed punch”.
In reviewing the earlier confidential leakage in the presidential plaza, the Office of the President later reiterated the confidential had been altered. But we verified latter development of the case, it was revealed those confidential documents were of high authenticity.
Is a war plan drafted together by the core circle and the outer circle then to rhythmically circle, siege and annihilate political opponents within and without the party, only this time they were targeting on Ko. Even with the demise of Ting, the Tsai administration’s taking advantage of state apparatus to systematically attack its opposition parties will definitely continue. Therefore, this case should be thoroughly investigated, and the investigation will certainly not stop because of Ting’s fall.