TAIWAN'S POLITICAL SCENE

dragondick

TAIWAN'S POLITICAL SCENE

After Taiwan's Li Dang Hwei 李登輝served two terms as President, the politician mostly likely to take over the rein should be James Soong 宋楚瑜.

Unfortunately, Lien Jun 連戰- Li's VP, had the same ambition & asked James (who was much more popular than Lien), to step aside.  James refused & was kicked out of KMT.

James formed his own political party & continued his campaign for presidency.  Although James beat Lien Jun at the polls, they split electors' votes, and allowed 陳水扁to win.

To make a long story short, Lien's son recently campaigned for the position of Mayor of Taipei, (which is a stepping stone for a future presidency) but lost to a top surgeon of Taiwan University Hospital, who ran as an independent.  KMT lost miserably not only in Taipei but also in all the other major cities.

This changed Taiwan's political landscape – KMT is no longer a force to be reckoned with but an undesirable burden in the eyes of KMT candidates.

Fast forward to 2016, there will be a presidential election.  It is almost certain that KMT will not have a suitable candidate, let alone win, nor will Progressive Democratic Party.  IF, a big if, James is physically fit, & has the appetite to give it one final try, he might have a chance.

As a background to understanding Taiwan's political scene, I searched & compiled the following videos of  宋楚瑜 for yourreview.

Be fore-warned that each episode is close to 20'!

The story of James Soong:

Part 1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfbFTNRMJEA

Part 2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baaswucFRqY&list=PL1FEE4E66443E8052

Part 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2IJW8ziBx0&list=PL1FEE4E66443E8052&index=3

Part 4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xc8Q5BOqTY&list=PL1FEE4E66443E8052&index=4

Part 5.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKk1h_UuKGw&index=5&list=PL1FEE4E66443E8052

Part 6.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zcIZ9QEycM&index=6&list=PL1FEE4E66443E8052

宋楚瑜北京清華大學演講 (1Hr 20+')

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3be0cOm3MZU

dragondick

For Brother Peps1crush,

Yes, I have viewed all of the above videos!  

dragondick

THE STORY OF W.J. KER – THE NEW MAYOR OF TAIPEI CITY
首都新市長 柯文哲 (Viewing Time:  47’)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aEngvXFEa4



Dr. Ker, now Mayor Ker, better known as  the Father of Taiwan’s ECMO (葉克膜) which is a life support system for emergency care.  Dr. Ker was also a forerunner of Taiwan’s organ transplant.  

Anyway, his goal in life as a medical practitioner is saving lives which took a dramatic turn when, against advice, he paid a visit to 陳水扁  - former president of Taiwan, & currently in jail for corruption & money laundering during his tenure.

The ruling KMT orchestrated prosecution campaign against Dr. Ker who was found guilty without due process, was demoted two “levels”, + dragged into a corruption investigation of NT$395 because he reported the purchase of a plastic chair as stationery, was crowned a more serious charge of falsifying documents 偽造文書, which could land him in jail.   As a result, he felt that he might be stripped of his professional qualification & became un-employed, he also felt that the judicial system was being manipulated, he must run for mayor to put things right.

The Taipei mayoral race was traditionally dominated by KMT (Blue Team) & Democratic Progressive Party (Green Team), but Dr. Ker ran as an independent which was unheard of, particularly of his complete lack of political experience.

In a pre-mayoral race debate hosted by DPP, and only between Dr. Ker & DPP's candidates, Dr. Ker defeated the candidates nominated by DPP by a wide margin.  DPP therefore made a strategic move of withdrawing all DPP candidates, so as to avoid splitting the votes,  &  giving Dr. Ker a fighting chance against KMT’s candidate of 連勝文, who is the son of 連戰 who was a former VP of the country & the family has massed considerable wealth through 2 generations of corruption and manupilation.

The mayoral race was the most exciting/interesting part in recent Taiwan political history. 連勝文 represented wealth & power, while Dr. Ker represented the oppressed mass.   

Right off the block, 連勝文 was the favourite to win, but Dr. Ker chipped away Lien’s lead via down-to-earth sincerity & honesty.

When Lien’s father 連戰,  noticed that his son was losing ground, he and his “old guards” started a smearing campaign which made matters even worse.

In the end, Dr. Ker won by a wide margin which also awakened the public that 2016’s presidential election may not be just between KMT & DPP.

Taiwan’s political scene has now entered a new era!  

dragondick

ECMO  (葉克膜)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extracorporeal_membrane_oxygenation




Images For ECMO:

https://www.google.ca/search?q=e ... C8QsAQ&dpr=1.46

dragondick

To maintain objectivity on the subject of Taiwan's political scene, the next President, to be elected in 2016, could well be 蔡英文, a female, well-educated & well-liked by the common folks.

I will predict that the next Taiwan President will not be from KMT because  it “systematically” destroyed its support base in end-2014's Taipei Mayoral Race.

蔡英文 lost the presidential race by 300K votes.  An independent won the mayoral race by 200+K votes.  



I have researched & arranged the following for 747 brothers' perusal:

2012蔡英文落選感言(台灣有史以來最有風度的落選感言)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt5Ddv9Gm0c


Bibliography of 蔡英文
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%94%A1%E8%8B%B1%E6%96%87



Images of 蔡英文

https://www.google.ca/search?q=% ... 494.htm%3B360%3B242

dragondick

I dug up one more video re the rise of 蔡英文.  IMHO, she could well be the first, directly-elected female President in recent Chinese history:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQCN8ClJFQE

dragondick

蔡英文's NOV28 2014 Pre-election speech.  Wow, what a speech!  

(It brought instant tears to Taichung Mayoral Race candidate!)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz4rxG6t2LA

dragondick

蔡英文 is Party Chairman of Democratic Progressive Party, & has a better-than-good chance of becoming the first, directly elected, female President of ROC in 2016's Presidential Race.

However, DPP advocates for an independent Taiwan which will never be allowed by PRC, it is just like the Canadian Federal Government allowing Quebec to be independent.

KMT (KuoMingTang) lost miserably in end-2014's municipal elections, will take a long time to recover, cannot be considered to reperesent the voice of Taiwan's general public.  How  蔡英文 maneuvers herself & positions DPP in the delicate relationship with PRC will be very interesting.

Meantime, let's learn about DPP:

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6 ... 2%E6%AD%A5%E9%BB%A8

dragondick

The following is a panel discussion organized by BBC-Taiwan Branch, analysing the result of NOV29 2014's election, the lesson learnt, how it will affect Taiwan's future elections, & the message to PRC:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lXRrj_8tTM