Political tricks prove ineffective once again

Kung Chi-ping says recent elections in HK and Taiwan show politicians who try to hoodwink the public will come unstuck

In politics, those who believe they can outsmart the public never end well. The recent elections in Hong Kong and Taiwan proved once again that playing political games is no way to success. Let’s look at the results of the “nine-in-one” elections in Taiwan last Saturday first. The governing Democratic Progressive Party got thrashed by Kuomintang spectacularly just halfway through its first term in office, losing all but six races for city and county governments, while KMT snatched 15 counties and cities, including Kaohsiung, Taichung and New Taipei City, with Taipei won by an independent candidate. The most shocking result has to be the landslide defeat of the DPP candidate by KMT challenger Han Kuo-yu in the mayoral election of Kaohsiung, long considered the toughest stronghold of the DPP. Han called himself a “vegetable seller” and handed the DPP its most humiliating loss yet.

In Hong Kong’s Legislative Council by-election in Kowloon West geographical constituency on Sunday, we saw veteran opposition big shot and former LegCo member Lee Cheuk-yan challenged by and lost to “political newbie” Chan Hoi-yan. After conceding defeat, Lee blamed the rain as one of the reasons for his loss, saying lousy weather might have dampened some middle-class voters’ desire to go to the polling stations. He also accused fellow opposition politician and former lawmaker Fung Kin-kee of “stealing” his supporters, even though the two of them got fewer votes together than Chan did.

As a matter of fact, both the DPP in Taiwan and the opposition camp in Hong Kong have heavily invested in their campaigns and did everything they could in their political playbook. However, their dazzling display of political tricks failed to win over majority of voters because they neglected the most important issue — the economy. They chose to ignore the reality that the voting public is much more concerned about reviving local economy to improve people’s well-being. As a result, their painstaking political maneuvering pushed far more people away instead of winning them over. It is fair to say they redefined campaign politics in the worst possible way.

There are numerous fraudsters in the world who make a living by telling lies. In this case both the DPP in Taiwan and the opposition camp in Hong Kong are outstanding liars, especially when they need public support.

The DPP was founded on the belief in Taiwan independence and knows all too well it is very hard to pull off. That is why it has created an imaginary enemy out of the mainland to justify its pursuit for independence. Its favorite accusations against the mainland include “bullying Taiwan”, “belittling Taiwan”, “squeezing Taiwan’s breathing space” and “planning to unify Taiwan by force”. It also ignores the “one country, two systems” and peaceful reunification principle the mainland follows. Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen, who was DPP chairperson in recent years, has rejected the “1992 consensus” and the one-China principle since taking office.

The “nine-in-one” elections are for local governments and have nothing to do with the mainland, but the DPP chose to play the “anti-China” card to the maximum this time to instigate hatred against the mainland. It was obviously a gamble and a very costly one because the lies backfired big time.

The opposition camp in Hong Kong also adopted the “imaginary enemy” strategy to win public support because deep down it does not like “one country, two systems”. The opposition parties apparently prefer “two systems” to “one country” and always accuse central government authorities of pursuing “one country, one system” and trying to turn Hong Kong into just another mainland city. In LegCo proceedings, they oppose every policy or idea introduced by the SAR government because the central government approves it. They are so fond of demonizing the central government they have gone out of their way to scare the public with all kinds of horror stories.

Such manipulative tactics can be traced back to the Cold War era and did work to some extent once in a while, but times have changed, and economies of both Taiwan and Hong Kong are linked to the mainland economy closer than ever, as are exchanges among compatriots of the three regions. The animositytriggering political tall tales do not work now.

Another political tactic the DPP in Taiwan and the opposition camp in Hong Kong are good at is leveraging outside influence. The DPP has always enjoyed Washington’s “moral support’ in swaying voters during elections over the years. This time it succeeded in getting the US government onboard its “Beijing’s interference” bandwagon before the “nine-in-one” local elections, in addition to suggesting more arms sales to Taiwan to “counter mainland threat”. Of course such maneuvers also serve Washington’s own Asia-Pacific strategy.

For the opposition camp in Hong Kong the excuse to enlist foreign governments have always been “democracy”, “freedom” and “human rights” besides “meddling by Beijing”, but in addition to Washington it also gets political cheers from the likes of former governor Chris Patten of the United Kingdom and western press. Some prominent opposition figures even traveled to the US and UK to bad-mouth Beijing in front of their legislatures in an attempt to show voters at home that Western powers got their back against the central government.

There is no question the DPP in Taiwan and the opposition camp in Hong Kong tried their best to win the recent elections but apparently even generous support from the most formidable foreign governments in the world failed to work as hoped. And it was their own fault whether they admit it or not.

There are numerous fraudsters in the world who make a living by telling lies. In this case both the DPP in Taiwan and the opposition camp in Hong Kong are outstanding liars...

The article is translated from a commentary published in Ta Kung Pao on Thursday, Nov 29.