Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Eight Blue and Six Green Local Governments Besiege the Central Government

Eight Blue and Six Green Local Governments Besiege the Central Government
United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC) 
A Translation 
October 5, 2016

Executive Summary: If the Tsai government genuinely wishes to practice “humility”, Tsai Ing-wen should reflect upon why the eight blue camp and six green camp county chiefs and city mayors are soliciting Mainland tourism. She should think about the many people trapped by her policies. If she lacks even this awareness, she is completely out of touch with the people.

Full Text Below:

President Tsai Ying-wen has convened her first "Policy Coordination Conference". She personally stepped up to the plate to deal with disputes between the party and the government. She issued directives concerning labor laws and pension reform. She will also weigh in on the Mega Holdings case. The Executive Yuan is waiting for the signal to begin the slaughter. The Control Yuan will prosecute the six people previously responsible for financial and economic policy. Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Ding Kehua has already been asked to resign. Clearly ruling administration incompetence and party pressure have forced Tsai Ying-wen to stand on the front line.

People are out for blood. Interestingly enough, that same day in Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung, several green camp heads sat down to discuss how they could persuade Mainland tourists to visit the region. They hoped to promote tourism in southern Taiwan. They asked the central government to increase the number of Mainland tourists permitted to travel about Taiwan freely. They even asked for permission to visit the Mainland to drum up business. Yunlin and Taichung did not participate, buth they echoed the same sentiments. They want cross-regional cooperation promoting Mainland tourism to central Taiwan. Their pragmatic attitude contrasts sharply with Tsai's directive to "strenuously resist China [sic]" issued by the central government.

This is ironic. Recently the heads of eight blue camp governed counties and municipalities visited the Mainland to encourage tourism to Taiwan. Green camp politicians denounced them as "eight blue slaves". Green media conglomerates even accused them of " colluding with China [sic] to divide Taiwan", and demanded that the central government deny these counties and municipalities subsidies. Now however, the heads of six green camp governed counties and municipalities in central and southern Taiwan have also visited the Mainland to encourage tourism to Taiwan. Do green media conglomerates intend to denounce them as "six green slaves" as well? The heads of six green camp governed counties and municipalities have gone to the Mainland to solicit Mainland tourism. Have they seen through the central government's flawed cross-Strait policy? Have they come to the conclusion that it is harming people in their districts?

The heads of six green camp governed counties and municipalities are fighting for Mainland tourists. Their motivation is no different from that of blue camp governed counties and municipalities. All have felt the impact of Tsai government cross-Strait policy on their regional economies. Tourism industry earnings have been affected. The livelihood of many individuals have been affected. These problems must be resolved. Who loves Taiwan more? Those who scream "eight blue slaves"? Or those who braved accusations of "selling out Taiwan" by visiting the Mainland to solicit tourism? Who is more concerned about the people of Taiwan. Is that not abundantly clear?

To distinguish between politicians and statesmen, one must see whom they care about. Those who offer only sarcasm but no solutions, are politicians. Those who spout high-minded rhetoric, but make others pay with empty bellies, are politicians. Those who abuse their authority, who kill and take, with nary a kind word or gesture, are politicians. They feel no guilt sacrificing the public to feather their own nests. Instead, when asked to set aside their arrogance and do something for the public, they “refuse to sacrifice even a single hair to save the world".

It is not our intention to deify the eight heads of blue camp governed counties and municipalities, or the six heads of green camp governed counties and municipalities. They are merely trying to work around an irrational policy. In any case, their pragmatism shows they still have a place in their hearts for the people. It proves they are more admirable than the politicians who only wish to mock "eight blue slaves". Tsai Ing-wen's cross-Strait policy has a stranglehold on Taiwan's tourism economy and local people's livelihoods. Now however, a new alliance is possible between the eight blue camp counties and municipalities, and the six green camp counties and municipalities. Now they can lay seige to the central government. The leaders of these blue and green counties and municipalities have shown how far removed Tsai government policies are from reality and the will of the people. They may have set cross-Strait goodwill back many years. If this is not mediocrity, what is?

Tsai Ing-wen finds herself on the horns of a dilemma. She must now adopt a hardline in order to extricate herself. On the surface, the Lin cabinet's poor performance is to blame. But at a deeper level, the president's own reversal in cross-Strait policy has made peace difficult to maintain. In fact she herself bears far greater responsibility. Consider the string of fiascoes since May 20, including the WHO annual meeting, the South China Sea arbitration case, the accidental missile firing, the Mainland tourists burned to death in a tour bus, and Taiwan's exclusion from the ICAO Assembly. How many were due to tense cross-Strait relations? Were these not the result of Tsai Ing-wen's flawed judgment? The Tsai government imposed this unnecessary burden upon itself. It is the one that must remove the burden.

If the Tsai government genuinely wishes to practice “humility”, Tsai Ing-wen should reflect upon why the eight blue camp and six green camp county chiefs and city mayors are soliciting Mainland tourism. She should think about the many people trapped by her policies. If she lacks even this awareness, she is completely out of touch with the people.

從藍八到綠六,地方反包圍中央
2016-10-05 聯合報

蔡英文總統召開首次「執政決策協調會議」,親上火線處理黨政爭議事項。除對《勞基法》修法及「年金改革」下達指令,她也在會中裁示嚴辦兆豐案,行政院隨即奉旨大開殺戒,將前後任財金首長六人移送監院,金管會主委丁克華則早一步「被請辭」。很顯然,在執政不順及黨內壓力的夾擊下,蔡英文被迫選擇走向「戰鬥路線」。

在殺氣騰騰之中,值得注意的是,同一天舉行的南高屏澎區域治理平台,卻見幾位綠色執政首長在大談如何爭取陸客前往南高屏澎觀光,除了推動南台灣旅遊行程,還要求中央提高自由行旅客的配額,甚至不排除登陸行銷。雲林和台中雖未參加此平台,卻也聞訊雀躍,希望能跨區域加入合作,一起行銷中台灣。這樣的務實態度,與蔡英文從中央發出的「力抗中國」指令,恰成鮮明的對照。

諷刺的是,日前泛藍八縣市首長赴中國大陸爭取陸客來台觀光,橫遭綠營政治人物以「藍八奴」的汙名大加詆譭,親綠媒體甚至指控他們是「配合中國,分化台灣」,要求中央刪除這些縣市的補助款。而今,綠營中南六縣市首長擬跟進爭取大陸觀光客,難道要稱他們「綠六奴」?再試問,綠營六縣市自組平台吸引陸客,難道不是看穿了中央的兩岸政策對地方人民不利?

綠營六縣市首長要爭取陸客,其動機其實和泛藍縣市沒有什麼不同,都是因為感受到蔡政府的兩岸政策對自己執政縣市的經濟造成了衝擊,不僅相關觀光產業收入減少,不少民眾的生計也受了影響,這些現實的民生問題必須設法解決。從這個角度看,是那些喊出「藍八奴」的人比較愛台,還是冒著「賣台」指摘登陸爭取觀光客的首長比較關心台灣民眾,豈非立刻真相大白了?

要區別政客和政治人物,要先看他們的關懷為何。只會說風涼話、卻拿不出具體解決方案的人,是政客。只會說冠冕堂皇的大話、卻讓別人挨餓付出代價的,也是政客。手握大權生殺予奪、卻又要作出一副仁慈優雅姿態的,則更是政客。因為,他們利用民眾的犧牲來裝飾自己的皇冠,絲毫不覺得愧疚;反之,要他們放下一點傲慢來做點有利社會大眾的事,他們卻是「拔一毛以利天下而不為」。

我們無意讚美泛藍營八首長,更無意歌頌綠營六首長,他們其實只是企圖在一個不合理的政策環境中找出一條路來。但無論如何,光是「務實」這點,顯示他們心中還有民眾,即證明他們比那些只會譏誚「藍八奴」的政客更值得欽佩。進一步看,如果說蔡英文的兩岸政策對台灣的觀光經濟及地方民眾生計構成了扼殺,今天從「泛藍八首長」登陸,到「綠營六縣市」的聯合自救,儼然已形成了一個對中央的反包圍之勢。藍綠縣市首長在爭取陸客上的有志一同,也恰恰反映了蔡政府當前的兩岸政策多麼脫離現實,不僅驅民於淵,甚至導致兩岸交流多年的善意付諸東流。這不是庸人自擾是什麼?

蔡英文陷入今天的執政困境,以致被迫要採取強硬的政治戰鬥路線自救,表面上看,林全內閣的表現不佳難辭其咎。但深一層看,總統自己在兩岸政策上的轉軌,造成和平現狀難以維持,其實要負更大的責任。試想,五二○以來的諸多事件,包括世衛組織年會、南海仲裁案、飛彈誤射、陸客驟減及火燒車事件、乃至無法出席國際民航組織大會,在在皆是因兩岸關係緊張而起,這難道不是蔡英文判斷所致?亦即,如果要減輕執政上的不必要負擔,解鈴恐怕仍需繫鈴人。

如果真有謙卑之心的話,蔡英文看到「藍八」到「綠六」縣市首長群起搶救陸客觀光的作為,應該自我反省,更應該想想多少民眾此刻正因自己的決策而生計受困。若連這點現實感都沒有,那就離民眾太遠了!

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