KMT stalwarts begin to openly discuss changing Taiwan into an illiberal democracy:
…there is nothing "terrible" if one party controls both the legislative and executive branches of government. Nothing terrible has happened in Singapore after the ruling PAP’s (People Action Party) established one-party dominance. In fact, Singapore is the envy of the developing world, just as Taiwan once was.
It would be only too easy to rattle off a list of one-party states that subsequently became hells-on-earth. Funny how president-elect Ma Ying-jeou never mentioned this little scheme in front of the electorate. But then I guess he’s clever enough to realize proposing a soft dictatorship BEFORE the polls open might not have gone down so well with the voting public.
For readers’ reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany#Rise_to_power
BTW, that first link (“openly discuss”) should be:
http://tinyurl.com/29232t
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The exact lines I quoted are from the link I provided, so that’s why I linked there. But you’re right, the FIRST time David Ting of the China Post began to sound out the idea was in the column you mention in your tinyurl.
(I’ve just GOTTA find time to write a post about that earlier column!)
Incidentally, the whole “one-party hells-on-earth” line of mine may have the unfortunate effect of distracting the reader from another truth – namely, that one-party states have opportunities for corruption and petty tyranny built into the system.
Realistically speaking, A one-party Taiwan under the KMT is unlikely to be a hell on earth. (They won’t, for example, open concentration camps or launch a military rampage across the continent of Asia.) But what they CAN do is turn the country into an pretty unpleasant place to live, as demonstrated by their previous 40-year long record.
Ah, I see.