Tag: KMT

Hung Hsiu-chu Returns Tanned, Rested…

…and ready for a thrashing in Taiwan's January presidential election

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu’s (洪秀柱) campaign team yesterday said that Hung would return to her normal schedule today, ending the “temporary break from daily campaign activities” she announced late on Wednesday night.

[…]

[But even] KMT spokesperson Yang Wei-chung (楊偉中) mocked [her recent Buddhist-related Facebook] post, saying, without specifically referring to Hung, “[are we going to have] a union of religion and state now?”

Evidence her own party has stopped lampooning her behind her back, and does it now directly to her face.

“Little Hot Pepper” Can’t Take The Heat

Get thee to a nunnery: KMT presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu goes to ground, placing her ill-fought campaign on hiatus.

When I first heard of Hung's bid, I regarded her warily. She wasn't one of the KMT's heavyweights – but then again, Bill Clinton wasn't a Democratic heavyweight back in '92. And, similar to Clinton, there was something admirable in her willingness to throw her hat into the ring against near-overwhelming odds.

But within a week or two, she astonished everyone by stating that she couldn't rightly say that the Republic of China actually existed.

A baffling admission, from one wishing to be president of that supposedly non-existent country!

Since then, her campaign has descended into a clown show – her 15% approval rating testifies to that. Apparently, a sharp tongue ≠  political smarts. 

Look, it was always going to be an uphill battle for the KMT after the misrule of President Ma Ying-jeou. A competent Kuomintang candidate might have managed a close (but face-saving) loss. Who knows what a brilliant one might have done?

If there's any lesson in all of this, it's that competitive party primaries are indispensable for discovering who party nominees truly are. Because had Hung Hsiu-chu been tested in debate with other KMT presidential hopefuls, her gaffes would have been made and pounced upon.

And she would have been quickly winnowed from the field.

Hung Hsiu-chu Irritated That Presidential Campaign Cuts Into Her Busy Litigation Schedule

The KMT's candidate for the Taiwanese presidency files yet another lawsuit against a media critic.

Perhaps if Hung Hsiu-chu hadn't flunked her bar exam she'd realize court cases suck up time and psychic energy – things she may need in her battle for high elective office.

So you just keep on stamping out those brush fires, Hung.

LMAO.

Should Hung Hsiu-chu Take The China Post’s Advice And Become Taiwan’s Dictator-For-Life?

I think the living would soon envy the dead:

Picture of KMT presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu with captions: '...autocracy can work, sometimes, under wise leadership.' -- The China Post. Democracy and autocracy each have their merits. July 25, 2015. and 'If coronated president, I promise to rule cruelly (yet wisely!) during my 38-year term.' --Hung Hsiu-chu

Long-time observers of Taiwanese politics will note this marks a logical progression from her predecessor's 2012 campaign slogan:

Image of man beaten bloody during Sunflower protests against Taiwanese president Ma Ying jeou, with caption: 'Rah rah, Obey Ma, Respect his, Authoritah.'

i-2

This Message Is Brought To You By The Chinese Communist Party…And The Committee To Elect Hung Hsiu-chu

CCP releases computer simulation of Chinese invasion of Taiwan to lend "support" to KMT presidential candidate

He’s a Boticcelli, He’s Keats, He’s Shelly – He’s Ovaltine

Ma’s advisers think he's "The Tops"

Now gifted humans
Like Vincent Youmans
Might think that their praise is bad:

…[Lee Tsung-chi (李總集), one of President Ma Ying-jeou's consiglieres,] criticized former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) for lifting the…restrictions that banned the establishment of new newspapers — which he said led to biased reporting that failed to do Ma justice.

But I've got a notion
(Not to second the motion)
But here is what I'm going to add:

That President Ma's close aides endorse censorship by the former KMT military junta speaks volumes about the character of the man who hired them. His authoritarian bent explains both the dictatorial style of governance he's subjected Taiwanese to over the past 6 years, as well as the source of his latest 70% disapproval rating.

Passengers Shall Refrain From Bullying The Nice Pilot Who’s Steering The Plane Into A Mountain

Comrade Joe Hung of the China Post complained last week that Taiwan's students and opposition parties are a bunch of big meanies for preventing President Ma Ying-jeou from surrendering the country to the Chinese Communist Party:

The opposition party has been bullying the Hong Kong-born Kuomintang president since he was first inaugurated in May 2008. The bully preys on those who are afraid of him. As they show fear, the bullying gets all the more overbearing. It's a vicious cycle.

[…]

He has been a pushover for more than seven years, in addition to being labeled as an incompetent president. Actually, he isn't incompetent. He is a victim of the bullying.

Which leads to the inevitable question: If President Ma really is the spineless coward that Joe Hung declares him to be, why is it so difficult for his supporters to imagine that he'd capitulate to Communist China?

(Or is Joe Hung so divorced from reality as to believe that the Chinese Communist Party is a lesser bully than the DPP and the Sunflower Movement?)

Lien Chan Rises From The Political Grave, Drives Stake Through The Heart Of His Own Son’s Electoral Campaign

We always hurt the ones we love:

How dessicated corpse Lien Chan took son Sean's 10-point gap in the polls…and widened it to an unbridgeable 20-point chasm

While most pundits thought [KMT politician Alex] Tsai originated several negative campaign tactics that are thought to have been a top factor in [Sean] Lien’s loss [in Taipei's mayoral race], a Lien campaign official yesterday said that the strategy originated with Lien’s father, former vice president and former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰).

The official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that surveys conducted for internal use only suggested that Sean Lien would lose to Ko by just 10 percent.

“We expected we would lose the election; we just did not expect to lose by this wide a margin,” the official said.

Elsewhere in the news:

KMT officials are falling over themselves resigning in response to the party's losses in Taiwan's recent local elections.

Even President Ma Ying-jeou is not immune, with his position as Kuomingtang chairman looking less and less secure by the minute.

If Ma steps down as KMT chairman, may I nominate Chairman Emeritus Lien Chan for a second stab at the job?

Oh, pleasepleaseplease Santa – I don't want much, and I've been awfully good…

POSTSCRIPT: Whut? You mean the Lien family had ulterior motives in having Sean Lien run for the mayorship of Taipei?

Sean Lien’s defeat is not merely a setback for his personal political career: It also severely tarnishes his father’s position and political stature in Taiwan — and in Beijing as well.

Likewise, the special privileges awarded by Chinese [Communist Party] authorities to Lien family businesses could be revoked or reduced in due time.

But, but – the China Post assured us that Sean Lien wasn't in it for the money. He was only seeking to become mayor out of a deep sense of altruism and commitment to public service for the people of Taipei. They gave us their WORD!

This is my shocked face.