Since it waxed after its victory in the “nine in one election” and Han’s fad sprang up at the end of 2018, Kuomintang (KMT) has waned in just a little more than a year, from the win to the defeat in the presidential and the Legislative Yuan election, to the removal of Han Kuoyu, who almost saved the whole party, by 930,000 votes about a month ago. Request for reform within the KMT, which was heard after its every blunder in election, has been triggered off in no time. But, how should the KMT reform? Or, to be precise, what else could the KMT reform?

Chiang Chichen, the Chairman of the KMT who took office on March 7, 2020, should be exempted from the blame for removal of Han on June 6, 2020. Yet, when it comes to the culprit of the repeated defeats of the KMT, which is also the biggest challenge to Chairman Chiang in the reform down the line, it should boil down to the ideology towards “1992 consensus” embraced by the conservative faction within the part, Huang Fuxing branch too difficult to control, the extreme populism brought about by Han’s followers and decentralization of power by district factions.

“One China, respective interpretations” becomes a global laughing stock

The abovementioned, which have become inherent parts of the party, are thorny issues for the KMT to get rid of in the short term. Yet, without weeding out the inherent parts, any reforms would become empty slogans. Taiwan’s younger generation has thrown off blue and green for long and been fed up with the lip service paid by all political parties and politicians. Unless he lets the party’s burden go by the board, Chiang will not make any successful reforms and the election campaign in 2022 will end in fiasco again for the KMT.

In light of China’s diplomatic suppression of Taiwan for many years and the threat from increasing frequency of China’s fighter jets patrolling around in Taiwan’s airspace, the KMT worries people with its one-China complex aroused by “1992 consensus”. Not until recently did Ma Yingjeou, the former Chairman of the KMT, call on return to “1992 consensus” while the request of the younger generation within the party for forsaking “1992 consensus” and an alternative narrative of cross-strait policy has not been responded to with support by the KMT Central Standing Committee.

Everyone knows the key of “1992 consensus”, which has never existed indeed, lies in the notion of “one China, respective interpretations”. However, nowadays, jabbering away that the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China can coexist with “one China, two interpretations” has not only been a global laughing stock, but also a manifestation of the fact that the KMT, when confronted with Democratic Progressive Party’s pragmatic notion of “Taiwan independence”, cannot but dodge about.

Thus it can be seen that if the KMT does not give up the notion of unification, China factors(such as the anti-extradition movement and the national security law for Hong Kong) will always be deadly to its election campaign. The question the younger generation wants to ask the KMT bosses most is: when China was cracking down on dissidents, persecuting Hong Kong people and Uygurhs by infringing on their human rights, why were you reticent about it? In all democracies, only the constitutional setup and protection of human rights are the everlasting bed stone while any ideology or convention upheld by a political party is just transitionary. No political lines are unchangeable as long as wining over voters is the priority.

The competition between the Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. presidential and Congress election is a good example. Both parties attach importance only to victory in election. If the KMT craves throwing off its burden in a bid to avoid being eroded and split up by the People’s Party and win over voters by appearing as a successfully reformed party, it should collaborate with the government to proceed with constitutional amendment to abrogate the Examination Yuan and Control Yuan, as well as investigating political injustice in the period of authoritarianism and clearing up and returning party’s ill-gotten properties.

Meanwhile, it is the younger generation that should make and advocate any decisions about the party reform and localization , such as ditching “1992 consensus” and “one China, respective interpretations”, and deleting “China” in its party name, on top of revoking Huang Fuxing branch so that the party comes to terms with democracy and returns to normality. In spite of the fact that during the reform in the future, Huang Fuxing branch, populists and followers of Han Kuoyu, and some district factions will part ways with the party, it will be a turning point for the KMT to get unfettered by the image of hard-line unificationists and reborn as a local political party regaining trust from the voters of middle blue and economic blue.

Taiwanese are more than happy to see healthy competition between robust political parties. Yet, the KMT, are you really ready?

(Peng Ruiren, Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science of Soochow University)

Click here for Chinese version.

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