Wednesday, October 5, 2016

How Can the President Govern when the DPP is Waging Gang Warfare?

How Can the President Govern when the DPP is Waging Gang Warfare? 
China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC) 
A Translation 
October 5, 2016

Executive Summary: President Tsai Ying-wen will be facing more and more such challenges to her authority from within her own party. She will have to remember what she told her comrades in her letter to party members: "In politics, there is no one else. The responsibility is yours”. But responsibility means being able to resist pressure from the green media and party factions as well.

Full Text Below:

The New York branch of Mega Financial Services has been fined 180 million USD by the New York State Department of Financial Services. Premier Lin Chuan could no longer resist the political pressure. He fired six officials, including Ting Kung-wha, former Financial Management Committee Chairpersons Chen Yu-chang, Tseng Min-chong, Wang Li-ling, former Finance Minister Chang Sheng-he, and current Minister of Finance Hsu Yu-che. They have been turned over to the Control Yuan for prosecution. In the past TV pundits would spread rumors to incite public outrage. Today they are “court physicians” in the Imperial Palace. They impeached these officials and forced them to step down. The Mega Financial Services incident will leave an indelible imprint on Taiwan's political history.

The executive, the judiciary, elected representatives, and the general public all lack the “primordial force” required to uncover the truth about Mega Financial Services. They assumed they would uncover evidence of high-level KMT money laundering, but came up blank. Out of 174 Mega Financial Services remittances in 76 accounts, not a single remittance was from Taiwan. Central Bank President Perng Fai-nan confirmed that "no money-laundering took place", and that the case concerned only "compliance issues". TV pundits' allegations of "high-level KMT money-laundering" were clearly fictitious. Nevertheless the FSC vice chairman and six outgoing and incumbent department heads are under investigation. Perng Fai-nan is also under attack by TV pundits. In a rare statement, he said that “once his term is up, he will not seek re-appointment”.

President Tsai Ying-wen has been taken hostage by TV pundits. Mob sentiment rules the nation. Is this reasonable? Financial losses suffered by other nations may prove instructive. Following the financial tsunami in 2007, the US increased financial oversight and frequently imposed huge fines on financial institutions to ensure financial discipline and meet the needs of counter-terrorism. JP Morgan Chase Bank was fined 13 billion USD. Deutsche Bank was recently fined 14 billion USD. By contrast, Mega Financial Services was fined 180 million USD. Many other banks have been fined more than 1 billion USD. But not one of these nations' governments required the heads of financial oversight agencies to step down. Still less did they prosecute six former or current heads of such agencies. The DPP has clearly handled the case in a grossly unbalanced and disproportionate manner.

“Let the punishment fit the crime”. Punishment that panders to mob sentiment and is disproportionate to any alleged crimes, has grave consequences for the nation and endangers the Tsai government. It will have at least three repercussions. First, it has encouraged green media meddling in the government. When the Mega Financial Services case first erupted, TV talk shows and green camp TV pundits alleged that the funds were laundered Kuomintang party assets. They went online and named Chou Mei-ching, King Pu-chong, and Ma Ying-jeou. They “fired their arrows, then drew targets”. They claimed that anyone and everyone connected with the FSC was guilty. Ting Ker-hua insisted that "charges require evidence”. He eventually laid out the results of his investigation. The rumor-mongers were forced to eat crow. Enraged, they vented their spleen on Ting Ker-hua and forced him to step down. These talking heads are a blight upon the nation. That much everyone agrees upon. Tsai Ing-wen as president has a responsibility to resist political pressure and not dance to the tune of the chattering class. Forcing Ting Ker-hua to step down has rewarded these pundits. It has encouraged them to persist in their political rumor mongering.

Secondly, it has encouraged DPP gang warfare. Many Democratic Progressive Party insiders have loosed arrows at Mega Financial Services. Long-term observation of these TV pundits reveals their factional affiliations. They service the needs of the media. They also collude with certain factions. They are in fact faction members. DPP factional rivalry has long been gang warfare over resources and positions. In the past, when it was in the opposition, the object of its Kulturkampf was the KMT. Now that the DPP is in power, and the nation's resources are in their hands, the gang warfare has turned inward. Rumor mongering and political attacks have their roots in behind the scenes power struggles. Ting Ker-hua has been toppled. Yet another political post is up for grabs. Ting Ker-hua has just resigned. Yet rumors about the FSC are already flying. The fight for official positions has already begun.

Ting Ker-hua, Chairman of the FSC, hoped his professionalism could reform Taiwan's financial environment. Now the DPP Kulturkampf has forced him to step down. This is a serious blow to Tsai Ing-wen and Lin Chuan's ability to appoint officials with integrity. The DPP's foolish factional power struggles have undermined Tsai Ing-wen's ability to recruit professional talent. Factions have taken Tsai Ying-wen hostage. She is no longer able to move. Accomplishing anything will be difficult.

Thirdly, taking to the front lines will rapidly degrade the president's prestige. The FSC chairman has stepped down. Six agency heads are being prosecuted. Green media and political faction power struggles forced this move. But the final order was handed down by Tsai Ing-wen. Tsai Ing-wen is the leader of the nation. But when party factions call the shots, how can career officials perform their duties in accordance with the law?

A few days ago, the Tainan City Council Chairman by-election made waves. Tuan Yi-kang mocked fellow party member Acting Speaker Kuo Hsing-liang. Tuan said "The failure to elect a chairman is most beneficial to the vice chairman”. Kuo Hsing-liang asked for a leave of absence, and shelved the by-election. Eventually Tsai Ying-wen personally called Kuo Hsing-liang and asked him to resolve the matter. Tsai Ying-wen has been in office less than six months. Yet she is already being called upon to act as peacemaker. When a president must be hands-on and in the line of fire, the chances that she will take a bullet greatly increase, and her prestige as a leader will rapidly be diminished.

President Tsai Ying-wen will be facing more and more such challenges to her authority from within her own party. She will have to remember what she told her comrades in her letter to party members: "In politics, there is no one else. The responsibility is yours”. But responsibility means being able to resist pressure from the green media and party factions as well.

民進黨幫派化,總統如何治國
2016/10/6 中國時報

兆豐金紐約分行被紐約州金融服務署裁罰1.8億美元事件,行政院院長林全終於難擋政治壓力,批准金管會主委丁克華、政務副主委桂先農辭職下台,蔡英文總統續下嚴令要求究責,行政院立即將丁克華與前金管會主委陳裕璋、曾銘宗、王儷玲、前財政部長張盛和以及現任財政部長許虞哲等6人移送監察院追究責任。過去電視名嘴至多製造街譚巷議,影響社會觀瞻,而今如古代御史大夫,可糾彈大臣令其掛冠而去。兆豐事件會在台灣政治發展史上,留下重要印記。

行政機關、司法機關、民意代表、輿論都窮「洪荒之力」調查兆豐案真相,希望找出國民黨高層洗錢證據,卻一無所獲,兆豐的174筆匯款交易、76個帳戶中,沒有任何一筆是從台灣匯出,央行總裁彭淮南也證實「沒有洗錢」,本案是「法遵問題」。名嘴繪聲繪影的「國民黨高層洗錢」顯然子虛烏有,卻還是震掉了金管會正副主委,並有6位卸任與現任的部會首長遭移送,彭淮南也在飽受名嘴攻詰後,罕見表態「任期屆滿絕不續任」。

蔡英文總統如此被名嘴綁架,形同民粹治國,是否合理?不妨從其他國家處理金融違失案件的經驗比對。美國在2007年金融海嘯後,為整頓金融秩序及反恐需要,金融監理單位大幅升高金融監理強度,動輒對金融機構課以巨額罰鍰。摩根大通銀行曾遭罰130億美元,德意志銀行最近也因案被提出140億美元和解罰金,相較於兆豐遭罰1.8億美元,其他被罰超過10億美元的銀行比比皆是。但從沒有一國的府會因此要求金融監理機關首長下台,更不要說一口氣移送6位前任與現任部會首長究責。民進黨以顯然失衡、不合比例的手法處理此案。

「罰不當罪,不祥莫大焉」,一個順從民粹、不相襯的處斷,會為國家治理留下極大的後遺症,也會危及蔡英文總統的施政。至少衍生3個不祥禍患,首先,鼓勵綠媒干政。兆豐案發生伊始,政論節目與綠營名嘴便一面倒用「想像力」,言之鑿鑿攀連與國民黨黨產有關,認定是國民黨高層洗錢,還上綱牽扯周美青、金溥聰與馬英九,「先射箭再畫靶」,隔空指導金管會必須「入人於罪」。丁克華堅持「有一分證據說一分話」,最後把調查結果攤開,造謠名嘴全被打臉,便將怒氣指向丁克華,轟他下台。名嘴禍國,已是全民共識。蔡英文身為總統,有責任頂扛壓力,不隨名嘴言論起舞。讓丁克華下台等於給了名嘴一顆大糖果,鼓勵其繼續造謠干政,此其禍一。

第2禍,縱容民進黨幫派鬥爭。民進黨內對兆豐案放箭者所在多有,長期觀察電視名嘴言論,可查知其派系背景,名嘴言論除配合媒體需要,多有配合派系運作的作用,可以說,名嘴本身就是派系成員。而民進黨派系政治一直有搶資源、搶位置、「幫派化鬥爭」的副作用。過去在野時,幫鬥文化對象是執政的國民黨,現在民進黨上台了,資源與位置在自己人手上,幫鬥文化轉而向內,放話放箭,背後都有爭權奪位的目的。打下丁克華,就代表多了1個分配資源的位置,丁克華才請辭,果然金管會的放話戰、卡位戰就熱鬧上演。

丁克華是林全「求來」的金管會主委,本想用其專業為革新台灣金融環境建功。現在丁克華卻因幫鬥文化下台,將嚴重打擊蔡英文與林全的用人權。因為,這也是另一個給民進黨內蠢動爭權派系的一顆糖果,削弱的是蔡英文專業用人空間,當派系綁架蔡英文,其執政也將動彈不得、難有施展。

第3禍,親上火線將加速磨耗總統的威望。金管會主委下台、移送6位首長究責,源頭是綠媒干政與派系爭奪,最後下令的卻是蔡英文。蔡英文是國家的領導人,卻代黨內派系行問斬令,又如何要求政務官與常任文官依法行政?

日前台南議長補選掀波,段宜康諷刺同黨代理議長郭信良「正的選不出來,副的最有利」,郭信良宣稱將請假擱置改選案。最後還是由蔡英文親自打電話給郭信良化解心結。蔡英文就任未及半年,竟然需要親自打電話當和事佬,當總統必須事必躬親、親上火線,被火紋身的機會就大大增加,領導威信必受拖累。

蔡英文總統面對黨內派系的權力挑戰將愈來愈大,蔡英文要記住的是她在給黨員信中的一句話:「政治之道無他,承擔就對了。」承擔就要先抗得住綠媒與派系的壓力。


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