SinoInsight 1
On June 5, the overseas edition of CCP mouthpiece People’s Daily ran a commentary on Han Kuo-yu, a Kuomintang politician, a former presidential candidate and mayor of Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City. The commentary praised Han’s performance as Kaohsiung mayor while attacking the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) for pushing the recall motion to remove Han from his post. Several overseas Chinese media outlets and commentators mocked the CCP over the People’s Daily commentary, noting the CCP’s support for Han Kuo-yu practically guaranteed his recall.
On June 6, Kaohsiung voters passed the motion to recall Han Kuo-yu, the first time a mayor was ever successfully recalled in the Republic of China. The votes tallied 939,000 voters for and 25,000 against the recall motion. The number of votes supporting Han’s recall was higher than the 892,545 votes he garnered to win the mayorship in late 2018. Kaohsiung residents launched a “Recall Han” campaign last year as they were unhappy with Han Kuo-yu for using his office as a stepping stone to launch a presidential bid after only serving 162 days as Kaohsiung mayor. Many observers believe Han’s failed presidential bid and his recall were due to him being pro-Beijing and fears the CCP was grooming him to be their agent.
The KMT issued Chinese and English statements on its Facebook page after Han’s recall. Both statements acknowledged the voting result and expressed regret that Han was not able to fulfill his promises to the people of Kaohsiung. Both statements also slammed the DPP for its role in the “Recall Han” campaign (“political manipulation”) while promising to regain the trust of Kaohsiung residents. The English statement expressed anti-communist sentiments that were absent in the Chinese statement, “Chairman Johnny Chiang of the KMT states firmly that the Party–opposed to communism and aimed at building a democratic, free, prosperous and united country–and its members have always put Taiwan first for the benefit of the people.”
OUR TAKE
1. The recall of Han Kuo-yu is a victory for Taiwan’s democratic system and a heavy blow against the CCP’s subversion and propaganda, particularly if Han was being groomed as a “Manchurian Candidate.” The CCP has long sought to infiltrate Taiwanese politics and interfere with Taiwanese elections, as confirmed by defecting Chinese spy Wang Liqiang, to Australian media in 2019.
2. Han Kuo-yu’s recall in Kaohsiung also serves to further contrast Taiwan’s democracy with the PRC’s so-called “democracy.” While there are elections in the PRC, they are largely staged with outcomes decided beforehand. The CCP senior ranks decide the promotion of the lower ranks, and the common folk and non-CCP members have no say in deciding who governs them. Many observers believe the CCP regressed politically when it scrapped term limits for the PRC president and vice president in 2018, a move that essentially gave life tenure to Xi Jinping and Wang Qishan (see here for an analysis of why Xi scrapped term limits).
3. The KMT is likely looking to regain international support by expressing anti-communist sentiments in its English statement on Han’s recall. It is possible the KMT did not feature anti-communist sentiments in its Chinese statement, because it wants to retain support from Han Kuo-yu’s fanbase, over 1 million-strong.
There are signs the KMT’s younger generation and regular members are pushing for to rectify the party and restore the KMT’s anti-communist tradition. The KMT could see an internal split (including the establishing of a second party central) if its more powerful senior members refuse to reform the party.
In a recent online lecture, renowned Chinese scholar Xin Haonian said that there are “numerous anti-CCP underground ROC groups (地下民國派) in mainland China” who have plans to rebuild the KMT and establish another party central. The CCP will have a genuine cause for concern if the KMT groups in Taiwan and the mainland join forces to advance an anti-CCP agenda.
SinoInsight 2
On June 6, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the CCP for exploiting the death of George Floyd to spread propaganda. In a statement titled, “On the Chinese Communist Party’s Obscene Propaganda,” Pompeo contrasted the CCP’s authoritarianism, suppression, and intimidation with American transparency and freedom. For instance, Pompeo wrote that “when people–such as those in Hong Kong and Taiwan–with common roots in an awe-inspiring civilization that has endured for thousands of years embrace freedom, that freedom is crushed, and the people subordinated to Party dictates and demands. In the United States, in contrast, even amidst reckless rioting, we demonstrate our robust commitment to the rule of law, transparency, and unalienable human rights.” Pompeo concluded, “During the best of times, the PRC ruthlessly imposes communism. Amid the most difficult challenges, the United States secures freedom.”
Also on June 6, Secretary Pompeo likened the CCP’s decision to pass national security legislation on Hong Kong and tighten its grip over the city with the actions of Nazi Germany during the mid- to late-1930s. In an interview with The Daily Caller, Pompeo said, “the promises that the Chinese Communist Party had made in their treaty with the United Kingdom that they broke when they made the decision to deny Hong Kong people the freedoms that they had been promised were similar to some of the promises that were broken back in the days when Germany advanced against the rest of Europe.”
On June 7, the nationalistic Party media Global Times attacked Pompeo for his statements the previous day. “By smearing China as Nazi Germany, Pompeo clearly revealed Washington’s ideological hysteria,” Global Times wrote in an editorial. “Boasting an extreme ideology, lying publicly and fabricating charges to attack other countries, Pompeo behaves as if he is the infamous Joseph Goebbels of Nazi Germany rather than a top US diplomat.”
OUR TAKE
1. Secretary Pompeo’s June 6 statements strongly counter the CCP’s latest propaganda and disinformation campaign against the U.S. and put the Chinese communist regime on notice over Hong Kong and its persecution of the Chinese people. More importantly, Pompeo’s statements represent an attack on the CCP’s Achilles Heel—ideology. The CCP’s fears of an ideological battle against the U.S. are reflected in the Global Times’ attempt to dismiss Pompeo’s likening of the CCP regime with Nazi Germany as “Washington’s ideological hysteria.”
To “win” the propaganda battle, the CCP could attempt to shift the focus back to the U.S. by playing the “racism” card against the Trump administration. Already, the CCP is trying the “racism” card against Australia as part of a broader strategic effort to bully Australia into aligning with Beijing over Washington; on June 5, the PRC’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism claimed there was an “increase in discriminatory and violent action against Chinese and Asians in Australia” and warned Chinese tourists not to travel to Australia.
2. We wrote in July 2019 that the Sino-U.S. conflict is “not just a trade war or a tech war, but a critical battle of ideology, value systems, and morality.” Secretary Pompeo’s statements on June 6 verify our analysis of a key trend in the “new cold war” between the United States and the PRC. We expect the critical battle of ideology, value systems, and morality to escalate and become even more obvious going forward.
Pompeo praised the Chinese people, including those in Hong Kong and Taiwan, of having an “awe-inspiring civilization that has endured for thousands of years.” We noted previously that “Taiwan and Hong Kong have largely preserved traditional Chinese culture” and that “the central ‘clash of civilizations’ today is not between China and the West, but between the CCP and China’s 5,000-year-old civilization.” The Trump administration’s acknowledgment of Chinese civilization and continued efforts to differentiate between the Communist Party and the Chinese people are steps in the right direction to effectively counter the CCP threat.
The Trump administration can “compel Xi to consign the regime to the ash heap of history” if it implements novel solutions that target the CCP’s worst human rights abuses and show appreciation for authentic Chinese culture, alongside current strategies. SinoInsider has those novel solutions.
