Why the Malaise in Taiwan Politics

I do not wish to give the impression that Richard C. Bush's book was an entirely one-dimensional portrayal of former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui.

After all, there were other interesting elements in the book as well - such as why politics in Taiwan is often militant and contentious.

For instance, Bush noted that current President Chen Shui-bian had not expected to win in the presidential elections in March 2000 as Chen's goal "had been only to do well in the election as a trial run for 2004." Consequently, Chen made no plans for a transition of government.

Furthermore, the ruling Democratic People's Party (DPP) lacked the personnel, in terms of both numbers and executive talent, to run a complex government like Taiwan's.

And besides, over the years, the DPP had also perfected the skills of criticizing and obstructing the government as part of its strategy for gaining power, "but its leaders were unprepared for being in the hot seat themselves - for having the responsibility for developing a policy agenda, winning public and parliamentary support for it, and implementing related programs."

"To make matters worse", Bush wrote, "the KMT and the People's First Party (PFP), which James Soong formed after the 2000 election, refused to give the DPP a honeymoon and were relentless in their criticism of it."

As Bush concluded, the DPP was slow to learn how to be the ruling party, and the KMT and the PFP were slow to learn how to be the opposition.