The Rise and Fall of Han Kuo-yu (Part 2): 30 Years of Democracy

This is a translation of the original 全面解析韓國瑜的暴起暴落 by Chiang Ping-lun (江昺崙), a Ph.D. student at National Taiwan University. Originally published by Business Today Magazine. Part 1 can be found here. Translation by Chieh-Ting Yeh.

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The fact that Chiang Ching-kuo’s legacy has gripped Taiwanese society for the past thirty years shows how we haven’t, or has refused to, address our past. The mainstream in Taiwan’s society has been the very boomer generation that came of age during Chiang’s era. They are overly confident in their accomplishments, to the point where they lose the ability to think critically about their own history, aesthetics or even the idea of “freedom and equality.”

Why did “Han Fans” come out of the woodwork in 2018? Because as Taiwan moved on from its authoritarian past, some people are nostalgic for that bygone era. Han was their connection to the past.

These people believe that education reforms have “screwed up” Taiwan’s kids because kids now have “too much freedom,” and “not enough harsh punishment.” These people refuse to acknowledge how much socio-economic prejudice and bullying went on back then. They still think it’s totally fine to make fun of gender stereotypes, which is repulsive to young people today.

Even right now, our entire society is still bearing the intangible traumas of our authoritarian past. People who are still living in the past have deep anxieties towards today’s Taiwan. They worry that democratization, education reforms, marriage equality and other changes will break apart the society. Yet, Taiwan has only gotten more stable and more progressive; the only thing that broke is their conservative patriarchy.

They want to restore the comfort of the authoritarian 1980s, and Han Kuo-yu was their front man (Of course, understandably Han’s supporters also include those who identify with his mainlander cultural identity).

After the turmoils of 2019, now that Tsai is reelected and the DPP maintained its majority in parliament, perhaps 2020 is a turning point for Taiwan to finally rid itself of Chiang Ching-kuo’s legacy.

Goodbye Ko Wen-je, goodbye Han Kuo-yu

Ko Wen-je is not shy about his disdain for women, and he doesn’t realize why that’s bad. Han Kuo-yu also casually shows off his chauvinism, like telling indigenous people “looking at you guys partying just makes me want to sing and dance,” or saying “you can just learn your mother language at home.” This is exactly the attitude from people whose “Chinese culture” makes them feel superior. This was the mainstream from the 1980s, but not anymore.

Ko and Han’s words are often the butt of jokes within young people. This says that their values and attitudes are outdated and conflicts with what young people think today. And the more defensive Ko and Han’s supporters get, the more they alienate everyone else.

As the younger generation witness the tragic consequences of One Country Two Systems in Hong Kong, they grow more skeptical of Han’s “Get Rich” slogan. The election results show that the public in general rejects the Chiang Ching-kuo legacy as represented by these two men.

Transitional justice 

In 2018, the DPP formed a transitional justice commission within the government to look into past wrongs by the KMT during the authoritarian era. But its work has been difficult, given conservative pushback. When the issue is mentioned, the society at large is still superficially focused on the 228 Massacre from 1947, or sees it merely as a political tool. The lead commissioners were horribly humiliated by KMT legislators.

But at least the work has begun. The commission is operational, and many former political prisoners have had their convictions overturned. The stories from that era, which used to be taboo, are being turned into theater and literature. Younger generations who were not personally involved are seeing the events through a simple humanitarian and human rights lens.

A few examples of how Taiwanese society is starting to reflect on this past. In 2018, PX Mart had a TV commercial that referenced the alleged murder of Prof. Chen Wen-chen. Although it still caused a controversy, at least it became a topic of open discussion rather than something censored. Then there’s the game Detention, which became so popular it was made into a movie, itself a blockbuster. The slogan from the game “Did you forget, or are you afraid to remember” even became a popular saying in 2019.

The ideas of revolutionary Su Beng (who passed away in 2019) is also now a popular topic, and the 40th anniversary of the Kaohsiung Incident was well received. Su Beng represented a radical Taiwanese nationalism and advocated for armed uprisings. He was considered a terrorist by the KMT. Even as late as the early 1990s, college students were arrested for reading Su Beng’s 400 Years of Taiwanese History.

However in the past decade or so, Su Beng is no longer considered a dangerous and taboo subject. When he died last year, thousands of people turned up at Ketagalan Boulevard to pay their respects. As for the Kaohsiung Incident, the underground magazine that started it all, The Formosa, was “revived” by Apple Daily as a commemorative reprint. It was sold out immediately.

As these cultural events accumulate, they become bricks in the building of a new Taiwanese imagined community. Contemporary Taiwanese share in the values of democracy and freedom, and are ever more aware of equality and human rights. It is the beginning of a mature democratic society that shed the legacy of Taiwan’s last dictator.

 Constitutional Reform

On January 2, the Chief of the General Staff General Shen Yi-ming was killed in a helicopter accident, along with eight other servicemembers. This tragedy happened a week before the election, which put a brake on the political fervor from the campaigns. Both sides agreed to temporarily suspend campaigning in mourning. The society at large had a chance to rethink its relationship with the state and the armed forces, as General Shen was upheld as a model soldier. This is a huge break from when the ROC armed forces was in fact the KMT’s private army during martial law.

Meanwhile, up to 20 political parties participated in this election, with intense competition between the small upstart parties. Unfortunately Taiwan’s electoral system favors large parties, and voters often time switch preferences to the KMT or the DPP so their votes are not “wasted.” Hopefully as our democracy matures and the pan-blue camp withers, we can have a new “constitutional moment” to reform our electoral system to increase the number of at-large seats, or move towards a parliamentary system to choose our leaders.

If so, smaller parties like the Taiwan Statebuilding Party, Green Party and New Power Party could focus on their own ideals, and not have to settle for being a junior party of the DPP. They can even carve out a left-wing pro-Taiwan stance to balance out the DPP’s center-right stance.

2020 could be the year Taiwan finally sheds itself of the last dictator’s legacy, and free ourselves from China’s One Country Two Systems threat. It could be the year we finally find ourselves and find our real values in freedom, democracy, equality and justice.

(Feature photo from Han Kuo-yu’s Facebook page)