A Taiwanese businesswoman says the Kuomintang Party and the Communist Party—historically fierce rivals—should work together regardless of popular opinion—a statement that has provoked angry responses from Taiwan citizens.
At a business gathering of Taiwan and Shanghai merchants in early May, Taiwan businesswoman Dong Shuzhen declared in a speech: “We shouldn’t care about the opinions of the Taiwanese people.”
Instead, Taiwan “should be talking about cooperation between the KMT and the Communists,” Dong said.
Dong’s statement, which was recorded in a video and posted online, was largely slammed by the Taiwanese people.
“We’ve been totally infiltrated,” said one Taiwanese citizen.
Netizen “mirza” said on Taiwan’s largest online forum PTT: “This is the best example of Taiwan being infiltrated by Taiwan.”
“My friend was attending the meeting of [KMT leader] Eric Chu with Taiwanese businessmen in China,” said Taipei lawmaker Liu Yaoren from the Democratic Progressive Party (DDP), KMT’s main rival, according to New York-based broadcaster New Tang Dynasty Television. “He couldn’t stand listening to her, and even told me he wanted to slap her.”
Li Xin, a KMT lawmaker from Taipei said: “If we don’t listen to Taiwanese people, it would be the end of the KMT. As a lawyer of the KMT, I am even more worried after hearing what she said.”
The KMT has suffered a drop in popularity in recent years, particularly with current president and former KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou pushing for closer cross-strait relations.
Chen Wei-ting, one of the leaders of last year’s Sunflower Movement—Taiwanese students occupied the Legislative Yuan to protest a trade pact with China that would potentially hurt Taiwan’s economy—wrote sarcastically in a Facebook post: “I begin to to feel like Ms. Dong is just one of us; she basically ruined the (objectives) of the Chu-Xi meeting, since she is all over the news.”
Chen is referencing a recent meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and KMT head Eric Chu where Chu controversially hinted at adopting the Chinese regime’s framework on who rules China. Under a “1992 Consensus,” Taiwan and China agree that there is “one China,” but disagree over whether the KMT or the Chinese Communist Party represents that China.
Incidentally, Chu attended the business gathering where Dong made her speech.
Dong and her husband are noted for having strong political and business connections with China, according to Taiwanese television network SETN. Dong has a digging company in Shanghai, and many local Chinese governments have awarded her construction projects. She is also noted for her charity work in China, especially adopting poor children—Hong Kong pro-Beijing newspaper Sing Tao claims Dong has adopted 830 elementary and middle school children from Jiangxi, Guizhou and Hunan Provinces since 2002, earning her the nickname “Mother Dong.”
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