Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

The slogan of last year’s Sunflower movement — “Unless the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] falls, Taiwan will never do well” — is, in the eyes of most people, an argument that requires no supporting evidence. However, die-hard KMT loyalists — apparently worried that some Taiwanese are yet to wake up to the truth — unceasingly search for ways to prove that the party is not just at death’s door, but also completely at odds with the nation’s democratic values.

President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) attitude and leadership style are stuck in the era of dirty patronage politics. Ma’s die-hard followers and his decaying party are the leftover dregs of party-state serfdom.

In late April, the presidential office instructed the Cabinet to promote the idea that Taiwan has become a happier place over the past seven years. As this caused a flurry of debate, this year’s UN World Happiness Report indicated that Switzerland was the happiest of the 158 countries on the list, while Taiwan was ranked 38th, far surpassing Hong Kong at No. 72 and China at No. 84.

The big name primarily responsible for the report was the founder of the economic concept of shock therapy, Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs.