Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Can a person who “wears a skirt” command the armed forces and lead the nation? That blunt question was posed by a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politician in 2008, as then-vice-president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) signaled her intention to seek the DPP’s presidential nomination. The politician was roundly criticized by the public for his male chauvinism, because, to many people, fitness to be the national leader should not be judged solely by gender; subsequently he apologized to Lu for his anachronistic stance. When presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who stepped down temporarily as chairperson of the DPP, announced her bid for the DPP presidential nomination in a speech on March 11, the same politician was present on the occasion to offer his blessing.

Whether one is blue or green, there is a moneyed side to Taiwan politics that few know about and maybe even fewer want to know about. As in other countries, within that moneyed side are the financers and contributors who look for and support marketers who will promote their vested interests. These contributors search out people who regardless of party, will act on their behalf in the spotlight allowing them to remain in the background. On the receiving side of these contributions are the marketers (more coarsely the shills) who like chameleons can change color depending where the money is. Taiwan has several of these chameleons but perhaps the master bar none is Hsu Hsin-liang.