Tangled web of local factions as vote nears

On Thursday last week, Changhua County Council Speaker Hsieh Dien-lin (謝典霖) and his father were taken into custody and denied access to visitors or communications in connection with a June banquet that authorities allege constituted vote-buying and embezzlement of public funds.

The incident has dealt a severe blow to the protective umbrella that has long shielded powerful local political families from scrutiny.

It also makes the barrage of denials and excuses offered by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) after foreign media shone a light on vote-buying allegations look utterly self-defeating.

However, the comments by foreign journalists pale in comparison to the evidence emerging from judicial authorities. Hsieh and others allegedly organized more than 10 banquet tables as part of a planned vote-buying operation while using pretexts to fraudulently obtain public funds from the county council to foot the bill. Local politicians have apparently become so brazen that they no longer feel the need to pay out of their own pockets; they simply treat the council as a private ATM, using taxpayers’ hard-earned money to keep their political families in power.

Corrupt systems, in which public institutions are treated as private property, are commonplace across areas governed by KMT-aligned local factions.

On Sept. 1, six current and former KMT Taitung County councilors, including Deputy Speaker Lin Tsung-han (林琮翰), were investigated over alleged abuse of their positions to benefit the family of Taitung County Council Speaker Wu Hsiu-hua (吳秀華) to develop and widen a farm road leading to a private resort owned by the Wu family.

In Hualien County on Sept. 9, Sioulin Township (秀林) Mayor Wang Mei-kuei (王玫瑰) of the KMT and her husband were arrested over alleged contraventions of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), accused of using community feedback funds to organize banquets and distribute cash.

Meanwhile, Chang Chia-hao (張家豪), the KMT’s candidate for mayor of Yilan County’s Jhuangwei Township (壯圍), has has been implicated in alleged vote-buying involving the use of his official position to organize banquets and distribute gifts to voters to secure their support. Chang was detained on Sept 10.

Within the tangled web of KMT local factions, local self-government has long since degenerated into a predatory production line that turns public funds into private gains.

In the eyes of local faction leaders, public power is not a responsibility, but a family money tree.

There is an even more serious challenge in the implications for national security. The local political networks that have long depended on enormous flows of money to operate might be more concerned with personal interests than loyalty to their country.

As Beijing’s “united front” infiltration of Taiwan becomes increasingly aggressive, there are systematic efforts to cultivate ties with Taiwan’s grassroots communities, village networks and local political families. Some factional politicians who covet public funds and crave campaign cash could potentially become amenable local entry points for Chinese capital.

November’s local elections are near. Votes should not be rubber stamps for corrupt politicians to recoup public funds, or free passes for hereditary factional fiefdoms. If Taiwanese cannot use their ballots to sweep away such practices, society will never escape from the shadow of factional patronage and political corruption.