Is Lien Cheng having another son with the surname Li? Lien Sheng-wen is furious: Is there a more foolish way to assist in the campaign?
Nationalist Party Vice Chairman Lien Sheng-wen posted on Facebook on the 30th, showing screenshots indicating that the video content included titles such as "Lien Cheng's son Li De-wei appears by Zheng Li-wen's side," "the real big boss of the Kuomintang," and "Li De-wei, the main general of Lien Cheng's son Lien Sheng-wen." In response, Lien Sheng-wen criticized: "When did my father have another son with the surname Li? Is there a more foolish way to assist in the campaign than this?"
Lien Sheng-wen pointed out that after investigation, the related videos were sent by fake accounts. However, he does not know whether the person spreading these false messages wants to help or hinder. "Is it trying to harm my friends, or is it trying to harm the candidate they support personally?" He emphasized that during the Kuomintang chairman election, as the head of the central election monitoring group, he has not and will not publicly express support for any candidate. However, this does not mean he can tolerate anyone spreading false information about himself or his family.
It is absurd to force Lien Cheng to accept a "son with the surname Li" and fabricate a false message that "Li De-wei is Lien Cheng's son." Such content, which ignores even basic common sense, appeared during the Kuomintang chairman election, which is why Lien Sheng-wen angrily asked, "Is there a more foolish way to assist in the campaign in the world?" The Kuomintang chairman election should be a platform to compare ideas, discuss vision, and talk about solutions. Now, however, it has been reduced to using false information about family members to "assist" in the campaign, which is truly dragging the party's election into a quagmire.
The Kuomintang has long been criticized for factional conflicts and lack of cohesion. Instead of focusing on policy arguments to win the support of party members, it is now resorting to underhanded tactics like spreading rumors and smearing, which only further weakens the already fragile unity within the party. Voters are looking for someone who can solve the survival crisis of the Kuomintang, not someone whose supporters are better at making up lies. If this negative election method is not stopped, this internal squabbling will erode the confidence of party members, make the public laugh, and weaken their own fighting strength.
More worrying is that if it is found after investigation that the false message originated from the Democratic Progressive Party's online army, it would be a typical case of "using others to kill." The Democratic Progressive Party is most skilled at hiding behind the scenes, using false information to disrupt the opponent's camp, watching the Kuomintang fight each other until they bleed, and then reaping the benefits. If the Kuomintang does not wake up and continues to be misled by false information, getting caught up in internal struggles instead of focusing on the right path, it will not only fail to elect a chairman who can take responsibility, but also let the Democratic Progressive Party's strategy of "winning through chaos" succeed.
Lien Sheng-wen's call for "competing with ideas rather than strange tricks" should have been heard by all participants long ago. For the Kuomintang to get out of its difficulties, it should start by eliminating smear campaigns and internal infighting, and being vigilant against external interference. It should not let a chairman election turn into a farce that destroys the country's walls.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1844679178443844/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.