A Speech Before the Election and the 2020 Presidential Election

Text and photos by Chen Chi-Hsiang

Preface: Time flies; it has been three months since I returned to Taiwan. This time, my trips between the north and south were less frequent. Life was fulfilling, day after day, yet the feeling of living was not just temporal but also carried a sense of speed. Is this due to the digital internet age? From late autumn, through winter into early spring, from celebrating the New Year to welcoming the Golden Rat. Amidst the renewal of all things as the year begins, we face the challenges of 2020. The comprehensive trade war between the two major powers, China and the US, is affecting global political and economic development. Populism triggered by the European refugee wave led to Britain’s successful exit from the EU on the last day of January. Many South American countries are being "liberated" by neoliberalism. African society remains unstable. The Hong Kong anti-extradition movement continues to ferment. The Middle East situation is on the verge of explosion (the US and Iran), casting an unpredictable shadow over the world’s future. Globalization brings urgent issues of environmental protection, climate change, and energy conservation and carbon reduction. The gloom of the global financial crisis looms large. Neoliberalism exacerbates the wealth gap. Human greed is insatiable; massive consumption and depletion, combined with the outbreak in China before the Lunar New Year of the novel coronavirus named "2019 Novel Coronavirus," create a sense of impending doom. The world is tense, filled with contradictions, conflicts, fear, unease, and the threat of death.

A speech before the election campaign: This January was extraordinary. Taiwanese society entered the New Year under the tense atmosphere of the presidential election hype, opening a challenging 2020. Are we ready to welcome this extremely uncertain future? After the New Year, the Kaohsiung Wuyuan Reading Club temporarily invited me for a speech on the third day of the lunar new year. The president hoped I would share several important exhibitions in Paris in 2019. Taking advantage of the eve of the election, I gave a speech titled "Facing the Chaos of Taiwan's Elections – On the Practice of Contemporary Art," elaborating on how contemporary artists reflect the atmosphere and critical spirit of their turbulent times. I opened the speech with Theodor Adorno’s quote: "Art is magical, freeing us from the lie of true existence." Indeed, art is human reflection on existence and a method of observing the world. As Ernst Cassirer believed, "Artworks are the intuition of humanity and inner life, manifested in sensible forms of images. In the pure formal aesthetic intuition of artworks, one can see oneself and the entire world."

The 2020 Taiwan Presidential and Legislative Yuan elections: Taiwan’s presidential election was fierce. Daily mass media (wild talk, fake topics, fake information, rumors, and lies) stirred up trouble. Mutual destruction reached extremes, with arrogance and madness seemingly blinding them (unable to see or hear real policies and ambitions). The drama made people laugh and cry. Especially near the end of the election, the whole society went crazy. The election campaign intensified after the New Year, with rallies held daily across the province. Rallies are a distinctive feature of Taiwan elections, intended to concentrate regional crowd energy. The crowd becomes the driving force of the rally, revealing public opinion.

On January 6, both 'Straw Bag' (Han) and 'Vegetable Bag' (Tsai) came to the democratic sanctuary – the Jialuo Mountain Chiayi rally. They occupied the east and west sides of Taoyuan City respectively. Of course, 'Straw Bag's' insane "Blue" is not my dish. I favored Tsai Lai’s local rally. Although 'Vegetable Bag' was not perfect, I looked forward to continuing to supervise her for advancing sovereignty. On that day, Taoyuan City was bustling with crowds. Rally crowds poured in from various townships in Chiayi. Both sides mobilized local party members and affiliated groups. It was known that 'Straw Bag' led a herd of Han supporters in sixty to seventy tour buses, traveling all over Taiwan. Conversely, the Tsai-Lai rally only mobilized local crowds (supported by legislators), yet fans and crowds of President Tsai Ying-wen poured in from all over Taiwan. The 'Tsai-Lai Presidential' rally was held in the parking lot of the baseball field in Chiayi Park. When I arrived, it was packed tight (according to speakers on stage, nearly 100,000 people). Many local community members held flags of supported legislators and caricatures of President Tsai. Following slogans from the stage, they waved flags and shouted, uplifting the mood. Three legislative candidates from Chiayi County and City, plus non-district legislative candidates from various places, took turns speaking and shouting slogans. Accompanied by wonderful performances of songs and dances by local county or city councilors, the event concluded with Vice Presidential candidate Lai Ching-te and President Tsai Ying-wen as the finale, clearly outlining their complete policy and ambition blueprint for the next four years. The enthusiastic applause and cheers of the crowd, along with loud chants of "Freeze the election, freeze the election," brought a perfect conclusion, hoping President Tsai’s dream of re-election comes true.

2020 – President Tsai Ying-wen’s successful re-election: After the 2018 Nine-in-One Local Elections, the KMT’s counterattack pushed Taiwanese society to rock bottom, causing panic. People lived under the deep gloom of "Mango Dry" (sense of national extinction), fearing betrayal by the pro-China KMT and constantly threatened and intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party’s cultural and military attacks. The future seemed dark, shaking society, filling it with anxiety and unease. This awakened those with Taiwanese consciousness, especially the young generation of natural independence advocates. The 2020 presidential and legislative elections began under the oppressive shadow of the pro-China KMT’s momentum, putting the ruling party at a relative disadvantage. The pro-China KMT’s 'Straw Bag' presidential candidate was arrogant, reckless, foul-mouthed, and wildly mad like a mad dog biting everywhere, full of lies. The ruling party finally found a sharp sword in the Hong Kong anti-extradition movement. As the movement continued, it strengthened Taiwanese people’s will to defend freedom. The ruling party gradually reversed the trend. President Tsai clearly defended Taiwan’s free democratic values, highlighting Taiwan’s national identity. Constructing 'Straw Bag's' "Defend