1 Academic Apologists for the KMT’s Authoritarian Rule: Ramon H. Myers and Thomas A. Metzger By Linda Gail Arrigo, Ph.D. Sociology Post-Doctoral Scholar, Academia Sinica, Institute of Sociology Contacts:
[email protected], Taipei (02) 2234-9680, 0928-899-931 Prepared for the North American Taiwan Studies Association Conference June 17-20, 2004, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu First Draft, June 15, 2004 Introduction This analysis of the writings of Ramon H. Myers, and secondarily Thomas A. Metzger, concerning Taiwan from 1980 to the present places them in the context of the political developments of this period. Basically Myers closely follows the themes of Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, KMT) propaganda in various periods, from the suppression of the 1978-79 democratic movement in the name of KMT-defined social stability and anti-communism, through downplaying human rights issues in China for the sake of rapprochement, to decrying the rise of Taiwan nationalism accompanying the democratic election of Chen Shui-bian in 2000. The putative values of democracy and human rights that have been put forth in these writings are attenuated by the priority given to regime stability, economic growth and U.S. interests. The underlying assumptions of these writings are that elections and manifestations of intellectual expression in civil society are due to the benevolence of rulers, and martial law controls on speech and publication can be justified under the regime’s subjective need for legitimization. That is, human and civil rights are not an inalienable property of the people; in this respect, this author profoundly subverts commonly accepted standards of democracy.