Incoming KMT chair doubles down on 'Putin was elected' remarks

Taipei, Oct. 31 (CNA) Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) chair-elect Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said on Friday that she hopes Taiwan can "make as many friends as possible," when asked to elaborate on her recent remarks that "Vladimir Putin is not a dictator" because he was elected, during an interview with Deutsche Welle (DW).

"After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country quickly transitioned to democracy. It has had many years of elections ... Putin was elected via a democratic vote. That's why I was surprised that he was being labeled a dictator," Cheng said.

"We hope Taiwan can expand its international relations and make as many friends as possible," Cheng said.

Cheng, who is scheduled to be sworn in as KMT chairperson on Saturday, spoke to reporters on Friday after her DW interview was published earlier that day.

In the context of discussing cross-strait relations during the DW interview, Cheng criticized President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), saying "their words and actions could very well turn Taiwan into a second Ukraine."

When challenged by DW's Tsou Tzung-han (鄒宗翰), who said that when facing a dictator, only the dictator -- not a democratic government -- can decide whether war breaks out, Cheng replied, "Putin is not a dictator; he is a leader elected through democratic votes."

Cheng said Russia had been a democracy for many years, adding that "no country in the world has a perfect democracy -- even today, the United States faces many democratic issues that need reform."

"Given he [Putin] became president because he was elected via a democratic vote, you can't call him a dictator. Labeling him that way is unreasonable and unfair," she said.

When Tsou then asked her whether it was Putin who decided to start the war in Ukraine, Cheng replied, "Of course not."

"The core reason the war broke out and continues today is NATO's repeated eastward expansion," Cheng said.

Cheng contended that if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and allied countries had long ago abandoned plans to let Ukraine join NATO, "none of this would have happened."

Following the same logic, Cheng said that a war across the Taiwan Strait would not be solely decided by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).

She implicitly criticized the DPP for reducing Taiwan to a pawn of the U.S., saying that under her leadership, the KMT would ensure Taiwan plays a key role, rather than leaving decisions solely to Xi or U.S. President Donald Trump.

Later Friday, approached by reporters for a comment in the Legislature, Deputy Foreign Minister François Wu (吳志中), who previously served as Taiwan's representative to France, said that "Europe likely does not share this view."

"By this logic, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would not be considered a dictator either, since he was also elected," Wu said.

Although Hussein never participated in a general election, a widely disputed 1995 referendum on his presidency passed with a 99.99 percent "yes" vote.