Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) made the astonishing assertion during an interview with Germany’s Deutsche Welle, published on Friday last week, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not a dictator. She also essentially absolved Putin of blame for initiating the war in Ukraine.

Commentators have since listed the reasons that Cheng’s assertion was not only absurd, but bordered on dangerous.

Her claim is certainly absurd to the extent that there is no need to discuss the substance of it: It would be far more useful to assess what drove her to make the point and stick so tenaciously to it when challenged by the interviewer.

Cheng also contended, speaking about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) ambitions to annex Taiwan — which he consistently claims without factual support, as belonging to China — that “Beijing does not want to turn Taiwan into the next Hong Kong,” a reference to a previously open society now caught in a repressive nightmare.

Based on her statements, Cheng might also argue that Xi is a democratically elected leader. Condoning dictators is her way of reassuring Taiwanese that they would be safe in Xi’s hands.

The rationale behind her assertions is Cheng’s wish to distance Taiwan from democracies such as the US, Japan and EU states, and to leave Taiwan to Xi’s mercy.

Freedom of expression is a constitutionally guaranteed right in democratic Taiwan, but comments need to be evaluated within their context. Cheng’s position as leader of the main opposition party, and one which effectively commands a legislative majority, means that her right to say whatever she likes comes with more responsibility than it does with ordinary citizens.

While acknowledging her right to say these things, Taiwanese must also be mindful of the implications of her doing so, and her words and actions going forward.

When Cheng asserts that Putin is not a dictator and hints that Xi is not either, this should not be mistaken for naivety: It is a willful distortion of the obvious preluding more distortions.

Her predecessor, former KMT chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), sought to brand President William Lai (賴清德) as a dictator during this year’s recall campaigns. Breathtaking irony aside, neither Cheng’s nor Chu’s comments should be regarded as expressions of what they actually think: They were paving the way for forging coherent narratives out of absurdities, as a political trick.

Taiwan has wasted too much time dealing with the delusional idea that the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan in any way represents China. The ROC is the name of a once-defeated regime that must now look to the future.

When US President Donald Trump said “Taiwan is Taiwan,” he cut through years of sophistry. All political parties in Taiwan should have embraced this simple truth years ago to bring the nation into the modern age.

Cheng’s contention that Putin is not a dictator is simply another absurdity layered on past absurdities, all spoken by politicians attempting to cloak their agendas.