One thing Chinese politicians like to do is to deliver messages indirectly through references to history when it might be too blunt for them to do so indirectly. There are examples of this that goes back at least a couple of thousands of years.
We saw this again yesterday when DPP PM Su spent time in an interview praising Ming general 袁崇煥 (Yuan Chonghuan) (1584-1630). Su said that had Yuan not been executed in 1630 most likely the Ming dynasty would have survived.
Yuan was a general that fought in the Ming-Ching conflict that started in 1618. He outperformed in a battle in 1626 and was promoted to COC of all Ming forces fighting against the Ching by the young Emperor 崇禎(Chongzhen) (1611-1644).
From 1626 to 1630 Yuan fought the Ching forces to a draw but was accused of treason and executed in 1630 by Emperor 崇禎(Chongzhen) mostly due to distrust that Yuan was amassing too much political and military power by both the Emperor and various court factions.
After 1630 the Ming-Ching war continued but ate up more and more Ming resources which in turn led to massive Ming peasant rebellions. The peasant rebels entered the Ming capital of Beijing in early 1644 and Emperor 崇禎(Chongzhen) committed suicide. In the chaos of the fall of the Ming, the Ching forces were able to defeat the peasant rebels and remaining Ming forces to unify China under the Ching.
Su clearly is using this story to portray himself as a loyal general fighting on behalf of the Emperor (read DPP Prez Tsai) fighting against a rival empire (read KMT and PRC) and freeing the Emperor to deal with internal rebellions (read DPP VP Lai). Now that Su is being dismissed as PM he is comparing his soon future removal from office as the same as the mistake Emperor 崇禎(Chongzhen) made by executing 袁崇煥 (Yuan Chonghuan).
The best way to read Su's interview is despite any polite words from him about respecting DPP Prez Tsai's decision on who should be PM, Su is clearly very upset about being removed from office and thinks it is a big mistake. He also implies that the likely outcome of him being removed is that DPP Prez Tsai will lose her empire to the KMT in the upcoming election in 2024.
Part of Lai's Chinese name (賴淸德) has the same character as the Qing Dynastic name (淸) so it is a double entrende as well.
