Chen's government has learned a great lesson through the opposition's boycotts and it's own mistakes. The art of leadership is to maintain sufficient forward momentum to control events and steer public policy without losing public support. An idealistic leader will not hesitate to do something unpopular. But a smart idealist will carefully measure public opinion before he does so and will develop a strategy to persuade the electorate.
At times, a leader can use a popular position to counter an unpopular one. The tenets of the"New Middle Way" entail a greater need to generate domestic consensus in the arenas of ethnic reconciliation, the independence-unification debate and the normalization of cross-strait relations. In addition to that, the concept also embraces Taiwan's effort to remold its role in the Asia-Pacific region. As Chen has said, Taiwan will continue to dedicate itself to playing the role of "maintaining peace, security and balance" in the Asia-Pacific region.
Even in the face of China's "united front" strategy, teaming up with Taiwan's opposition forces to sow seeds of discord in local society and weaken his administrations' power base, Chen must stick steadfastly to his position to fulfill his pledges. These together constitute the nature of the "New Middle Way."
Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
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