Thirty or forty years ago in Taiwan, television was not yet very common, and radio programs were the primary source of entertainment in people's daily life. Thus, quite a few program hosts became household names. However, in that era of "white terror," several nationally known program hosts suddenly disappeared from the airwaves overnight. Only later did it become known that they had been implicated for "espionage" and jailed for betraying the country (the real reason for their imprisonment was that intelligence authorities got credit for arresting famous figures). Some among them were falsely accused of using their broadcasts to send coded messages containing valuable intelligence from Taiwan across the Strait to Communist China. These rumors spread throughout society, giving people the spooky sense that spies were everywhere. It was terrifying.
Anyone who experienced this will have found the last two weeks of waging an "International Propaganda War" and "Shouting Match" over the issues of the "three links" and visits to Beijing both revolting and childish. If it chose to emulate the KMT's former methods of using agents against its own people for the sake of consolidating power, the DPP could have long ago arrested Ma Ying-jeou (
Today the situation is different. However, when Ma and Soong tried to defend their intentions to visit Beijing last weekend, they seemed to intentionally obfuscate a key point, i.e. that the current moment is certainly not an appropriate time for them to express an intent to visit Beijing. At any other time, expressing such an intent would not give rise to debate in society. But it is not appropriate now.
There are two reasons for this. First, the upcoming mayoral elections, and second, since China's propaganda campaign in favor of direct links is forcing Taiwan to take defensive action, the declarations by Ma and Soong of their intent are tantamount to supporting China. While the KMT in the past only used "secret media codes" to concoct communist spies, Soong and Ma publicly display their friendship with China. This makes one wonder where their loyalties lie, and why they choose this moment to assist Beijing with its propaganda. It may win them temporary appreciation in Beijing, but they will surely lose popular support in Taiwan.
This is reminiscent of Ma's Hong Kong visit last year. He was invited there to be used as a pawn in the efforts to reunite Taiwan with China. China fabricated news saying that Ma supported "one country, two systems," only to publish a correction the next day.
Beginning with Lee Teng-hui's (
Beijing is facing a change in leadership. Promoting direct links to divert attention and strengthen vested interests is a strategy thought out by various Beijing factions. The fact that Taiwan's opposition politicians allow themselves to be used reminds us of a Chinese saying, "going into the mountains even though one is aware that there are tigers." Rather than being brave, this is suicidal. Capitulating before Beijing would be better than being led by such politicians.
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