Tue, Jul 05, 2005 page8

• Editorial: Ma might make things interesting

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  With polls showing Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) likely to win the election for chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), it is interesting to speculate what kind of chairman he might make. He tried to give some indication of this on Saturday when he and his opponent, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), gave stump speeches to party members. But what Ma said was limited by a desire not to offend outgoing Chairman Lien Chan (連戰). Ma might possibly think that Lien's chairmanship has been a disaster for the party, but it would be impolitic at this juncture to say so. The KMT loves loyalty even more than it loves power, and Ma's campaign has suffered enough from the apparent lese majeste of announcing his chairmanship bid before Lien had officially decided not to run for a second term.

  Both Ma and Wang were criticized by the DPP for their conservative pro-China stances. But given the constituency they are competing for, anything else could hardly be expected. It was inevitable that Ma should make his ritual denunciation of Taiwan's independence. But it was interesting to note that he also pointed out that "one country, two systems" was unacceptable to Taiwan. This was encouraging. Of course, Ma was only saying what is true, but that was unusual in itself for a party where lies usually compete with pipe dreams for prominence.

  While Lien has not actually endorsed "one country, two systems," he has not been willing to frankly spell out its unacceptability to China. Ma on the other hand has been something of a thorn in China's side on the erosion of democratic standards in Hong Kong and its human-rights situation in general. Ma, it appears, will want to tread a fine line between stressing Taiwan's Chineseness (during his terms as mayor he has been a tireless promoter of "mainland Chinese" cultural forms and activities) and his apparent dislike of the government and political system of contemporary China. Since the Chinese Communist Party has no intention of changing in any significant way, Ma's chairmanship of the KMT might result in an expected froideur between two parties which have, under Lien's misguided leadership, been hand in glove.

  Another area which surprised was Ma's attitude toward the KMT's assets. Ma came out quite strongly against the KMT's holding on to any "illegal" assets. This was interesting because the KMT has claimed that it has no illegal assets, despite a Control Yuan investigation establishing that it stole over 400 properties from the state. Ma seems ready to admit there are illegally acquired assets and that these assets should be restored to their rightful owners. He claimed that the KMT had a right to defend its legally acquired assets, which of course it does. But given the Control Yuan's findings and Ma's legal background, it will be interesting to see how he interprets what is "legally acquired." Given his reputation for opposing corruption -- the zeal over which lost him his post as justice minister nearly a decade ago -- some might expect Ma to be honest about the KMT's ill-gotten gains and give them back. But it should also be pointed out that Ma appears to have been quite happy to tolerate the high level of corruption among his political allies in Taipei during his mayorship, as well as frequently sheltering his people from the consequences of their administrative incompetence.

  "Reform is not just a slogan," Ma said on Sunday. So far, under Lien, it has been. Remember the farce about putting the KMT's assets into trust? And can Ma really make good on his promise? Certainly nobody expects reform from his opponent, Wang, -- the party's bagman-in-chief for nearly a decade.

  Initial opposition in the party to Ma's campaign was based on fear that his lack of tolerance for corruption would step on too many toes. If he is serious, Ma's chairmanship could be very interesting indeed.
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