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Ma is setting a trap for Taiwanese

Not long ago, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) urged President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to work on the economy rather than politics, and focus on foreign relations rather than playing to the media.

Who would have thought that we would see Ma working hard to boost his political status through the Taiwanese media, and that he would be doing so in such a vicious manner?

On June 1, Ma said that the plan to recall Chen had not yet been finalized, but on June 2, he changed his tune. He then said that, "The gun is loaded and trained on the target, the only question remaining is when to pull the trigger."

On June 5, he said at an question-and-answer session in the Taipei City Council: "You haven't seen my bad side yet. Just you wait!"

And then, on June 7, he said that if Chen did not step down voluntarily and had to be pushed down, "He will die a nasty death."

Ma, who all along has stressed reason and the rule of law, in the end resorted to the language of violence and bloodshed and inciting hatred.

Not paying any attention to the great and small disasters resulting from the last two weeks of torrential rains or the victims of these disasters, Ma then prepared to travel to southern Taiwan on June 10 to join People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) in Taipei in "a two-pronged attack" on Chen, who was then inspecting the disaster areas.

It was only the heavy rains on the morning of June 10 that stopped Ma from traveling south, but instead he joined Soong on Ketagelan Boulevard.

While Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and his Cabinet are busy working for the economy, the public's livelihood and social order, Soong's and Ma's blind attacks have targeted him as well, proposing a vote of no confidence.

At the ongoing extraordinary legislative session, the KMT continues to insist on discussing the presidential recall motion while suppressing discussion about the budget for the required flood prevention measures. This only shows that the old leaders now holding power in the KMT and the PFP only care about winning back their own power and benefits, while they ignore the general public's hardship.

This has caused unhappiness among some pan-blue camp legislators. In asking Chen to work on the economy while he himself works for his own political gain, Ma is taking his cue from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The CCP wants the Chinese people to think about money and the economy while the party maintains its hold on political power. As a result, the benefits enjoyed by the people concentrating on the economy fall far behind the benefits of those with their hands on political power.

Beijing also wants Hong Kong to concentrate on developing its economy, because the CCP does not want Hong Kong residents to fight for democracy and become their own masters.

In the same way, Ma wants Chen to work to improve the economy so that the KMT can get its hands on power, once again monopolize the nation's resources and sell Taiwan out to China, the eventual target of Ma's policies.

While others work to improve the economy at Ma's request, he will take the opportunity to fill the political vacuum they leave behind.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has not done enough politically -- going on the campaign trail is only one small part of politics -- and it has become corrupted by power because it has not held up its guard.

Nor has it been active enough in its attempts to eliminate black gold, and it has been unable to defend itself against other people's hidden agendas.

The DPP has furthermore failed to understand how to handle crises, and has continued doing dumb things. Its desinicization attempts have not been well implemented, and following the stereotypical view of Chinese people, the DPP like to engage in internal bickering.

All these things have prevented the party from laying the recent corruption scandals to rest. Incited by Ma and Soong, it is not very strange that the pan-blue demonstration on Ketagelan Boulevard on June 10 led to violence.

The Taiwanese people must be on their guard to not walk into the trap Ma is setting for them.

Pan-blue violence and provocation must be met with reason and a cool hand to prevent the opposition from bringing Taiwan to the verge of chaos and calling on China to come to their aid.

Paul Lin is a political commentator.

Translated by Perry Svensson
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