When it comes to Taiwanese elections, debate on independence and unification dominates. Although Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
However, the fact remains that whoever wants to win the next presidential election must prove that he is a capable leader without being captured, branded and held hostage by individual interest groups, especially the old guard within his party.
Recent inconsistencies between Ma's camp, former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
After Lien issued a "warning" statement to Ma's camp to "refrain from sacrificing its ideals for the sake of electoral victory," Ma labeled the inconsistency in the CSC report an "incident" and blamed it on his staff. The episode should not be seen simply as an accident but a manifestation of mistrust between Ma and Lien.
If it were simply a trivial mistake as Ma claims, why would Lien express such deep concern and strong anger about it without talking to Ma in advance?
Born in Hong Kong and trained in the KMT's hierarchical party structure, Ma was indoctrinated in the dogma of "ultimate unification" with China. However, because the phenomenon of "Taiwan-centered consciousness" has been strengthening in recent years, Ma has been trying to play the "Taiwan card" ever since he unveiled his campaign.
Ma's "long stay" bicycle tour around Taiwan was designed for the candidate to demonstrate love for Taiwan in the hope of scooping up the "light green" vote from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Ma further sought to downplay the unification fantasy while consolidating support from the pro-unification camp by introducing the theory of "connecting Taiwan with China" and incorporating "Taiwan" wording into the KMT's party charter, as well as saying the "Republic of China is Taiwan."
There is no doubt that Ma has been sitting on the fence on the independence-unification issue. In response to the DPP referendum on using the name "Taiwan" to join the UN, Ma decided to offer an alternative referendum using the name "the Republic of China" to return to the United Nations and whatever title is most appropriate for joining other bodies. But the truth is Ma and the KMT have not shown strong determination or concrete action to push their own referendum forward.
This time though, Ma opted to put aside the controversial "1992 consensus" -- which turned out to be nothing but a phrase invented by KMT former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) -- and obscure the unification-independence dichotomy. However, it seems he has crossed the "red line" set by the KMT old guard and was slapped in the face by Lien.
The internal political storm proves that Ma has never respected the KMT elders and has been insisting on running his own campaign.
But if Ma can resist the pressure from the KMT old guard, at least he can prove he stands for Taiwan's best interests. Regretfully, Ma's repeated vacillation on the issue proves he is willing to sacrifice his beliefs for electoral purposes.
Most importantly, what are the voters supposed to do if they hand over the country to Ma and he just changes his mind whenever he is under pressure? Can the Taiwanese people trust a presidential candidate who is more of a political opportunist than a responsible and solid leader to defend the country's sovereignty?
The bottom line is this: The next president of Taiwan must uphold the majority public opinion when it comes to national sovereignty and relations with China. The 23 million Taiwanese must have the final say on their future through a peaceful and democratic mechanism such as a national referendum.
Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under