It is never easy to govern. An election campaign is about black and white, but governing is more about gray. In a true democracy, it is often a tough job for a popularly elected leader to strike a balance between motivating supporters and dictating policy.
Good leadership is more about the power to persuade and bargain than the power to dictate and manipulate. Unfortunately, this is exactly the problem facing Taiwan’s government today.
Recent controversy over whether President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should singlehandedly negotiate and sign a comprehensive economic and cooperation agreement (CECA) with his Chinese counterpart was another manifestation of how Ma disregards public concerns and legislative oversight.
Under tremendous domestic pressure, Ma was forced to use the less concrete term “economic cooperation framework agreement” (ECFA). Nevertheless, Ma continues to insist that his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government should strike a deal with China without the legislature first needing to give the agreement a green light.
Why is this? The legislature is controlled by the KMT, which enjoys an absolute majority. It is hard to see how a KMT-dominated legislature would override Ma’s hoped-for agreement with Beijing.
In addition to opposition from the Democratic Progressive Party and some civic associations, most people have no idea what a CECA or an ECFA means, nor do they know what benefits that the latter would bring to an economy in decline. This constitutes Ma’s biggest leadership challenge.
Ma and the KMT have attributed the recession to the global financial crisis. But if Ma had not raised expectations during his election campaign that he would achieve a growth rate of 6 percent, increase per capita income to US$30,000 and lower the unemployment rate to 3 percent, then people would not have been so frustrated and regretful over voting an incapable man into office.
Ma must stop basking in the 58 percent support he garnered in the presidential election and recognize the rapid erosion of his popularity. Most importantly, he needs to adopt a more humble and more convincing strategy to rebuild public trust. In doing this, the power to negotiate with the opposition and communicate with the public is key.
Even with the KMT controlling the executive and the legislature by a wide margin, Ma must make a greater effort at reconciliation to bridge social divisions and establish a domestic consensus on this controversial policy.
Space for negotiation determines whether Ma should be aggressive or conciliatory in promoting policy. Should he lash out boldly with a new approach and a new stance, or focus instead on incremental change? Is it time to run up the flag and charge, or to mediate differences and seek to move toward a consensus by stages?
In this case, Ma has fast-tracked his cross-strait policy since taking office, showing nothing but arrogance and disrespect for the opposition and the public.
The four agreements on cross-strait opening reached by the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party last December were never debated in the legislature — before or since.
Ma’s choice of media interviews to elaborate on his ideas was also misplaced. These interviews and reports, especially in Taiwan, were too often elitist and one-sided.
Fundamentally, what Ma needs to do is explain the reasons behind these bold initiatives to the rank and file — face to face. But because he has had difficulty elaborating on his policy in the Hoklo language (commonly known as Taiwanese), Ma has probably decided to bypass public discussion — in contrast to his Hoklo-speaking performances during his election campaign.
Given that the economy won’t be back on track for at least two years, Ma needs to come up with immediate results with his cross-strait policy to bolster his re-election bid.
The paradox is that cross-strait relations cannot be conducted in such a rushed and unresponsive manner.
Ma should at least look to US President Barack Obama. Since taking office, Obama has made use of a national craving for reconciliation between political parties and for economic rejuvenation by launching a series of reform initiatives.
Unlike Ma, Obama is selling his agenda through a combination of persuasion and bargaining.
Obama has not only displayed analytical skills in identifying a solution to the US’ problems, but has also applied effective managerial leadership to narrow down competing views on his bold initiatives. Thus far, no “rookie president” syndrome has emerged to damage his high approval rating.
Ma should rely on motivational rather than dictatorial behavior as he attempts to build domestic support. When it comes to bold initiatives, leaving voters behind is not an act of leadership, but of arrogance.
Liu Shih-chung is a visiting fellow in the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
Liberals have wasted no time in pointing to Karol Nawrocki’s lack of qualifications for his new job as president of Poland. He has never previously held political office. He won by the narrowest of margins, with 50.9 percent of the vote. However, Nawrocki possesses the one qualification that many national populists value above all other: a taste for physical strength laced with violence. Nawrocki is a former boxer who still likes to go a few rounds. He is also such an enthusiastic soccer supporter that he reportedly got the logos of his two favorite teams — Chelsea and Lechia Gdansk —
RSS