In an interview with two Singaporean newspapers on Friday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said that if he is re-elected in 2012, he may launch talks with China on political issues. Such talks would lead to a fundamental change in cross-strait relations.
While meeting Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) last Friday to persuade him not to resign, Ma said cross-strait relations would be handled based on the principles of “better to go slow than be hasty; easy issues before tough ones; and economics before politics.”
During the first year of his presidency, however, Ma’s cross-strait policy has been hasty, with three rounds of talks with China and agreements signed without legislative approval. The government is expediting cross-strait exchanges, opening up Taiwan to Chinese tourists, forging ahead on cross-strait flights and allowing Chinese investment in Taiwan. The results and potential problems of these policies have not been fully assessed. For Ma to set up a timetable for Taiwan and China to engage in political talks is rash indeed.
Ma’s announcement was aimed at his audience in Beijing, where he hopes to win more trust and policy favors, and intended to pump up his domestic support. Recent cross-strait developments have boosted stock prices, and increasing numbers of Chinese tourists have improved the fortunes of some travel businesses. These factors have eased Ma’s low approval ratings to some extent.
The political issues Ma has in mind are likely to include a cross-strait peace accord, establishing confidence measures in military matters and steps toward exchanging representative offices. Beijing will certainly insist that such negotiations be based on a consensus that Taiwan and China are part of “one China.” For Taiwan, accepting such a precondition would be like putting a yoke around its neck. Neither Ma nor his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) can be allowed to dictate the process alone. Every citizen has the right to determine his or her own future. A referendum must be held before the government begins political negotiations with China.
After the first cross-strait agreements were signed, they were sent to the legislature for discussion and approval, but lawmakers had no chance to debate them. KMT legislators used procedural technicalities to shelve the items, allowing them to take effect automatically after two months. The KMT is likely to use such tactics to push through the new agreements. Railroading the agreements through the legislature shows the Ma government’s complete disregard for public opinion.
Opposition figures, however, are not the only ones to object to these maneuvers. Many KMT legislators, including Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), have voiced misgivings.
Even though the KMT has regained control of both the executive and legislative branches, Ma’s record in office leaves much to be desired. Taiwan is suffering negative economic growth and rising unemployment. Disadvantaged people are being further marginalized. Civil rights and freedoms are under attack.
Faced with a host of problems, the government has chosen to stake everything on China. The public cannot afford to stand idly by but must make its concern and dissatisfaction with Ma’s policies heard. The government has a duty to listen.
On May 7, 1971, Henry Kissinger planned his first, ultra-secret mission to China and pondered whether it would be better to meet his Chinese interlocutors “in Pakistan where the Pakistanis would tape the meeting — or in China where the Chinese would do the taping.” After a flicker of thought, he decided to have the Chinese do all the tape recording, translating and transcribing. Fortuitously, historians have several thousand pages of verbatim texts of Dr. Kissinger’s negotiations with his Chinese counterparts. Paradoxically, behind the scenes, Chinese stenographers prepared verbatim English language typescripts faster than they could translate and type them
More than 30 years ago when I immigrated to the US, applied for citizenship and took the 100-question civics test, the one part of the naturalization process that left the deepest impression on me was one question on the N-400 form, which asked: “Have you ever been a member of, involved in or in any way associated with any communist or totalitarian party anywhere in the world?” Answering “yes” could lead to the rejection of your application. Some people might try their luck and lie, but if exposed, the consequences could be much worse — a person could be fined,
Xiaomi Corp founder Lei Jun (雷軍) on May 22 made a high-profile announcement, giving online viewers a sneak peek at the company’s first 3-nanometer mobile processor — the Xring O1 chip — and saying it is a breakthrough in China’s chip design history. Although Xiaomi might be capable of designing chips, it lacks the ability to manufacture them. No matter how beautifully planned the blueprints are, if they cannot be mass-produced, they are nothing more than drawings on paper. The truth is that China’s chipmaking efforts are still heavily reliant on the free world — particularly on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Tuesday last week apologized over allegations that the former director of the city’s Civil Affairs Department had illegally accessed citizens’ data to assist the KMT in its campaign to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilors. Given the public discontent with opposition lawmakers’ disruptive behavior in the legislature, passage of unconstitutional legislation and slashing of the central government’s budget, civic groups have launched a massive campaign to recall KMT lawmakers. The KMT has tried to fight back by initiating campaigns to recall DPP lawmakers, but the petition documents they
RSS