At the close of the third round of talks between Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) late last month, Chen urged Chiang to “keep going.”
In an apparent response to Chen’s exhortation, an advertisement with the headline “Taiwanese people need Chairman Chiang Pin-kung” was printed, undersigned “chairpersons of Taiwan business associations throughout China.”
The ad seemed to target President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). These associations, whose formation Chen has promoted during his tenures as director of the Taiwan Affairs Office and chairman of ARATS, proved very effective on this occasion. Ma quickly appeared on television, urging Chiang to stay in his post. The next day, Ma paid a rare visit to Chiang at the SEF office, accompanied by National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起). Begging Chiang not to resign, Ma’s apologetic attitude betrayed the extent to which he acts at Beijing’s beck and call.
Chiang made a big show of tendering his resignation precisely because he knows Ma dare not touch him — especially with Chiang and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) forming a united front.
Wu assailed Ma’s party allies, saying: “People spreading rumors are scoundrels. I warn you not to push people like Chiang and me against the wall.”
Whether or not Ma makes a bid for the KMT chairmanship next month, Wu is scheduled to lead a delegation to China at that time. Ma, intimidated into silence, dared not mention criticism about conflicts of interest involving the Chinese business ties of members of Chiang’s family, nor their purchase of a luxury villa in the US. Instead, Ma praised Chiang’s contributions to the nation.
With such a timorous president, it is hard to know whether to laugh or cry. The unabashed Chiang promised to prioritize national interests and do whatever needed to be done. In the end, Ma came out playing second fiddle to a more confident Chiang.
Cross-strait relations have developed a great deal over the past five years, from the KMT-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) platform to the recent talks between the SEF and ARATS.
Let us remember that Chiang is also first deputy chairman of the KMT. It is evident that the CCP has connections throughout Taiwan’s political parties, government, business and media and knows the various factions like the back of its hand.
Taiwanese businesspeople in China are simply hostages.
The CCP can slowly extend its influence over Taiwan unbeknownst to the Taiwanese. China no longer needs to resort to military means to impose its will on Taiwan. The most recent example was at the World Health Assembly, where Taiwan will now need China’s approval each year to be invited to the assembly.
China has killed two birds with one stone: It need not worry about another transfer of power in Taiwan.
The SEF is an important player in cross-strait exchanges, but the whole organization, including its leadership, is in the hands of the CCP. This was illustrated by Beijing’s behind-the-scenes support for Chiang. At the same time, Ma is accelerating his rapprochement with China.
As time goes on, China is intervening more brazenly in the appointment of senior Taiwanese officials, as at the SEF. Beijing no longer needs to rely on threats to move Taiwan toward unification, because Taiwan’s democratically elected president is looking increasingly like a puppet.
Lu I-ming is the former publisher and president of the Taiwan Shin Sheng Daily.
TRANSLATED BY JULIAN CLEGG
In the event of a war with China, Taiwan has some surprisingly tough defenses that could make it as difficult to tackle as a porcupine: A shoreline dotted with swamps, rocks and concrete barriers; conscription for all adult men; highways and airports that are built to double as hardened combat facilities. This porcupine has a soft underbelly, though, and the war in Iran is exposing it: energy. About 39,000 ships dock at Taiwan’s ports each year, more than the 30,000 that transit the Strait of Hormuz. About one-fifth of their inbound tonnage is coal, oil, refined fuels and liquefied natural gas (LNG),
To counter the CCP’s escalating threats, Taiwan must build a national consensus and demonstrate the capability and the will to fight. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) often leans on a seductive mantra to soften its threats, such as “Chinese do not kill Chinese.” The slogan is designed to frame territorial conquest (annexation) as a domestic family matter. A look at the historical ledger reveals a different truth. For the CCP, being labeled “family” has never been a guarantee of safety; it has been the primary prerequisite for state-sanctioned slaughter. From the forced starvation of 150,000 civilians at the Siege of Changchun
The two major opposition parties, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), jointly announced on Tuesday last week that former TPP lawmaker Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) would be their joint candidate for Chiayi mayor, following polling conducted earlier this month. It is the first case of blue-white (KMT-TPP) cooperation in selecting a joint candidate under an agreement signed by their chairpersons last month. KMT and TPP supporters have blamed their 2024 presidential election loss on failing to decide on a joint candidate, which ended in a dramatic breakdown with participants pointing fingers, calling polls unfair, sobbing and walking
In recent weeks, Taiwan has witnessed a surge of public anxiety over the possible introduction of Indian migrant workers. What began as a policy signal from the Ministry of Labor quickly escalated into a broader controversy. Petitions gathered thousands of signatures within days, political figures issued strong warnings, and social media became saturated with concerns about public safety and social stability. At first glance, this appears to be a straightforward policy question: Should Taiwan introduce Indian migrant workers or not? However, this framing is misleading. The current debate is not fundamentally about India. It is about Taiwan’s labor system, its
RSS