Not to be dismayed, Ma still insists that his China card is the only game in town. Pundits, however, worry. Does he really have an overall plan or is he simply a “one trick pony” whose only trick isn’t panning out?
Signing an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China is the latest brainchild. Don’t worry that Ma’s team does not really know where it is going with this or that, it totally lacks transparency. Ma’s team is used to winging it when it comes to Taiwan’s future. One does not even want to consider the possibility that Ma’s team is being purposely deceptive.
Chen further muddied the waters on Honduras by saying: “The fate of the foreign ministry is that we can be misunderstood, but we can never be wrong.”
This did not help allay fears either. On the contrary, Chen is mirroring Ma’s modus operandi and refuses to answer legitimate questions.
In his own warped way, Ma wants to believe that as emperor he may be misunderstood, but he can never be wrong, even when he wings it. Ma’s spin-doctors are telling the people that they should accept that and believe it.
It is a strange contention. Wake up, Taiwan.
Jerome Keating is a writer based in Taipei.
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