When Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was elected president, the immediate US reaction was to heave a sigh of relief because Ma’s pro-China policies were expected to relax the tense cross-strait relationship. In practice, things have turned out slightly differently, as “pro-China” became “submit to China,” and this raised flags in the US, as can be seen from a series of recent events.
When the new director of the American Institute in Taiwan, William Stanton, visited Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) on Sept. 30, he said that “people overseas had some different thoughts” on the trial of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Why would he risk being accused of interfering with Taiwan’s internal affairs by bringing up this case? Clearly because the US now feels it is no longer a clear-cut judicial matter.
In his Oct. 7 column, New York Times columnist Philip Bowring said: “Chen upset a natural ally in [former US president] George W. Bush by needlessly provoking Beijing in an attempt to score political points at home. Now the KMT [Chinese Nationalist Party] seems to have gone to the other extreme.”
To some people, the Chen trial is evidence that pro-unification advocates are demonizing Chen for his support for Taiwanese independence and for breaking the KMT’s authoritarian rule so they can play up to Beijing.
The editorial in last month’s issue of Taiwan Business Topics, published by the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, said one topic that deserves to be high on the Cabinet’s priority list is “balancing the advances in cross-Strait ties with further strengthening of relations with the United States, Taiwan’s most important source of international support.”
Bowring makes the same point in his column, saying: “Taiwan seems to be talking itself into believing that it is even more dependent on the mainland than need be the case … [and] dependence on China is often overstated.”
Prior to this, because pro-green supporters were allegedly being excluded from the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, Carl Gershman, president of the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy, an organization that is also supported by the US Congress, sent a letter to Ma saying: “It has come to my attention through reports in the press that broad changes are being proposed for the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. I am concerned that such an overhaul could well compromise both the Foundation’s independence and the quality of its work.”
These incidents not only tell us that Ma has been unable to give balanced treatment to Taiwan’s relations with the US and China, but also that this imbalance involves a deterioration of the basic democratic values that any democracy must respect.
What is most upsetting to the US is that during the Typhoon Morakot disaster, Ma blocked US aid teams from entering Taiwan while attempting to bring in rescue personnel from China’s People’s Liberation Army. Ma still has not offered an explanation for this. When the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) was refusing to accept US aid, its minister, Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊), “could not be found.”
Why hasn’t the government provided an explanation of Ou’s whereabouts and who he was meeting with? Maybe Ou, who was made a scapegoat and had to step down in the Cabinet reshuffle, should give the public an explanation.
Not long ago, the government announced that it would not issue visas to World Uyghur Congress leader Rebiya Kadeer and its secretary-general Dolkun Isa because the government claims Kadeer is closely connected with terrorists and because Isa was said to be a terrorist. Because the government feared a lawsuit, it has changed its tune and says the reason for not issuing visas is that it would jeopardize cross-strait relations.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said it would “make China feel uncomfortable.” The same reason is given for not letting Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi (李洪志) into the country. Who would have thought that Ma’s guiding principle was to make the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) feel comfortable and that he therefore must keep anyone the CCP doesn’t like out of Taiwan?
As Taiwan is leaning heavily toward the CCP, the US has finally seen Ma’s true colors. On Oct. 7, the Liberty Times, the Taipei Times’ sister publication, reported that sources in Washington revealed that the US administration has completed an internal Taiwan policy review and now intends to send US Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, a retired US Army four-star general, to visit Taiwan next spring to strengthen US-Taiwan relations. That would be the first such visit since before George W. Bush took office.
Such a move would be certain to make China, which wants to bring down US imperialism and “liberate” Taiwan, feel uncomfortable. It would also make Ma, who is cooperating with China to suppress Taiwanese independence, feel uncomfortable. The question is whether Ma will dare make the US feel uncomfortable by making China feel comfortable.
Paul Lin is a political commentator.
TRANSLATED BY PERRY SVENSSON
When it became clear that the world was entering a new era with a radical change in the US’ global stance in US President Donald Trump’s second term, many in Taiwan were concerned about what this meant for the nation’s defense against China. Instability and disruption are dangerous. Chaos introduces unknowns. There was a sense that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) might have a point with its tendency not to trust the US. The world order is certainly changing, but concerns about the implications for Taiwan of this disruption left many blind to how the same forces might also weaken
As the new year dawns, Taiwan faces a range of external uncertainties that could impact the safety and prosperity of its people and reverberate in its politics. Here are a few key questions that could spill over into Taiwan in the year ahead. WILL THE AI BUBBLE POP? The global AI boom supported Taiwan’s significant economic expansion in 2025. Taiwan’s economy grew over 7 percent and set records for exports, imports, and trade surplus. There is a brewing debate among investors about whether the AI boom will carry forward into 2026. Skeptics warn that AI-led global equity markets are overvalued and overleveraged
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Monday announced that she would dissolve parliament on Friday. Although the snap election on Feb. 8 might appear to be a domestic affair, it would have real implications for Taiwan and regional security. Whether the Takaichi-led coalition can advance a stronger security policy lies in not just gaining enough seats in parliament to pass legislation, but also in a public mandate to push forward reforms to upgrade the Japanese military. As one of Taiwan’s closest neighbors, a boost in Japan’s defense capabilities would serve as a strong deterrent to China in acting unilaterally in the
Taiwan last week finally reached a trade agreement with the US, reducing tariffs on Taiwanese goods to 15 percent, without stacking them on existing levies, from the 20 percent rate announced by US President Donald Trump’s administration in August last year. Taiwan also became the first country to secure most-favored-nation treatment for semiconductor and related suppliers under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act. In return, Taiwanese chipmakers, electronics manufacturing service providers and other technology companies would invest US$250 billion in the US, while the government would provide credit guarantees of up to US$250 billion to support Taiwanese firms
RSS