Ma’s inaccurate language
In his recent teleconference with Harvard University, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) made the statement: “The time for unification at this stage is not ripe yet.”
In making this statement, Ma misrepresents social and political realities in Taiwan. It is certainly true that the time for unification between Taiwan and China is not ripe.
In using this particular language, however, Ma implies that Taiwanese are moving toward a time ripe for unification. In fact, public opinion polls in Taiwan indicate quite clearly that Taiwanese are moving in the opposite direction. A variety of polls from different organizations consistently show an increase in Taiwanese versus Chinese identity and a greater desire for formal, internationally recognized independence for Taiwan.
Why would the democratically elected leader of Taiwan choose to inaccurately represent the opinions and attitudes of his constituents?
In making this statement, Ma is trying to appease the leaders in Beijing who, of course, insist that unification with Taiwan is one of China’s core interests, and the deep-blue members of his party who still hold on to their dream of unification.
Ma’s appeasing language is very dangerous, however, because it sends the rest of the world the message that Taiwanese are moving toward a desire for unification and therefore encourages leaders in foreign governments to base their China and Taiwan policies on an inaccurate interpretation of trends in Taiwan.
Ma is well advised to remember that he was elected to represent the interests of the 23 million people in Taiwan, and not the feelings of the leaders in Beijing. He should be more careful in choosing his words. Given the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue, one might understand why Ma does not make the statement, “the time for independence is not ripe yet,” but he could certainly make the statement, “the time for the 23 million people of Taiwan to formally decide on their future status is not ripe yet.”
This language more accurately represents the realities in Taiwan and demonstrates the kind of ambiguity that Ma claims to love so much when he discusses his “1992 consensus.”
Don Rodgers
Visiting Associate Professor of Political Science at Soochow University,
Taipei
A high-school student surnamed Yang (楊) gained admissions to several prestigious medical schools recently. However, when Yang shared his “learning portfolio” on social media, he was caught exaggerating and even falsifying content, and his admissions were revoked. Now he has to take the “advanced subjects test” scheduled for next month. With his outstanding performance in the general scholastic ability test (GSAT), Yang successfully gained admissions to five prestigious medical schools. However, his university dreams have now been frustrated by the “flaws” in his learning portfolio. This is a wake-up call not only for students, but also teachers. Yang did make a big
As former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) concludes his fourth visit to China since leaving office, Taiwan finds itself once again trapped in a familiar cycle of political theater. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has criticized Ma’s participation in the Straits Forum as “dancing with Beijing,” while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) defends it as an act of constitutional diplomacy. Both sides miss a crucial point: The real question is not whether Ma’s visit helps or hurts Taiwan — it is why Taiwan lacks a sophisticated, multi-track approach to one of the most complex geopolitical relationships in the world. The disagreement reduces Taiwan’s
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is visiting China, where he is addressed in a few ways, but never as a former president. On Sunday, he attended the Straits Forum in Xiamen, not as a former president of Taiwan, but as a former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman. There, he met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Presumably, Wang at least would have been aware that Ma had once been president, and yet he did not mention that fact, referring to him only as “Mr Ma Ying-jeou.” Perhaps the apparent oversight was not intended to convey a lack of
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) last week announced that the KMT was launching “Operation Patriot” in response to an unprecedented massive campaign to recall 31 KMT legislators. However, his action has also raised questions and doubts: Are these so-called “patriots” pledging allegiance to the country or to the party? While all KMT-proposed campaigns to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers have failed, and a growing number of local KMT chapter personnel have been indicted for allegedly forging petition signatures, media reports said that at least 26 recall motions against KMT legislators have passed the second signature threshold
RSS