President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) acted with lightning speed in issuing several “reform measures” following his re-election — fuel and electricity prices were adjusted upward and a capital gains tax on securities transactions is back on the cards. Rapidly increasing consumer prices and a storm of public protests have accompanied Ma’s return to power, and his approval rate has dropped to record lows.
If we ignore for a moment how just and legitimate these decisions are, and instead look at the timing and implementation of Ma’s reforms, it is obvious that he has acted too hastily and that in doing so, he has run counter to the wisdom of the expression: “Undue haste breaks the bowl.”
There is another saying: “A new broom sweeps clean.” This normally implies that someone taking up a new job, a new official trying to establish their authority, or someone following a certain ideal works hard at first to implement new policies and to initiate reform. To a certain extent, commitment to innovation is of course a good thing. The problem is that what the ruler thinks is the right thing is not necessarily in step with what the public wants, or in the public interest.
If the government does not first gain an in-depth understanding of public opinion to be able to plan a reasonable and forceful reform process and instead chooses sudden and unexpected implementation, failure is almost certain.
Let’s look at fuel and electricity prices. In addition to the issue of whether the increases are appropriate, the government should also consider how and when the increases should be implemented and how to minimize the impact on the public if it wants to avoid a backlash that could affect policy implementation. The same reasoning also applies to the securities transaction tax.
If the government only cares about the superficial issue of fair taxation and ignores the complexities and sensitivities of the stock market culture as well as its complicated connection with the grassroots economy and instead decides to rashly roll out the new tax, what will happen is precisely what we see today: A tense standoff between the public and government officials, between the government and the legislature.
Ma has made the mistake of thinking that just because he is no longer under any electoral pressure, he can engage in far-reaching and drastic reforms. He has therefore been in a hurry to “set” several “fires,” but never expected that he could go too far and instead burn himself and lose the public’s trust.
The ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi (老子) says: “Governing a great state is like cooking small fish.”
This means that when running a country, the ruler should be as careful and patient as when frying small fish and not be too eager or use too much force lest they mess things up. During China’s Song Dynasty, statesman Wang Anshi (王安石) introduced new laws and many new measures that seemed both reasonable and beneficial to the state, yet it all ended in failure. There were many reasons for this, but the crucial mistakes were certainly that he rushed ahead and failed to gain an understanding of public sentiment, which created widespread resistance.
Today, fuel and electricity prices and the securities transaction tax may seem like minor issues, but the fact is that they affect people’s living conditions and therefore have a big impact on society at large. These are not issues that can be carelessly dealt with or rashly pushed through.
Hsu Yu-fang is associate professor and chairman of sinophone literatures at National Dong Hua University.
Translated by Perry Svensson
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under