The emperor’s new clothes
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) re-inaugural address should have started off with the words: “Once upon a time ...”
His speech reminded me of the fairy tale The Emperor’s New Clothes, a short story about two weavers who promise an emperor a new suit of clothes that is invisible to those unfit for their positions, or that are stupid or incompetent.
The emperor ended up parading around only in his underwear. That is how I saw President Ma after his re-inaugural address. I do not think I was the only one.
The rest of the world, including China, was probably left shaking their heads at the idea of “one Republic of China, two areas” and that Taiwan claims all of what is now China. They understand the reality of the world today. Ma showed again that he does not.
Does he really expect the Chinese Communist Party to share their power?
Has he been ignoring the many times that China has berated and demeaned the people and the country of Taiwan? Does he listen to anyone or does he only focus on what was 60 years ago?
The people are crying out: “The emperor has no clothes,” while Ma continues his march toward China. Will Ma and the Legislative Yuan open their ears? Will the Legislative Yuan recognize that the president is one of the few who actually believes what he says and how their jobs are now in jeopardy because of it?
We can only hope that this fairy-tale has a fairy-tale ending for Taiwan.
Tom Carroll
Nantou County
Who asked you to?
The phrase “from hero to zero” to describe Ma is a very conspicuous catchphrase (“When you get what you asked for,” May 22, page 8).
In such a situation, Taiwanese often say: “Who asked you to?” with the object “to vote for Ma” omitted, but understood. In Taiwanese this question sounds like “thank you” in English. It is ironic if we thank the 6.89 million Taiwanese who voted for Ma.
On the day after Ma’s re-inauguration, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was indicted for illegally seizing confidential government documents before he left office four years ago. Many people expected that Ma would pardon the sick Chen so he could receive proper medical treatment. The new indictment against Chen shows that Ma has kept at least one of his pledges: “To let Chen die in an ugly manner.”
In his re-inaugural address, Ma reiterated his goal of “one country, two areas” despite 90 percent of Taiwanese being against unification. A modified Republic of China flag was hung on the wall of the presidential office where the re-inauguration took place. Netizens criticized this “new” national flag as “false and unconstitutional.”
The US Department of State recently asked why Taiwan is called “Taiwan, a province of China” instead of “Chinese Taipei.” In fact, both of these names are insulting to Taiwanese, but Ma’s administration seems to accept them in silence. Ma even thanked China for letting Taiwan participate in the 2008 Olympic Games as “Chinese Taipei.”
The US should reject these twisted names, otherwise Taiwan’s “status quo” would have been changed by China, and the Taiwan Relations Act would have to be renamed.
During Ma’s first term, stock prices dropped by 23 percent, compared with 4 percent in the US.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
As Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s party won by a landslide in Sunday’s parliamentary election, it is a good time to take another look at recent developments in the Maldivian foreign policy. While Muizzu has been promoting his “Maldives First” policy, the agenda seems to have lost sight of a number of factors. Contemporary Maldivian policy serves as a stark illustration of how a blend of missteps in public posturing, populist agendas and inattentive leadership can lead to diplomatic setbacks and damage a country’s long-term foreign policy priorities. Over the past few months, Maldivian foreign policy has entangled itself in playing
A group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers led by the party’s legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (?) are to visit Beijing for four days this week, but some have questioned the timing and purpose of the visit, which demonstrates the KMT caucus’ increasing arrogance. Fu on Wednesday last week confirmed that following an invitation by Beijing, he would lead a group of lawmakers to China from Thursday to Sunday to discuss tourism and agricultural exports, but he refused to say whether they would meet with Chinese officials. That the visit is taking place during the legislative session and in the aftermath