President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Thursday compared cross-strait relations to a tree that must be nurtured, saying that any “worms” inside the tree must be picked out by woodpeckers “so the tree will grow normally.” The trouble is that Ma is blind to the fact the tree is so frail that woodpeckers risk choking on splinters.
The development of cross-strait relations cannot be allowed to stall because of a worm and if such a pest is found, it must be removed, Ma told a news conference, referring to former Mainland Affairs Council deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀). The news conference was classic Ma. After going on at length about pests and pest removal, he remembered his legal studies and added that since Chang was only suspected of leaking information, “we need to adhere to the principle of presumption of innocence.”
It was a clear reminder of Ma’s steadfast adherence to that principle during last year’s “September strife,” when he declared that Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) had to be ousted from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and his seat in the legislature for bringing “shame on Taiwan’s judiciary and democratic history” by allegedly lobbying on behalf of Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in a court case. Ma continued to trash-talk Wang for months.
Just over two weeks ago, Taipei prosecutors said there was no evidence to support the allegations of influence peddling against Wang. Ma has yet to publicly comment on that decision — no “I should have presumed Wang was innocent,” no “I spoke too hastily,” and it apparently made no impact on his remarks on Thursday, although he was a bit more reticent about the Chang scandal and its impact on cross-strait ties yesterday, saying it was simply “minor turbulence.”
The tree of cross-strait relations is not endangered by worms; it is the tree’s roots themselves that are rotten and decaying.
Ma has repeatedly said that his government lawfully promotes relations with Beijing based on mutual respect, yet his government has repeatedly tried to play fast and loose with the law, evading as much legislative oversight of cross-strait negotiations as possible and ramming agreements through the legislature by any means possible.
The very idea of conducting cross-strait relations based on mutual respect is a joke because Beijing treats Taipei and the Republic of China government with the utmost contempt, alternating sugary promises and dangling carrots with veiled and not-so-veiled threats. Beijing signed the Agreement on Jointly Cracking Down on Crime and Mutual Legal Assistance Across the Strait and the Cross-Strait Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement, yet it is very selective in its adherence to protections promised in those pacts when it comes to detaining Taiwanese suspected of crimes and informing their families and Taipei.
Taiwanese are rightly skeptical of any promises made or pacts signed by Beijing — look at Hong Kong. The Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong signed on Dec. 19, 1984, stipulated that Hong Kong’s capitalist system and way of life would continue for 50 years after the handover. China has steadily encroached on or ignored those stipulations.
On Thursday, the same day Ma was waxing poetic about the benefits of cross-strait ties, Chinese armored personnel carriers were trundling down a major roadway in Hong Kong in a clear message to residents ahead of a rally scheduled for tomorrow by the pro-democracy Occupy Central group, while anti-corruption agency officials searched the homes of media tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英), who has funded pro-democracy parties and lawmakers, and Legislative Council member Lee Cheuk-yan (李卓人).
The main threats to peaceful cross-strait ties are Beijing itself and a KMT administration that has proved far too willing to sell out the Taiwanese it is supposed to represent.
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