With all three major political parties having finalized presidential and vice presidential candidates, the presidential race is heating up. What is certain is that whoever wins the Jan. 16 election will inherit a lot of problems.
These problems include a nation with a desperate need for economic and industrial transformation, a complete lack of trust and collaboration between the ruling and opposition parties, diplomatic isolation, marginalization and an intensified political, economic and military threat from China.
Precisely because the nation is faced with such severe challenges, the economic policies proposed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) on Thursday are hardly acceptable.
Chu presented one objective, two strategies and seven main points, assuring that economic liberalization is the only way to guarantee the nation’s survival.
In addition to announcing his manifesto, he directed fierce criticism at Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), saying that her party rejects everything “Chinese” and is moving the nation toward isolation.
This strategy of attacking the DPP for its purported Sinophobia has become one of Chu’s signature moves.
Chu has said that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) Nov. 7 meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Singapore would benefit Taiwan’s economy — in particular the tourist industry — but as the DPP did not laud the purported benefits of the meeting, for Chu that indicates the DPP’s Sinophobia.
Is anti-Chinese sentiment really a problem in the DPP and in the nation as a whole?
Logic would show that this is undoubtedly not the case.
The nation’s issue is China’s anti-Taiwanese sentiment and the KMT’s submissive stance toward Beijing. There are no facts or phenomena that support an allegation of Sinophobia.
In economic terms, if the nation rejected everything Chinese, how could China be the nation’s largest trade partner?
How could China be the target of Taiwan’s foreign direct investment?
Ma claims that when the DPP was in power, China was Taiwan’s largest export market, while it was he who brought down the percentage of Taiwanese exports to China from 40 percent to 39 percent, which shows that even under a DPP government, Taiwan had normal trade relations with China, and Taiwan did not reject all things Chinese.
Although politics can be a deceptive game, the deceptions that Ma and Chu employ are falling short of their target.
It is Beijing that is suppressing Taiwan’s international relations, whereas Taipei does not oppose Beijing’s moves.
Beijing has tried to prevent Taiwan from joining international organizations and reluctantly allows Taiwan to participate — with the loss of its national dignity — in rare instances when Taiwan’s allies, such as the US, support it.
China’s suppression does not stop at international events involving sports, the arts, academia and civic organizations and Taiwanese are seeing this, as is reflected in recent opinion polls.
Perhaps Chu thinks he has too much support, and would like to throw votes away by taking a stance contrary to public opinion, omitting China’s suppression of Taiwan while accusing the DPP of anti-Chinese sentiment.
This indicates the biggest problem that many in the KMT have — among them Ma and Chu — a very severe case of Stockholm syndrome, a phenomenon in which hostages have empathy for their aggressors and try to propitiate them. In cross-strait relations, China is abusing and bullying Taiwan and attempting to annex it — this indisputably makes China the aggressor and Taiwan the meek victim.
About 10 years ago former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) and other KMT members also began to exhibit symptoms of Stockholm syndrome and began cooperating with China, helping it to annex Taiwan — with the prospect of a big payoff.
In order to hide their personal ambitions, these people come up with emblems aimed at deceiving themselves and others.
“Peace” was the most commonly used; it was used when Lien embarked on his “Peace tour” in China in 2005 and again when Ma met with Xi.
However, the rise of the Chinese military has caused unease among its neighbors — especially in Taiwan.
After claiming that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to “one China,” Chu on Thursday criticized Tsai for only commenting on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) without giving any thought to matters that involve China, such as the cross-strait service trade agreement, the cross-strait trade in goods agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
What Chu evidently cares about most is free-trade agreements with China.
His strong advocacy of “liberalization” only focuses on the insufficient liberalization of the Chinese market, which he thinks should be further opened up.
In fact, Beijing’s objections are a major stumbling block for Taiwan when it comes to signing trade agreements — although there is room for improvement in the nation’s trade liberalization.
Ma’s obedience to Beijing has meant that Taiwan has only been allowed to sign a free-trade agreement with Singapore — something that was for the most part accomplished by the previous government — and a trade pact with New Zealand.
Since the TPP is led by the US — without China’s participation — and because the Taiwanese do not agree with the Ma government’s over-dependence on China, Tsai’s policy of using the TPP as a platform to develop and integrate multilateral economic cooperation is an honest reflection of public opinion.
Chu’s criticism only accentuates his Sino-centric mentality.
If Chu cannot get a grasp on the basic facts and listen to public opinion, but only cares what Beijing thinks, he might receive aid from Beijing, but it is unlikely that his attempts would help him win the hearts and votes of the public, or for that matter, bring his century-old party back to life.
Translated by Ethan Zhan
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