Despite having frittered away the eight years of his presidency and having completely lost the confidence of the public, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is happy to talk about his “place in history.” Given his impending departure from office, he is trying to leave his mark by erecting three monuments, but these edifices are either controversial or in places where nobody would see them.
Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼) lies about 55km from Keelung and it definitely belongs to Taiwan. No other country except China claims sovereignty over it. Ma’s predecessor, Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), went there to erect a monument when he was president, which was followed by a group of angry protesters accompanied by some older-generation Diaoyutai (釣魚台) sovereignty campaigners belonging to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Apart from standing on Pengjia Islet and gazing wistfully toward the Diaoyutais, Ma’s visit had no new significance.
Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) in the South China Sea is one of the territories Japan gave up in the 1951 San Francisco Treaty. Taiwan got in first by occupying the island and installing a garrison. However, Itu Aba is also claimed by other nations. Chen went to Itu Aba to declare sovereignty over it, so Ma’s repeat visit to erect a monument is just a way of claiming an achievement for himself.
Of course, if Ma’s reason for putting up three monuments was to confirm the existing national territories of the “Republic of China” (ROC), and if China also recognized this claim, then history would recognize it as Ma’s historical achievement. It would be a confirmation of Taiwan’s “natural independence,” because marking Taiwan’s “national territory” with the three monuments would draw a line between Taiwan and China.
However, when Ma put up a monument on Kinmen, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) did not endorse it. The Kinmen and Matsu islands are definitely partial Chinese territory, so if the ROC still claims to be the government that represents China, Kinmen and Matsu are the only territory that it rules legally. China has no desire to take over Kinmen and Matsu, because they are symbolic of “one China.”
Ma unveiled a monument on Kinmen, ostensibly to mark the 23rd anniversary of the 1993 talks between then-chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) and then-chairman of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Wang Daohan (汪道涵). Ma used the opportunity to demonstrate his contributions to Xi, while promoting the so-called “1992 consensus” to president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
However, Xi’s response was a slap in the face for Ma, as China declined to send anyone to attend the grand occasion.
Wang Daohan’s son, Wang Zhizhong (汪致重), respectfully turned down his invitation on the grounds that he did not have time to arrange it, so only Koo’s widow, Cecilia Yen Koo (辜嚴倬雲), and son, Leslie Koo (辜成允), turned up to keep Ma company.
Under China’s system, as long as the event fitted the Chinese government’s needs, Wang Zhizhong would certainly have had enough time. His non-attendance therefore makes it clear that Xi did not approve and was not willing to give Ma face. Ma was unveiling a memorial marked with the ROC calendar date, and doing so in his capacity as “president” of the ROC. If China were to join in, would it not amount to recognizing the ROC’s territorial “status quo?”
Ma has been in office for eight years, but nobody is likely to miss him when he is gone, so he wants to make sure his name is never forgotten by erecting these three monuments in far-flung places. It really is the height of narcissism and self-indulgence.
James Wang is a media commentator.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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