Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told a Washington audience that there remains “a deep sense of anxiety and uncertainty within Taiwan” about the way President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has engaged in rapid rapprochement with China.
She said people were worried about whether it would bring sustained stability and prosperity — as Ma has promised — or “an erosion of Taiwan’s sovereignty, security, democracy and economic leverage.”
Speaking to a packed lecture hall at George Washington University that included academics, State Department officials and political staff from Capitol Hill, she said when it came to economics, trade and an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), she was concerned that “a heavy political price has been paid under the table.”
“When facing a hostile country with such outright aggressive intentions, public confidence in the government is paramount to strengthening our negotiating leverage, and there is no better way to boost public confidence than transparency and consultation,” Tsai said. “Our government tells us the good news, that the agreement will open the Chinese market for Taiwanese products. What about the other side of the story, or the bad news?”
Tsai claimed China carefully manages both the timing and quantity of tourists and capital investment to create illusions of prosperity.
China’s blocking of Taiwan’s efforts to sign free-trade agreements with other major economies was an obvious indication of their intention to “tighten the noose around Taiwan, leaving Taiwan with no other option but China,” she said.
“In my view, a truly win-win economic relationship should be one that is negotiated with calculated prudence, responds to the anxieties of the people, assures job opportunities and involves dialogue with industrial sectors in the process of policymaking — not afterwards,” she said.
Tsai is on a four-day visit to Washington during which she is holding private talks on Capitol Hill and with US-based experts on Taiwan.
She said the DPP had reservations about the invitation to Taiwan to observe this year’s World Health Assembly meeting.
“It was negotiated in a very opaque manner, between unknown individuals from both sides at an unknown place,” Tsai said. “This year’s invitation, we fear, comes at great political expense.”
“We recognize that toward the end of the DPP administration there was a bumpy period in our relations with the US,” she said. “We genuinely hope that confidence can be restored with Washington and that a strategic convergence of interests will emerge, while we continue to communicate our differences and concerns. It is not enough to say that we do not want to be troublemakers, for once we stop defending our interests when a world power finds us ‘troublesome,’ we will put ourselves in a position ever more vulnerable to the whims of Chinese pleasure or displeasure.”
Later, a State Department diplomat in the audience said that Tsai’s presentation had shown a level of “sophistication and elegance” that was not evident during the administration of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and asked what assurances she could give Washington that relations would be smoother if the DPP returned to power.
Tsai said the road might still be bumpy, but the journey would be more comfortable because there would be “a better car” to drive.
“It’s a relationship that needs careful management. We do not have any fundamental differences that cannot be resolved,” Tsai said.
Answering other questions, Tsai said that Taiwan’s judicial system was outdated and needed a major overhaul.
Prosecutors, she said, had too much discretionary power and were not well versed in the importance of human rights and impartiality.
There wsere so many cases in which DPP members had been investigated, she said, that it was impossible not to wonder if they were being subjected to a legal and political purge.
The relationship with China, she said, would be managed under a DPP government with “calculated prudence,” and with sophistication and patience.
Asked to explain her relationship with Chen, Tsai said: “My personal relationship with him is something that happened in the past. What has happened in the past is in the past.”
But, she added, it was important that Chen was dealt with fairly and that his human rights were respected.
“What we see evolving at the moment in our government is a new strategic approach that stakes Taiwan’s future in Beijing. In all his eagerness to integrate with China, Ma has done less to strengthen our ties with other partners. The absence of a broader policy toward the US beyond the declaration that ‘I am not a troublemaker’ and the existence of tensions with Japan reflect an increasing reliance on China as a gateway to the world,” Tsai said.
“Our greatest worry is that in the process of engaging with China, Taiwan’s democracy is actually becoming more vulnerable to Chinese influence,” she said. “That is why on May 17 we plan to hold a large rally, followed by a 24-hour sit-in, to voice our position in a way that can no longer be ignored by the government.”
Asked later if she was prepared to defy government orders and be arrested during the sit-in, she said: “It is not important if I am arrested. I do not matter personally. This is for Taiwanese democracy.”
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