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.
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