A lot has been made of Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu’s (陳菊) comments during her trip to China last week to promote this summer’s World Games after she used the words “President Ma [Ying-jeou, 馬英九]” and “central government” during a meeting with the mayor of Beijing.
Chen became the first high-profile Taiwanese official to make such comments on the record in China. Chen’s actions have received a lot of domestic media attention and earned her rare praise from politicians across the political spectrum.
Although her comments were censored by Chinese television, she succeeded in reminding people that it is possible to travel to China and meet senior Chinese officials while upholding Taiwan’s dignity.
Chen’s behavior is in stark contrast to that of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), who during a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) on Tuesday referred to the situation in Taiwan using the term daonei (島內), or “on the island.”
Wu could not find a suitable opportunity to mention “Taiwan,” let alone use words that hinted at Taiwan’s sovereign status. The excuse given by KMT officials afterwards was that Wu’s terminology was a product of his upbringing.
This just doesn’t wash.
But then again, Taiwanese should not expect less from Wu, who has often shown himself to be no champion of titles, regularly referring to the president as “Mr Ma.”
As well as highlighting the cowardice of top KMT officials such as Wu and former chairman Lien Chan (連戰), Chen’s trip was a reminder that, contrary to what the KMT would have us believe, it is possible to achieve positive results when dealing with China — and to do so with self-respect.
The blaze of propaganda surrounding Ma’s cross-strait “success” since the KMT returned to office has blurred the achievements during the eight years of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government from 2000 until last year. During that time, Taiwanese companies were allowed to invest billions of dollars in China, much more than had been allowed under previous KMT governments. But the government never felt it had to belittle Taiwan to achieve its goals.
It was the DPP that in 2001 initiated the “small three links” and later started cross-strait flights during holiday periods with a view to eventually upgrading them. It also completed negotiations on cross-strait charter flights.
The Chinese held off on implementing them for fear of giving the DPP government a propaganda coup. Instead, it waited to let the KMT earn all the glory after it regained power.
The DPP also made the first tentative steps toward opening the country to Chinese tourists, although it was skeptical about letting too many visit at a time, and with good reason.
The problem for the DPP was that it failed to properly publicize these achievements, allowing them to be drowned out by endless attacks from the opposition and the pro-unification media.
While relations between Taiwan and China were far from perfect during its tenure, the DPP at least demonstrated that it is not necessary to denigrate Taiwan to earn economic concessions from Beijing. If only so much could be said of the present government.
Elbridge Colby, America’s Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, is the most influential voice on defense strategy in the Second Trump Administration. For insight into his thinking, one could do no better than read his thoughts on the defense of Taiwan which he gathered in a book he wrote in 2021. The Strategy of Denial, is his contemplation of China’s rising hegemony in Asia and on how to deter China from invading Taiwan. Allowing China to absorb Taiwan, he wrote, would open the entire Indo-Pacific region to Chinese preeminence and result in a power transition that would place America’s prosperity
A few weeks ago in Kaohsiung, tech mogul turned political pundit Robert Tsao (曹興誠) joined Western Washington University professor Chen Shih-fen (陳時奮) for a public forum in support of Taiwan’s recall campaign. Kaohsiung, already the most Taiwanese independence-minded city in Taiwan, was not in need of a recall. So Chen took a different approach: He made the case that unification with China would be too expensive to work. The argument was unusual. Most of the time, we hear that Taiwan should remain free out of respect for democracy and self-determination, but cost? That is not part of the usual script, and
All 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安), formerly of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), survived recall elections against them on Saturday, in a massive loss to the unprecedented mass recall movement, as well as to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that backed it. The outcome has surprised many, as most analysts expected that at least a few legislators would be ousted. Over the past few months, dedicated and passionate civic groups gathered more than 1 million signatures to recall KMT lawmakers, an extraordinary achievement that many believed would be enough to remove at
Behind the gloating, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) must be letting out a big sigh of relief. Its powerful party machine saved the day, but it took that much effort just to survive a challenge mounted by a humble group of active citizens, and in areas where the KMT is historically strong. On the other hand, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) must now realize how toxic a brand it has become to many voters. The campaigners’ amateurism is what made them feel valid and authentic, but when the DPP belatedly inserted itself into the campaign, it did more harm than good. The
RSS