Ma emphasized Beijing’s obstruction of Taipei’s efforts to ink free-trade agreements with other countries, the story said, but it said he was confident that Taiwan’s institutions will prove resilient in the face of any untoward influence from Beijing.
“We have more than 70,000 business firms investing on the Chinese mainland, employing millions of Chinese workers. They could have used that to, you know, interfere in our politics or whatever, and so far that’s not that prominent,” he was quoted as saying.
“This is a very democratic and transparent society. Anything of that sort would certainly be reported and affect the cross-strait relations,” he was quoted as saying.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday that Ma has no right to unilaterally determine the future of Taiwan.
Regardless of the word used by Ma, “he is in no position to unilaterally put a timetable” on Taiwan’s future, DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) said, panning the president for being “arrogant and presumptuous.”
Ma’s efforts for “eventual unification” are the antithesis of Taiwan’s democratic values and if the president betrayed the will of the public by reuniting with China, “he would force a large and bloody revolution,” Lee said.
DPP spokesman Chuang Shuo-han (莊碩漢) said more than 85 percent of Taiwanese support the status quo.
Ma’s comment shows that he is ignoring public opinion by veering Taiwan toward unification, Chuang said, stressing that decisions on Taiwan’s future must be determined by referendum.
Choosing Ma means choosing unification with China, said Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝), warning that signing an ECFA will expedite the unification process.
The best way to stop Ma from pushing for unification is by voting him out of office, Huang said.
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