Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) yesterday called on Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to explain why she believed President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policies leaned toward China, saying it was regretful to hear Tsai constantly make “irresponsible” criticism of Ma.
“Regardless of whether she supports or opposes President Ma’s cross-strait policies, there can always be rational debate on the matter,” Lo said. “Even if she wants to criticize the president, she must present concrete evidence to substantiate her claims.”
Lo asked why Tsai told the Chinese-language Apple Daily newspaper during a recent interview that her party would stay the course in terms of cross-strait policies if it returned to power if Ma’s cross-strait policies were too China-friendly or caused discomfort among the Taiwanese polity, as Tsai claims.
“Does this mean they [DPP officials] approve of a cross-strait policy that leans toward China?” Lo asked. “Doesn’t she owe her supporters an explanation as to why she would decide to follow our cross-strait policy?”
Lo made the remarks in response to a report by the -Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) yesterday. The report quoted Tsai as saying that Taiwan’s relations with China required stability, but Ma’s policy slanted too much toward China and therefore caused uneasiness.
Tsai said her party would discuss in the near future how to engage China, but at the same time protect Taiwan’s sovereignty, security and dignity.
Tsai made the remarks when she was attending a fundraiser organized by the Taiwan Association of University Professors on Saturday in Taipei.
Lo said Tsai was being “dishonest” about her cross-strait policies and wayward in her positions.
Taking the example of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) signed in June, Lo said Tsai said in April last year that the trade pact would have a dramatic impact on Taiwan and that 4 million people’s livelihoods would be affected.
However, following her debate with Ma on the accord in April this year, she hardly mentioned the ECFA and eventually kept quiet, he said.
While Tsai told moderate voters the DPP would continue the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) cross-strait policies, Lo said she told diehard pro-independence activists at the Taiwan Association of University Professors that Ma’s cross-strait policies were too China-friendly and that it brought unrest.
“Isn’t the gap between her political language and the middle-of-the-road approach she aspires to take too wide?” Lo asked.
Lo asked the public to compare Ma’s cross-strait and foreign polices and those of the former DPP administration and judge which was in Taiwan’s best interests.
In response, the DPP said it stood by Tsai’s comments.
“Her views are shared by the majority of Taiwanese,” DPP spokesperson Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said. “Lo’s remarks are unconvincing and improper.”
Cheng said some of the examples Tsai was referring to when she made the remarks included the government’s policies of delegating cross-strait affairs to a local level as well as not focusing enough on Taiwan’s sovereignty during negotiations with Beijing.
“Just look at how police -officers took away the national flag during Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin’s (陳雲林) first visit to Taiwan,” Cheng said, referring to a meeting between cross-strait negotiators in Taipei in November 2008.
Rather than take a holistic approach to national policies, the Presidential Office spokesperson cherry-picked and only attacked the DPP to score political points, he said.
“It’s not something that a person of Lo’s stature should be doing,” he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VINCENT Y. CHAO
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