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Hsieh claims Ma flip-flopping on platform

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) criticized Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rival Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for inconsistency after Ma denied ever proposing a "cross-strait common market" and then saying that he would recognize Chinese educational credentials.

Election platforms are a serious matter and should be well thought out, Hsieh told a press conference at his campaign headquarters yesterday morning. Ma should not dodge or deny platform planks that he proposed under pressure, Hsieh said.

"Instead of defending his own platforms or debating them with his challengers, he denies them," Hsieh said.

"This is irresponsible and careless. How does he expect the public to trust him? The public will be the judge of his behavior," Hsieh said.

Hsieh said the "cross-strait common market" is more than just a platform, it was "contract" endorsed by Ma. When Ma became KMT chairman on July 17, 2005, he wrote a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) ratifying a communique signed between former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and Hu, Hsieh said.

Lien and Hu had agreed in April 2005 to prioritize discussion of a "cross-strait common market"after Taiwan and China resumed bilateral negotiations.

In his letter, Ma expressed the hope of seeing the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party aggressively push exchanges between the two parties and work for the implementation of the Lien-Hu agreement, Hsieh said.

He also slammed Ma's plan to recognize Chinese educational credentials.

Ma denied during their televised debate that he would recognize degrees offered by Chinese educational institutions, but later said that he would "conditionally" support recognition although he would be against letting those with Chinese credentials take national examinations for professional licenses, Hsieh said.

However, Ma was quoted by the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister paper) on Aug. 21, 2004, as saying that "to recognize Chinese educational credentials is to truly love Taiwan," Hsieh said, showing a copy of the newspaper article.

Hsieh said he would like to know exactly what Ma meant by recognizing Chinese educational credentials.

Campaigning at Taipei's Longshan Temple, Hsieh said that if he was elected, he could act as a check on the power of the KMT.

He also said that he could appoint a KMT member as premier.

Hsieh continued to attack what he said was Ma's inconsistency, saying a presidential candidate's platforms are like a restaurant menu and a fancy-looking menu does not necessarily guarantee delicious food on the table.

He also said Ma had sabotaged the police department's promotion system when he was Taipei mayor by keeping the incumbent city police chief in that job for eight to nine years.

Hsieh said Ma had broken the law by preventing law enforcement officers at the central and local governments from exchanging positions.

Meanwhile, KMT vice presidential candidate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) responded to Hsieh's criticism of the "cross-strait common market" proposal by saying that the DPP candidate was stooping to "dirty tricks" by smearing the idea because Hsieh had been unable to come up with a solid economic proposal himself.

During a campaign event at KMT headquarters, Siew said Hsieh's labelling the "cross-strait common market" a "one China" market was part of the DPP's smear tactics.

He said economic issues should not be "politicized."

Siew also said he would hold a major press conference tomorrow to elaborate on his proposal so that the public will understand that a "cross-strait common market" would "invigorate" the nation's economy.

Additional reporting by Flora Wang

Also See: A vote for one man is a vote for the future
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