Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was not qualified to be the president of the country because of his stubbornness in signing an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China despite strong opposition from the public.
“Ma said he would write me a letter to invite me to talk with him [about the ECFA issue]. But if he only wants to use the occasion to have me endorse the ECFA, the meeting is totally unnecessary,” Tsai said.
Ma on Friday reiterated the government’s determination to sign an ECFA with China, saying it would prevent Taiwan from being marginalized amid regional economic development.
Stressing the urgency of the economic pact, Ma said the government planned to exchange ideas about the agreement with Beijing during the forthcoming round of cross-strait talks between Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), scheduled for May or June in the Chinese capital.
Ma said that he expected more substantial details to be discussed after the third round of talks and that the two sides could reach a conclusion on certain details of the agreement by the end of this year.
Criticizing Ma as “missing the point,” Tsai yesterday said the president should solicit views from the opposition first, not make up his mind about what he wants to do and only then seek endorsement from the opposition.
“Dialogue with the president is pointless if he does not want to hear the opposition’s view,” Tsai said.
A number of pro-localization groups including Taiwan Association of University Professors and the Taiwan National Alliance are considering holding a protest on May 17 over Ma’s performance and the government’s proposal to sign an ECFA with China.
The date was selected to coincide with Ma’s first anniversary in office.
When asked for comment, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) yesterday urged independence groups to stay calm, and said protests would not be the best way to solve the problem.
“A rally won’t fix the economic crisis and other problems. It would be better if they gave solid advice to the government, rather than criticizing it all the time,” Wu said yesterday after attending a Hakka community forum in Taipei.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
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