The Presidential Office yesterday tried to downplay the importance of Sunday’s debate between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on the proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), saying it was merely part of the government’s efforts to explain its cross-strait policies.
Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) dismissed speculation that Ma would attempt to use the debate to boost his lagging popularity.
“What we care about is explaining the government policies clearly and to allow the public to have a better understanding of the trade pact,” Lo said. “We didn’t begin preparations to explain the pact simply because of the debate and we certainly will not stop after it is over.”
Lo said Ma would do his best to use language that “people in the south” understand, so they would see the necessity of the planned pact.
“The DPP fully understands the importance of this trade pact, but they strongly oppose it because of their political ideology,” he said.
Lo said the government has long urged the DPP to sit down and talk about the proposed ECFA. Ma and Tsai will meet in the debate, which is the beginning of a rational dialogue, he said.
“We are happy that Chairperson Tsai has finally agreed to meet in such a format,” Lo said.
The Presidential Office had originally wanted the two to have a “dialogue,” but the DPP insisted on holding a debate on the controversial cross-strait pact. The Presidential Office finally agreed to the request, but has waged a war of words against the DPP since.
Lo yesterday said Ma might “not be good at debating skills or packaging himself,” but that he would exercise his “sincerity and consistency” and “cite facts” to convince the public that the ECFA was urgent and necessary.
Lo said the purpose of the debate was not to win, because Ma is more concerned about how Taiwan’s interests can be protected and how to formulate a strategic policy for the country’s economic development to connect with the world.
“It is not a matter of whether we should sign the ECFA, but how we should sign it,” he said.
Any individual with “economic rationality” knew the trade deal was important for Taiwan, he said.
Lo urged the public to examine whether the DPP’s opposition to the ECFA ran counter to Taiwan’s best interests.
It was the government’s duty to prevent the DPP from securing political gain at the expense of the nation’s interests, he said.
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