The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) caught the public’s attention after it ran advertisements in Chinese-language media promoting the Republic of China flag, to coincide with the sixth round of high-level cross-strait talks between Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) last week.
For many, the move was yet another attempt by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration in recent months to convince the public that its China policy has the best interests of Taiwanese in mind.
Since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May 2008, he has taken pride in improving cross-strait relations — at least at some levels. His efforts have received much praise, as well as harsh criticism, at home and abroad.
However, sometime in August, he began to realize that he could no longer ignore public apprehensions over the speed at which his administration has engaged Beijing.
During an interview with the Chinese-language China Times on Aug. 31, Ma said cross-strait liberalization would “maintain its current speed” and that there was no need to “go any faster.”
He also offered a thorough explanation of his three-stage cross-strait policy, with the final stage aimed at strengthening bilateral exchanges in the hopes that Taiwan would have an impact on Chinese development.
Earlier the same month, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) raised eyebrows by urging Beijing to “abolish policies and laws” concerning military deployments targeting Taiwan. Although China’s “Anti-Secession” Law was not named, MAC Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) called on China to review the law, which he described as “something unnecessary” in cross-strait relations.
A few days after last month’s five special municipality elections, Lai delivered the welcoming remarks at an international forum on cross-strait relations in Taipei, laying down what she called the seven core interests of Taiwanese — democracy, sovereignty, security, the right to free choice on the future of cross-strait relations, the right to meaningful participation in international organizations, the right not to be discriminated against and the right of disadvantaged to survive.
The concept was nothing new, but it was the first time a senior MAC official had made such a complete summary of the matter.
On the same day, former National Security Council secretary-general Su Chi (蘇起) urged the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to take the initiative and work with the KMT to come up with what he called a “Taiwan consensus” before Taipei and Beijing could enter negotiations on thorny issues such as Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Su said he did not think Ma could single-handedly take care of all the political issues such as Taiwan’s international space, a military confidence--building mechanism and a peace agreement.
So what are all the signals about? What is the message the administration is trying to get across?
Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉), assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Political Science, said the administration was trying to send three messages.
Domestically, as Ma realizes that his China-friendly policy is losing public support, he needs to adjust his politics and lean more toward the center. Ma, who doubles as KMT chairman, must also take into account the needs of his party legislators, who are up for re-election next year.
RSS