President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) inaugural speech on Sunday was vague, conflicting and cliched, addressing neither what should be done to solve domestic economic woes nor uphold Taiwan’s sovereignty, political analysts told a forum yesterday.
The president did not address what he would do to rejuvenate Taiwan’s economy, nor did he apologize for a series of ill-advised policies, such as fuel and electricity price increases and the controversy over imports of meat containing the feed-additive ractopamine, said Wu Rong-i (吳榮義), president of the Taiwan Brain Trust think tank, which organized the forum.
Wu desribed the speech as having “one no and four withouts” — meaning Ma showed no -understanding of public opinion, while he failed to apologize for poor policies, showed no self-introspection, insisted on using the “one China” framework and put forward no new ideas.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Ma misinterpreted the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution in his speech because the “outdated” Constitution should not be used to explain Taiwan’s sovereignty and the “status quo,” Taiwan Association of University Professors -president Chang Yen-hsien (張炎憲) said.
Moreover, Chang said, as the president of Taiwan, Ma’s highlighting “Zhonghua Culture (中華文化)” and “Zhonghua Minzu (中華民族)” was “completely impractical” and neglected Taiwan’s traditional culture and values.
“The emphasis on Zhonghua Minzu was just what Beijing wanted to hear because it reaffirmed the connection between Taiwan and China. It also implies that Ma favors eventual unification,” he said.
Ma’s reiteration of the “one country, two areas (一國兩區)” formula suggested “de facto unification,” mislead the international community and legitimized Beijing’s anti-secession law, which was ratified in 2005, said David Huang (黃偉峰), a researcher at Academia Sinica.
The “one country, two areas” proposal raised eyebrows earlier this year when former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) delivered it to Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) during a visit to Beijing.
“It’s clear that the international community recognizes the China in ‘one China’ as the People’s -Republic of China, not the ROC,” Huang said.
People First Party Deputy Secretary-General Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) said Ma had turned his back on the people with his inconsistent policies, arrogance and authoritarianism.
Some of Ma’s policies seemed to be conflicting, Liu said, such as his plan to establish a free-trade area in Greater Kaohsiung to attract Chinese investment and his pledge to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an economic integration that aims to contain China, in eight years.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS