President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) “manifestly failed” to improve relations with the US, Japan and other Asian powers as he moved Taiwan closer to China, the US-Taiwan Business Council said yesterday in an analysis of the Nov. 29 election results.
It said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) had suffered a “historic defeat” at the hands of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and independent candidates.
“Food safety scandals, stagnant wages, high property prices and an overarching view that Taiwan’s economic fortunes are adrift contributed to the KMT’s defeat,” council president Rupert Hammond-Chambers said.
He said these local issues could also be tied to Ma’s focus on improving relations with China.
“The US-Taiwan Business Council has praised President Ma’s policies that seek to normalize cross-strait commercial relations and improve cultural exchanges,” Hammond-Chambers said.
However, the council also agreed with Ma that this policy approach had to be taken hand-in-hand with improved relations with the US, Japan and other Asian powers, he said.
“President Ma has manifestly failed to accomplish this goal, as rhetorical decelerations of strong relations is not the same as identifiable policy wins,” Hammond-Chambers said.
He said the one-sided nature of Ma’s external relations had left an overriding impression that Taiwan’s trajectory with regard to China had prioritized the powerful business and technocratic elite over the general populace.
“Many in Taiwan, particularly young singles and young families, feel that they have been disenfranchised,” Hammond-Chambers said.
He said that Ma would have to move decisively to correct the trajectory of his party and point it in the right direction if the KMT was to win the next presidential election.
“We should expect much maneuvering between now and the start of the Chinese New Year on Feb. 19, including a new premier, a new Cabinet and a new KMT chairman,” Hammond-Chambers said.
He said Beijing had invested more than six years in Ma’s government, “only to see the effectiveness of that decision challenged in these elections.”
“It is essential to recognize that China loomed large over the 2014 elections and that any decisions China makes in 2015 to represent its interests in Taiwan will be placed under a microscope in the debates leading up to the 2016 presidential election,” he said. “We are likely to see a steady uptick in tensions, punctuated by terse Chinese statements in support of its own equities. We are unlikely to see any new cross-strait initiatives, at least through May 2016 when Taiwan’s next president takes office.”
Hammond-Chambers said the US could do much to improve the likelihood of a “good outcome” in Taiwan.
“The US should consider several steps in 2015 to bolster Taiwan’s democratic process and telegraph clearly to Beijing that the US is not a disinterested party when it comes to cross-strait relations,” he said.
He said Washington should launch bilateral investment agreement negotiations immediately; accept Taiwan’s letter of request for new F-16 C/Ds to ensure that Taiwan has the advanced fighters it needs; send the submarine program notification — which has been sitting at the US Department of State since 2008 — to the US Congress; and send several Cabinet-level officials to Taiwan next year.
“The US needs to act now to head off the prospect of a steep spike in cross-strait tensions,” Hammond-Chambers said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS