Tue, Mar 27, 2001 page8

• The heart of the 'New Middle Way'

  • By Liu Kuan-teh 劉冠德
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  In his meeting with some pro-independence groups last week, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) reaffirmed his campaign commitment to adopting a "New Middle Way" (新中間路線) in dealing with cross-strait relations. In the face of increasing domestic division over Taiwan's future status and the development of cross-strait relations, Chen persuaded his guests that such a pragmatic approach is what Taiwan must take. Since he was sworn in under the ROC national flag, Chen argued, he must abide by the ROC Constitution. It is indeed Chen's responsibility, as the president of the ROC, to defend national sovereignty, dignity and security in accordance with the Constitution.

  Though Chen has been adopting a soft, subtle approach to handling cross-strait relations, Beijing has not responded to his good-will gestures. Despite some fundamentalists from the pro-independence camp and the ruling DPP criticizing Chen for appeasing Beijing, he still insists on his ideals and expresses his willingness to face up to reality and make compromises without sacrificing his fundamental prin-ciples. Nevertheless, he has admitted that because pro-independence and pro-unification groups resist any compromise, he has faced enormous difficulties forging a national consensus on the development of cross-strait relations. Chen's statements reflect not only the independence-unification dichotomy in Taiwan but also his attempt to bridge such a division. This is the essence of the "New Middle Way."

  To govern successfully, Chen must take care not to be held hostage by the extremists and ideologues in his own party. He must transcend party lines and appeal to the middle ground. He must recognize that he can go over the heads of the special interests and the politicians and win party primaries by appealing to the more moderate rank-and-file voters. The aim is to put national interest above party and individual interests. Chen must also take it as his sacred duty to safeguard Taiwan's sovereignty as well as security. His pledge that he would never take any rash and reckless moves to provoke China shows no signs of a desire to appease Beijing. Rather, it demonstrates his strong will to defend Taiwan's national interests.

  In politics, the most lethal wounds are inflicted from the rear. The opposition rarely causes as much angst for the leader as his own party. An elected president who seeks to reach beyond his party's base and appeal to the floating voter invites assault from his rear ranks, too. The sharpest partisan disagreements do not come between politicians of each party, but between the special-interest groups affiliated with them.

  Facing both domestic and external constraints, Chen must display a strong will to take care of the majority interest of this country. It is from the center that leaders must lead. By reaching out to that center, an elected leader can escape the grip of his own party stalwarts. Chen must keep in mind that leadership is a dynamic tension between where a politician thinks his country must go and where his voters want it to go. Bold initiatives that leave the voters behind are not acts of leadership but of self-indulgent arrogance. The key is not to abjure change but to seek it with political wisdom. The controversy over the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (核四) displayed the administration's lack of such wisdom. The even worse outcome resulted from the fact that timid governance always leaves the initiative with the opposition and reduces a political leader to a gambler, dependent on good times and dumb luck to take him where he wants to go.

  Chen's government has learned a great lesson through the opposition's boycotts and it's own mistakes. The art of leadership is to maintain sufficient forward momentum to control events and steer public policy without losing public support. An idealistic leader will not hesitate to do something unpopular. But a smart idealist will carefully measure public opinion before he does so and will develop a strategy to persuade the electorate.

  At times, a leader can use a popular position to counter an unpopular one. The tenets of the"New Middle Way" entail a greater need to generate domestic consensus in the arenas of ethnic reconciliation, the independence-unification debate and the normalization of cross-strait relations. In addition to that, the concept also embraces Taiwan's effort to remold its role in the Asia-Pacific region. As Chen has said, Taiwan will continue to dedicate itself to playing the role of "maintaining peace, security and balance" in the Asia-Pacific region.

  Even in the face of China's "united front" strategy, teaming up with Taiwan's opposition forces to sow seeds of discord in local society and weaken his administrations' power base, Chen must stick steadfastly to his position to fulfill his pledges. These together constitute the nature of the "New Middle Way."

  Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
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