Narrow-minded President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is a show-off who likes to compare himself with others, whether they are superior or inferior, and he thinks well of himself. He keeps boasting that during his presidency, not only cross-strait relations, but also Taiwan-US relations, have been the best they have ever been. The problem is that these claims do not stand up to the test.
Cross-strait relations today are “at best they have ever been” because Ma fawns on Beijing and dares not disobey its wishes. Taiwan-US relations are good because he dares not entertain any non practical ambitions or do anything other than the expected. Heading off on this month’s trip to the Caribbean and South American allies, he wants to give a speech at Harvard University during a stopover in Boston, but in actuality he is only going to be attending “closed-door talks” at his alma mater. What an embarrassment.
Harvard believes in academic freedom and there are no taboo opinions there. Ma, who continues to comfort himself by claiming that “China” refers to the Republic of China (ROC) rather than the People’s Republic of China, will not be able to give a public speech only, an address to some Harvard faculty and students at a rather odd closed-door conference. One can only wonder if he knows the meaning of dignity.
Boasting at a closed-door conference reminds us of the accusations that Ma was an informer for the former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime during his years at Harvard, as he allegedly kept an eye on Taiwanese students’ anti-government protests by taking their photographs.
If the request for talks behind closed doors were made by the school, the decision would impair its good reputation, but if the request were made by the US government, then Taiwan-US relations are not as good as Ma claims they are.
Furthermore, Ma’s acceptance of such a disgraceful arrangement is laughable. The KMT likes to brag that it always “opens the front door and walks the main road,” but this time Ma is entering through the back door and walking the back streets, sneaking back to Harvard for a meeting. This event tops the list of humiliations suffered by the Ma administration.
Perhaps Ma has less backbone than “little red pepper” Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who also knows how to be play hard to get when required. Hung recently wondered why she should bother visiting Washington if she is not given a higher level of courtesy than Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) during her visit at the beginning of last month.
Ma, who likes to compare himself with others at every turn, should learn from Hung and play hard to get by asking why he should bother visiting Harvard if the school does not show him greater courtesy than Cornell University showed former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) when he visited his alma mater in 1995.
When Lee visited Cornell to receive a distinguished alumnus award 20 years ago, he used a play on words in his address, saying that he should take some time to play golf during his visit and that the rounds should be called the “US Open” — open to Lee. The school’s president, faculty, students and alumni all swarmed the auditorium for Lee’s speech about the ROC in Taiwan and the nation’s democratic reform. It was presidential and it was dignified.
Cornell opened its doors to Lee, but Harvard is closing its doors on Ma.
What does Ma have to brag about?
James Wang is a senior journalist.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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