China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on Wednesday praised Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) for comments he made in an interview with China Review News Agency on Thursday last week, saying Ko “has viewed cross-strait relations in a bold and positive way.”
Ko said in the interview that Taiwan-China relations were “neither diplomatic nor international relations,” but rather a unique relationship that involved mutual understanding and respect.
With Ko yet to announce whether he intends to run in the presidential election in January next year, it raises the question what the office’s intentions were in publicly praising the mayor. Perhaps it believed it could further divide the Taiwanese electorate and weaken the Democratic Progressive Party should Ko run, or maybe it is behind the election campaign of Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), who is vying for the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) nomination, and hopes it can distract the public from its involvement by publicly supporting Ko. China’s interference in Taiwanese politics is no secret, so neither of these possibilities is unthinkable.
If Beijing wants to use Ko as a tool for manipulating the election, it would have ample opportunity to do so when he visits Shanghai next month to attend the Shanghai-Taipei twin-city forum.
Ko might genuinely believe cross-strait ties can be handled in a pragmatic manner, but protests in Hong Kong this week should be enough to show him that nothing is free from politics when it comes to relations with China.
Former premier William Lai (賴清德) on Tuesday urged Ko to retract a statement that Taiwan and China belonged to “one family,” arguing that such rhetoric was unhelpful.
“It is an undeniable fact that China wants to annex Taiwan,” Lai said.
In response, Ko persisted with his stance, saying that his views were not political and that there would be trouble if Taiwan was “not even willing to express friendly intentions” to China.
It is unlikely that Ko has any ill intent in seeking closer relations with China, but his statements on cross-strait ties display his unwillingness or inability to see the threat it poses to Taiwan’s democracy and freedoms.
On May 30, Ko said China was “no longer like North Korea” and blamed President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) for the current state of cross-strait ties, which he called “tense and unsolvable.”
Although some have lambasted Ko for wavering on his position regarding cross-strait ties, this is really not the case. On Aug. 12 last year, Ko said that Taiwan should seek “practical dialogue” with China and portrayed himself as the ideal person to facilitate this, as his experience as a surgeon has made him “practical and willing to listen to different opinions.”
Ko said at the time that Taiwan “cannot rely on others’ friendliness ... so economic capability and national defense must be bolstered while expressing friendliness.”
Ko cannot be faulted for shifting his stance on cross-strait ties, but his assertions that he somehow presents an alternative to the KMT is nonsense.
The KMT’s presidential candidates are saying the same thing using different words: They also want Taiwanese to believe that China can be a partner for trade and cultural exchanges, while being kept out of reach of the nation’s democratic institutions. That simply cannot happen, as China is vocal about pushing its “one party, two systems” framework.
As the elections approach, Taiwanese must understand that China is a package deal: Voting for a candidate who draws China closer means voting to bring unification closer.
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