Smooth communication with the US government and an impressive display of diplomacy made Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) recent trip to the US a success, academics told a forum yesterday.
The DPP presidential candidate’s most impressive achievement was to reassure Washington about her moderate and rational China policy — ostensibly the US government’s top concern — while promising to safeguard Taiwan’s democracy and sovereignty if she wins the presidential election in January, they told the forum organized by the Taiwan Brain Trust (TBT) think tank to examine the visits to the US by Tsai and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials.
“Tsai conveyed to the US that she is different to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who was seen as combative, and China-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), as well as her plans to replace the so-called ‘1992 consensus’ with a ‘Taiwan consensus,’ and to formulate policies with consistency and stability,” said Liu Shih-chung (劉世忠), a researcher at the think tank.
Tsai was able to communicate with US officials in fluent English, which is a big plus, Liu said.
Despite the fact US officials might still be doubtful about how a Taiwan consensus could be formed and executed, Tsai successfully “rebranded” the DPP during the trip, he said.
Meanwhile, a Financial Times (FT) article which quoted an anonymous senior US official as saying Tsai’s victory could raise cross-strait tensions suggested an internal power struggle and different views on cross-strait policy within the administration of US President Brack Obama which could influence Taiwan’s presidential election, Liu said.
In a follow-up article on Wednesday, the FT said the US official “broke the golden rule of not meddling in an ally’s election” by bringing out his “vote for Ma” pendant.
Liu urged the US to maintain a neutral role and stay out of Taiwanese politics.
Emphasis on Taiwan’s democracy, sovereignty and national identity was what helped Tsai take the moral high ground and make a distinction between the DPP and the KMT, which sent Ma’s campaign manager King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) to “shadow” Tsai, former foreign minister Michael Kao (高英茂) said.
“While Tsai stressed the value of democracy and peace, the KMT focused on strategy that would win the election. It never mentioned democracy and peace in the US,” Kao said.
The competition between the DPP and the KMT is like “Winston Churchill versus Henry Kissinger — a battle between values and strategy,” Kao said.
The US response showed that it recognized Tsai as a pragmatic politician with eloquence and strong negotiating skills, said David Huang (黃偉峰), a research fellow at Academia Sinica and a former deputy representative to Washington.
The US should be able to accept Tsai’s Taiwan consensus initiative, even if the principle could lead to Chinese opposition because the consensus would be built using a democratic process, he said.
“Tsai showed her respect for democratic values when she said the consensus would not rule out any possibile outcome,” Huang said.
Conversely, Ma’s “three noes” policy of no unification, no independence and no use of force is “a violation of democratic principles,” he said.
The policy “basically tells people that they can vote, but they cannot make certain choices, but a [democratic] government should leave people with as many options as possible,” Huang said
Additional Reporting By Staff Writer
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