Independent Taipei mayoral candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that China should observe basic diplomatic etiquette and show respect for Taiwan’s leader.
“Regardless of anything, China should have certain respect for Taiwan’s leader; this is the basic decency you have to display [in communication and interaction] between countries,” Ko said, in response to media queries about an editorial published by the China-based Global Times on Monday that urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who has voiced support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests, to “behave himself” and called Ma a “local head.”
The editorial accused Ma of “playing a dangerous game” (or “an edge ball” in its original Chinese metaphor) with his open support for Hong Kong’s protests to “secure his and the Chinese Nationalist Party’s [KMT] interests” in Taiwan’s upcoming election.
“[Ma] might have supposed that [China] would not take issue with him on it, and would understand the difficult situation that he is now in,” the paper said. “Forget it, Ma. Stop misleading Taiwan’s public opinion; [Chinese] society does not owe you anything. Please behave yourself.”
The Global Times also called Ma’s public support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement “an indication that he is indeed a ‘local head’ of Taiwan who can make comments irresponsibly.”
“In the whole [of] East Asia, not one national-level leader who is serious enough has expressed his or her support for Hong Kong’s protests with such a firm and clear attitude. Only he, who is entitled ‘the president of the Republic of China,’ said so,” the editorial said.
Ko called on China to demonstrate basic politeness to a country’s president.
“No matter what Ma [has done], he is still the Republic of China president, and China should observe the necessary diplomatic etiquette, even when it is facing a small neighboring nation’s head of state,” Ko said.
However, he also added that the matter should be given weight only when the critique was issued by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office or its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“We should not give it our attention if it was written by some unnamed reporter,” Ko said.
The Mainland Affairs Council on Monday called on the Chinese media to demonstrate “enough wisdom and reason for the president’s talks.”
In related developments, Ma again reiterated his support for the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong when he spoke at a regularly scheduled meeting with senior KMT officials.
Ma added that he would like for Chinese authorities to understand his well-intended statements with wisdom and to adopt a long-term perspective in interpreting how its handling of the issue would affect cross-strait relations.
“The mainland [China] has stated that it has the policy of ‘pinning its hope on the people of Taiwan.’ It’s been six years since I came into office. I have come to the realization that this is the best way to shorten the psychological distance between people from two sides [of the Taiwan Strait,]” Ma said.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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