"Thank you [for your comments and suggestions]," was Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou's (
"Thank you [for your comments and suggestions]," was Ma's response when he was mobbed by reporters earlier this month after KMT Keelung Mayor Hsu Tsai-li (
So it came as no surprise when Ma, approached for his response to Premier Frank Hsieh's (
While some may regard such responses as a gesture of modesty, the public deserves to hear more than just "thank you" from the leader of the country's largest opposition party.
As someone who has his heart set on winning the key to the Presidential Office in 2008, the public deserves to know what Ma really stands for, and what his views are on a number of public issues.
Ma has been the darling of the local media for the longest time. He has been pampered by them, in fact.
In the latest example of this, a bare-chested Ma was shown soaking in a hot spring with some fellow Taipei City Government officials in a bid to promote the hot-spring industry in Taipei City's Peitou (
Although it is a noted fact that there are hordes of Ma fans among the nation's female reporters, endless footage of the shirtless KMT chairman is way too much exposure. Not to mention the so-called political commentators who attempt to beautify Ma's conduct and rhetoric on TV talk shows.
With the around-the-clock media bombardment on how "charming" Ma is, it is no wonder that the premier has warned his party not to underestimate the "Ma Ying-jeou phenomenon" that is being promoted by the KMT-friendly media.
In a recent interview with Newsweek, the KMT chairman said that the KMT's eventual goal in cross-strait relations is unification.
According to a recent poll conducted by the Taiwan Thinktank, merely 6.6 percent of respondents support Ma's talk of unification, whereas nearly 89 percent said that the decision should be left to the Taiwanese people as a whole. The same survey showed that nearly 66 percent expressed support for President Chen Shui-bian's (
The survey suggested that although Ma and the Ma-obsessed media might attempt to manipulate the public's impression of him, most people are not being fooled.
Many pan-blue supporters are hoping that Ma will lead the KMT back to the Presidential Office at the 2008 election. However, before Ma attempts to prove that he has what it takes to become president two years from now, he should prove that he has the guts to shoulder the responsibility for his own conduct and rhetoric by starting to make responsible comments and stop hiding behind his well-worn response of "Thank you [for your comments and suggestions.]"
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS