While the public struggles under the weight of the economic slowdown, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his administration seem to be living in a world of their own.
Most Taiwanese have felt the pain of the global economic crunch, with an increasing number struggling to make ends meet. More than 10,000 enterprises were shuttered last year, and last month saw the unemployment rate surge to a five-year high of 4.64 percent. That translates into 507,000 people out of work. Households are worrying about rising health insurance fees and commodity prices, while food vendors and restaurant owners continue to feel the heat from rising liquefied petroleum gas prices despite falling international oil prices.
Social workers have also raised the alarm at the number of suicides, which climbed from about 3,900 in 2007 to more than 4,000 last year. Meanwhile, residents in Kaohsiung County’s Taliao Township (大寮) live in constant discomfort over mysterious gas leaks that no one seems to be able to claim responsibility for, let alone fix the problem.
Against this backdrop comes news of what has been occupying the Ma administration of late. While the public worries about wage cuts and layoffs, the most pressing matter in the mind of Minister of the Central Personnel Administration Chen Ching-hsiu (陳清秀) appears to be leisure.
Aside from mulling over draft regulations on vacations for the head of state and playing with the idea of building a presidential retreat like Camp David in the US, Chen has also proposed holding regular outings — such as hiking or attending concerts — for Cabinet members “to enhance communication” among different branches of government. All this with taxpayers footing the bill.
Life in Ma’s world must be so easy that he could even joke at a media event last week to promote suicide prevention assistance, saying the suicide hotline “1995” was a play on his name, “[Ma] Ying-jeou saves me” (英九救我). Ma seems to be oblivious to the fact that his administration’s ineffectual policies have only contributed to the prevailing sense of doom and gloom.
In his New Year’s Day address, Ma expressed hope that civil servants would emulate Kuanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion, hear the public’s call for help, take the initiative and offer much-needed assistance and sound policy solutions.
“Taiwanese are tightening their belts amid the economic slowdown, and I am deeply concerned about the plight of workers who have lost their jobs, the families who are struggling to get by and companies that are just trying to survive through the Lunar New Year,” Ma said.
“All civil servants, whether at the central or local [government] level, should demonstrate a spirit of compassion, like the goddess of mercy, and think of ways we can help our fellow countrymen. Remember, help offered too late is no help at all,” the president said.
All this sounds impressive. But Ma should also remember that good intentions alone are not enough. They mean nothing when they are not accompanied by action. Empty rhetoric and insensitivity only underscore how removed from reality his administration is.
In their recent op-ed “Trump Should Rein In Taiwan” in Foreign Policy magazine, Christopher Chivvis and Stephen Wertheim argued that the US should pressure President William Lai (賴清德) to “tone it down” to de-escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait — as if Taiwan’s words are more of a threat to peace than Beijing’s actions. It is an old argument dressed up in new concern: that Washington must rein in Taipei to avoid war. However, this narrative gets it backward. Taiwan is not the problem; China is. Calls for a so-called “grand bargain” with Beijing — where the US pressures Taiwan into concessions
The term “assassin’s mace” originates from Chinese folklore, describing a concealed weapon used by a weaker hero to defeat a stronger adversary with an unexpected strike. In more general military parlance, the concept refers to an asymmetric capability that targets a critical vulnerability of an adversary. China has found its modern equivalent of the assassin’s mace with its high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) weapons, which are nuclear warheads detonated at a high altitude, emitting intense electromagnetic radiation capable of disabling and destroying electronics. An assassin’s mace weapon possesses two essential characteristics: strategic surprise and the ability to neutralize a core dependency.
Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) said in a politburo speech late last month that his party must protect the “bottom line” to prevent systemic threats. The tone of his address was grave, revealing deep anxieties about China’s current state of affairs. Essentially, what he worries most about is systemic threats to China’s normal development as a country. The US-China trade war has turned white hot: China’s export orders have plummeted, Chinese firms and enterprises are shutting up shop, and local debt risks are mounting daily, causing China’s economy to flag externally and hemorrhage internally. China’s
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) were born under the sign of Gemini. Geminis are known for their intelligence, creativity, adaptability and flexibility. It is unlikely, then, that the trade conflict between the US and China would escalate into a catastrophic collision. It is more probable that both sides would seek a way to de-escalate, paving the way for a Trump-Xi summit that allows the global economy some breathing room. Practically speaking, China and the US have vulnerabilities, and a prolonged trade war would be damaging for both. In the US, the electoral system means that public opinion
RSS