In a recent interview with the German-language newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said the government was not interested in achieving formal independence. He said Taiwan would not take part in unification talks and promised to stick to his policy of maintaining the cross-strait “status quo.” Ma seemed to be trying to emphasize a “status quo” policy to dispel any doubts the international community has had about his leadership. However, this clarification to the international community was clearly different from his actions since taking office.
Ma even dodged a reporter’s question: “Why do many people believe there are risks involved in the quick integration of the economies of China and Taiwan? If Taiwan’s economy comes to rely more heavily on the Chinese economy, how will you go about maintaining Taiwan’s independence?”
We still all remember that during Ma’s campaign he visited the US and Japan in an attempt to change his pro-China image. Ma appeared to be leaning toward the US and Japan even more than the Democratic Progressive Party. Who could have imagined what has happened since his election?
As soon as he got into office, Ma used the so-called “1992 consensus” as a basis to push for negotiations between the Straits Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits to start direct cross-strait charters and get Chinese tourists to Taiwan by July 4.
The so-called “1992 consensus” represents an understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait accept the “one China principle.” The consequence has been that Ma has been belittling Taiwan’s sovereignty and for the convenience of Chinese tourists, he has referred to Taiwan as an “area.” As a result, China has increasingly come to label Taiwan as “Taipei, China” (Zhongguo Taibei, 中國台北).
Of course, the direct chartered flights and the influx of Chinese tourists have not brought the economic benefits that Ma played up. Instead Ma has further relaxed restrictions on investment in China to save Taiwan’s struggling economy.
With Ma’s government loosening restrictions on Taiwanese investment in China and Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers being allowed to set up 12-inch wafer plants in China, it seems inevitable that Taiwan has no choice but to become “Taipei, China.” Given these developments, it is no wonder the US, Japan and even EU countries have expressed grave concern over Ma’s governance.
During the presidential campaign, those in favor of unification declared that if Ma was elected, Taiwan and China should seize the opportunity for unification, which they believe is an irreversible trend.
Even though Ma emphasized in his interview with the German newspaper that Taiwan would not take part in unification talks and that he would uphold the “status quo,” his recent actions have all but paved the way for an anti-independence, pro-unification approach. Senior KMT members have been moving back and forth between Taiwan and China for the “cause of peaceful national unification.” These actions are of course a natural expression of their allegiance to Ma.
It is under these circumstances that Ma tried to use his Suddeutsche Zeitung interview to fool the international community into believing that he is not moving toward unification. This is extremely crafty and rather wicked. The international community will not be able to help Taiwan even if it wants to once Ma’s strategy has locked Taiwan inextricably to China that politically and economically. Luckily, it is not very hard to see through such trickery.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said the US encourages the development of cross-strait relations, but hopes Taiwan does not forget that the US and Taiwan also have important ties.
Japanese media have warned that Ma sees Japan as a mere economic partner and no longer feels that Taiwan has any need for Japan in terms of security and democracy. This shows that Ma’s fixation on China has already been noticed abroad.
It is not very smart for Ma to try to fool people by saying one thing to the international community and doing another thing at home.
Ma told the Suddeutsche Zeitung that Taiwan is a democracy and that Taiwanese know what they want. He also said that if the Taiwanese are not interested in political unification with China, no politician can force it.
In democratic Taiwan, there is of course no way Ma can “force” Taiwanese to accept unification. However, he can and is ignoring the public opinion of a society that is trying to become a normal nation by keeping the “status quo” and cheat both the Taiwanese and the international community with efforts to push his policy of “eventual unification.” This is what he has done for the past two months; he has used the allure of China’s economy to hypnotize Taiwanese into accepting the “1992 consensus.”
By saying one thing and doing another, by telling his foreign audience one thing and his domestic one another, Ma could succeed in destroying Taiwan’s sovereignty. We urge the 23 million Taiwanese to see through Ma and realize that he is lying when he says he does not want to and is not trying to unify with China.
TRANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON
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