Now that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has been in power for a few months, one would have hoped that a clearer picture of his vision for the nation would emerge.
Sadly, this has not happened.
The one thing that is certain is that the Ma government is committed to maintaining the “status quo,” which means perpetrating the “one China” formula — with or without the 1992 fig leaf of ambiguous interpretation.
With the “status quo” mantra in place, the administration has hoped to create relative stability in cross-strait relations. This, in turn, is supposed to lead to quantitative improvements in economic relations in all sectors that have benefits for all Taiwanese.
So far, though, the anticipated hike in economic indicators, such as the stock market, has not materialized, which is causing the government considerable embarrassment.
In other words, all the fanfare over instant nirvana from stable cross-strait relations was empty hype.
Unless the Ma government has given up on Taiwan’s sovereignty, it is certainly heading in the wrong direction in conducting its relations with China.
An important principle of international diplomacy is not to show all one’s cards when conducting formal or informal relations.
But the Ma administration has acted in such unseemly haste that its emissaries and officials have appeared ecstatic to have been received in Beijing in any capacity.
The whole exercise has been undignified and one-sided, with Taiwan looking like a supplicant.
The Ma administration has therefore lost whatever leverage it once had to fashion its relations with Beijing to its advantage. It seems to think that opening and expanding economic and other ties with China will catapult Taiwan to new levels of prosperity.
But this is not happening, which means that the Ma government will grow more preoccupied with bridging the gap between rhetoric and reality.
The worst thing is that, having pinned all its expectations on Beijing, the government will likely find it hard to regain lost ground.
In the meantime, the US’ commitment to defend Taiwan is languishing. Of course, a US commitment to help Taiwan remains. But where are the new weapons to defend against China’s military machine?
The Taiwan-US relationship is caught in a complex tangle involving US hesitancy to complicate relations with China over Taiwan. Amid a background of Washington’s overstretched military and years of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) obstruction of arms bills, the Ma government’s ambiguous position on Taiwan’s final status only exacerbates Taiwan’s vulnerability.
The Ma administration’s ability to defend Taiwan is being compromised as Beijing applies the screws through likeminded elements in the KMT.
At the same time, Taiwan’s international space is likely to shrink further as allies gain the impression that the Ma regime is now more aligned with China.
Taiwan was already having serious problems expanding its international space via membership of international organizations and fostering relations with other states. But if Ma thought that Beijing would assist Taiwan in expanding its international space simply because a KMT government had been elected, then he was deluded.
The KMT has no clear idea where it is going, other than making every effort to impress Beijing with its cooperativeness.
Taiwan is therefore in dire straits —assuming its people value their political identity and sovereignty.
It is time those who do value such things wake up and energize their political institutions to meet this grim challenge.
Sushil Seth is a writer based in Australia.
Taiwan’s victory in the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 championship is an historic achievement. Yet once again this achievement is marred by the indignity of the imposed moniker “Chinese Taipei.” The absurdity is compounded by the fact that none of the players are even from Taipei, and some, such as Paiwan catcher Giljegiljaw Kungkuan, are not even ethnically Chinese. The issue garnered attention around the Paris Olympics, yet fell off the agenda as Olympic memories retreated. “Chinese Taipei” persists, and the baseball championship serves as a reminder that fighting “Chinese Taipei” must be a continuous campaign, not merely resurfacing around international
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) appears to be encountering some culture shock and safety issues at its new fab in Arizona. On Nov. 7, Arizona state authorities cited TSMC for worker safety violations, fining the company US$16,131, after a man died in May. The Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health released its six-month investigation into the fatality and cited TSMC for failing to keep the workplace free from hazards likely to cause death or serious harm. At about the same time, the chip giant was also sued for alleged discriminatory hiring practices favoring Asians, prompting a flurry of debate on whether TSMC’s
This month, the National Health Insurance (NHI) is to implement a major policy change by eliminating the suspension-and-resumption mechanism for Taiwanese residing abroad. With more than 210,000 Taiwanese living overseas — many with greater financial means than those in Taiwan — this reform, catalyzed by a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, underscores the importance of fairness, sustainability and shared responsibility in one of the world’s most admired public healthcare systems. Beyond legal obligations, expatriates have a compelling moral duty to contribute, recognizing their stake in a system that embodies the principle of health as a human right. The ruling declared the prior
US president-elect Donald Trump is inheriting from President Joe Biden a challenging situation for American policy in the Indo-Pacific region, with an expansionist China on the march and threatening to incorporate Taiwan, by force if necessary. US policy choices have become increasingly difficult, in part because Biden’s policy of engagement with China, including investing in personal diplomacy with President Xi Jinping (習近平), has not only yielded little but also allowed the Chinese military to gain a stronger footing in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. In Xi’s Nov. 16 Lima meeting with a diminished Biden, the Chinese strongman signaled little
RSS