President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) decision to “retreat to the second line,” his cross-strait policy of “no unification, no independence and no use of force,” the “diplomatic truce,” his “low-profile transit diplomacy,” the “preventative defense” policy and his definition of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait as “two areas” that have a “non-state-to-state relationship” have left people with the impression that the government is pulling back, restricting its own diplomatic space and denigrating itself.
Moreover, direct cross-strait chartered flights have failed to produce the expected tourism boom, while the 12 “i-Taiwan” projects initiated to expand domestic demand have not managed to convince people of the government’s determination to boost national development.
All this has given the impression that political motives are being given far greater weight than economic ones. Failure to propose a visionary economic development blueprint, rising commodity prices, soaring oil prices, rising unemployment, the growing income disparity and the massive stock market losses have forced Ma to admit that his “6-3-3” economic check has bounced and that the targets will not be achieved until 2016.
Undoubtedly, this is one manifestation of the government’s cowardice.
In a 2004 speech in Oakland, California, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani said that a great leader must be an incurable optimist who has the courage to face and settle crises with strong convictions and confidence, and that, more importantly, only a strong team with effective communication and positive thinking can stimulate a positive cycle of improvement.
Ma, however, gives the public the opposite feeling with his pessimistic economic projections for the next eight years. Even if 6 percent annual GDP growth is achieved, the compound annual growth over the next eight years will be only 59 percent.
In other words, unless there is an astonishing spurt of economic growth, per capita income eight years from now will rise from the current US$16,000 to only US$25,000. In addition, the current slumping economy has kept pushing down projections for annual GDP growth, which will not even reach 5 percent this year. Thus we can already predict that the 6-3-3 economic check will definitely bounce in 2016.
A person who fears to face challenges and takes a pessimistic attitude must be a defeatist. Our leader should have the courage to set challenging goals this year, so that the public is motivated to work together to improve the economy. Yet Ma’s ability to inspire is getting progressively weaker.
Though Taiwan has gone through an economic downturn in the past eight years, the current situation is more critical because our new leader has failed to propose a vision of prosperity.
With the 6-3-3 economic check having bounced once, one can expect that it will bounce again in 2012 and 2016. The public has lost confidence and is confused about the nation’s future. If a leader cannot achieve something big and think big in times of hardship, how can he tell the public to be optimistic about the future?
Zeng Guofan (曾國藩), an eminent Qing Dynasty official, said the key to successful government was to have the right people managing things in the right way, and effective management requires the ability to analyze and integrate things with deliberation and conviction.
Thus a good leader must, above all, develop an analytical ability to “do the right things,” making sure he allocates resources correctly, and next he must “do things right” to become a leader with integrated directions and clear goals who allocates resources appropriately.
Finally, an outstanding leader with strong convictions and confidence must “do right things right” by allocating resources adequately and correctly, so as to improve the nation’s competitiveness.
Zeng also said a leader must seek out talented people, hire cautiously, educate his staff frequently and severely punish those who make mistakes.
How did Ma select people for his administration? Has he used the right people to do the right things? Has he done the right things at the right time?
Surely it is high time for him to start seeking out highly talented people while being cautious in his hiring.
Ma frequently says the wrong things, undermining the dignity of his leadership. His failure to recruit talented people or to punish those who err have led to a loss of confidence among career civil servants, whose fear of taking on responsibilities makes them inefficient.
Ma’s performance in his first 100 days in office has disappointed the public, while entrepreneurs are pessimistic about the future, which is a great obstacle to investment in Taiwan.
Let us hope that Ma will now seize the opportunity and dedicate himself to boosting the economy and to promoting national development.
Shiue Yih-Chearng is a professor of information management at National Central University.
TRANSLATED BY TED YANG
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