A man called horse
The surname of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) means “horse.”
A few months into his tenure, it has become increasingly justifiable to compare this horse of undetermined pedigree to that historical quadruped of ill repute: the Trojan horse.
The breed uncertainty here can be attributed to the lingering controversy surrounding the Hong Kong-born, Taiwanese president’s US green card and naturalization status.
The Trojans in Homer’s Odyssey had an advantage Taiwanese do not of at least knowing the origin of their horse. They knew those pouring out from the wooden horse were Greek soldiers, while Taiwanese have a hard time recognizing Ma’s intention.
This is despite the fact that the Ma administration is busying itself with whittling away at the nation’s sovereignty.
Ma and company often operate in stretched gray areas of the Constitution, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) controlled legislature not only forsakes its role as the government watchdog but regularly turns a blind eye to Ma’s shenanigans. As a result, Ma’s representatives routinely discuss cross-strait affairs with Beijing officials behind closed doors and sign memorandums sans legislative oversight, much less subject to public scrutiny.
But matters will soon come to a head, so to speak, thanks to subjects of momentous consequences that loom on the horizon.
A test balloon has been floated by both Beijing and Ma administration regarding the prospect of inking a Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between China and Taiwan. Up to this point, similar documents with the distinctive “one nation, twosystems” implication have only been signed between Beijing and its territories, Macau and Hong Kong.
Given that both China and Taiwan are members of the WTO, the content of the CEPA would have to be disclosed to the global trade body even if it is currently undemocratically wrapped in a blanket of silence.
That means the Taiwanese public would eventually know, albeit belatedly, the extent of the duplicity.
Ma had promised during his campaign for presidency that Taiwan’s future would be determined by the 23 million Taiwanese. His presidential mandate does not include conduct that would run counter to that commitment to democracy.
A similar situation arises from the seemingly imminent importation of two giant pandas as China’s “gift” to Taiwan.
The treaty of the UN’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora bears signatures from 173 countries, including China. It stipulates stringent restrictions on moving pandas, listed under Appendix I of CITES, from their natural habitats in China to zoos in foreign countries: Only loans with hefty fees — but no trade — is permitted.
Beijing has dangled that same immensely popular “gift” in front of Taiwanese before, but the former Democratic Progressive Party government turned down the offer on the grounds that it is difficult to provide a healthy environment for the pandas. The real reason, however, was its rejection of Beijing’s ruse to make Taiwan appear as a region of China.
Beijing and Ma’s perfidious exploitation of a noble cause — one aimed at protecting endangered animals — to advance their unification agenda should remind Taiwanese of the precarious state of their own nation.
Only through a great, concerted and timely effort can Taiwanese prevent their democracy from faring worse than the endangered species listed in CITES. No less is needed to keep Taiwanese sovereignty from being traded away from its native abode, a fate forbidden to befall species placed on Appendix I that include giant pandas.
Huang Jei-hsuan
Los Angeles, California
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