These are not happy days for Taiwan or President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). He evidently felt compelled to address many of the troubling issues in a sort of state of the union report two weeks ago.
Ma told an extraordinary meeting of his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT): “We must humbly engage in introspection. We must not forget the difficult times over the past eight years in opposition.”
In office for six months, Ma’s approval ratings have been running under 30 percent. Ratings for Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄), the Cabinet and KMT lawmakers have been about the same. Disapproval ratings have been close to 60 percent all around.
Like other industrial nations, Taiwan’s economy is limping, with unemployment rising. The repercussions are strong as Taiwan is one of the Four Asian Tigers that have enjoyed surging economic progress.
A political scandal has undermined the nation’s fledgling democracy with former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) being detained on suspicion of corruption. Chen responded with a two-week hunger strike that landed him in the hospital and gave Taiwan a black eye.
Recent negotiations with China seem to have gone well and former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) had a cordial meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) at the APEC forum in Peru last week. But that has aroused strong protests from Taiwanese who accuse Ma of conceding too much to China.
Independence advocates fear that Ma may be succumbing to the lures or demands of China. Politics in the US make Taiwanese nervous. They see Chinese leaders urging US president-elect Barack Obama to abide by what the Chinese define as the “one-China policy” and to cease arms sales to Taiwan. They also see the pro-China lobby of US liberals and business executives imploring Obama to adopt policies favoring China. The president-elect’s Web site at www.change.gov has so far been silent on this issue.
Ma sought to be reassuring on the economy: “We have encountered a financial crisis that has not been seen in a hundred years. We should not be afraid. Taiwan has experienced financial crises before, including two oil shocks and the Asian financial crisis, and we overcame all of them.”
The president distanced himself from the investigation into Chen’s alleged corruption: “I will not interfere with the investigation and the justice system, but my determination to eliminate corruption from the government will never change.”
On sovereignty, Ma was direct: “As president, I have the responsibility to defend the sovereignty and dignity of the Republic of China [ROC].”
“The ROC is a sovereign country. The future of Taiwan shall be decided commonly by the 23 million people on Taiwan ... Please do not worry about it,” Ma said.
Unlike his predecessor, Ma said he adopted a different approach on Taiwan’s participation in the UN, which has been blocked by China for 40 years.
“We do not intend to join or return to the UN under any name,” he said. “But we hope that the right of Taiwan to participate in the activities of the specialized agencies of the UN can be fully guaranteed.”
He also said Taiwan would continue to buy arms from the US to strengthen national defense. The US, after seven years of off-and-on discussions, announced in October that it would sell Taiwan US$6.5 billion in arms and equipment. China promptly declared that it would not engage in military exchanges with the US until the deal was canceled.
On a philosophical note, Ma urged Taiwanese: “Please put your mind at ease as the KMT administration will only appoint people with talent and virtue,” emphasizing that “virtue is more important than talent.”
Richard Halloran is a writer based in Hawaii.
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