The Taiwan Citizen Conference on National Affairs was a prime opportunity for the government and opposition to work together to find a way to salvage Taiwan’s sinking economy, yet President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) decided at the last minute not to attend the opposition-sponsored event. Instead he called an emergency meeting of his Cabinet ministers and economic officials. It was yet another case of politics over pragmatism, as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) each did their own thing on Saturday. Political standoffs and grandstanding, however, are the last things Taiwan needs right now.
Of course Ma was not duty bound to attend the conference, but his presence would have gone a long way toward easing political tensions. He could have met DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), heard the opposition’s ideas about political and economic issues and exchanged opinions with academics. Regrettably, Ma is not quite that noble. He blamed his absence from the conference on the poor political atmosphere in the wake of DPP legislators’ disruption of Premier Liu Chao-shiuan’s (劉兆玄) report to the legislature on Friday.
Of course, had Ma gone to the conference, it could have turned into a forum for denouncing his government’s policies, which would have been embarrassing for him and the KMT. Nevertheless, such a meeting would have given Cabinet ministers and KMT legislators a prime chance to defend government policy. Heated debate between government and opposition could have generated new ideas and alternative strategies. Surely that would be better than the parallel universe events that took place — Cabinet members racking their brains in the presidential office and coming up with the same old tired cliches, and a crowd of opposition figures mouthing off at their conference, their vehemence matched only by their impotence to affect economic policy.
Ma’s absence from the conference highlights the complete lack of trust between the government and opposition. The public would like to see Ma and Tsai talk face to face, but such a meeting remains a distant prospect, unlike his government’s burning desire for more talks with their opposites in Beijing.
Despite the 1,500 Chinese missiles pointed at Taiwan, Beijing’s insistence on its “one China” principle and its refusal to recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty or Ma’s status as president, the Ma administration has been in constant communication and consultation with the authorities in Beijing. But Ma refused to meet Tsai at a venue about 1km from his office. How absurd.
Whether the conclusions of the Taiwan Citizen Conference on National Affairs would become part of the government’s policies was not important as the symbolic opportunity the conference provided for Ma and Tsai, who are both rational people, to meet.
Such a meeting could have marked the start of a new and relatively harmonious period in Taiwanese politics, so what was the harm in trying? But it looks like the KMT prefers that politicians continue to waste their time and energy on infighting, even though everyone stands to lose. Ultimately, Ma must be held responsible for the continuing Cold War that divides the pan-blues and pan-greens.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS