As he celebrates his first year in office, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is under siege. Having resumed cross-strait negotiations, he finds himself under fire for policies that his critics feel compromise Taiwan’s sovereignty and harm the nation’s interests.
At least four large-scale demonstrations have been held since Ma took office, including the one on Sunday and Monday that had sovereignty and the economy as its main themes.
Ma, of the pro-unification Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), came to power after a convincing election victory in March last year, following pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) eight years in office.
Ma initially enjoyed strong public support amid high expectations created by his “6-3-3” economic promise: annual GDP growth of 6 percent, less than 3 percent unemployment and an average annual per capita income of US$30,000. But his emphasis on China has raised concerns that he undervalues relations with Japan and the US.
In foreign policy, which is one of the president’s responsibilities under the Constitution, the most notable decision Ma made in his first year was to propose a “diplomatic truce” with Beijing. But the policy has been likened to a “diplomatic holiday.”
Analysts said how Ma handles different voices will not only expose his own strengths and weaknesses, but also those of his leadership.
Paul Lin (林保華), a political columnist and commentator, said he felt angry on this anniversary, as the country’s economy and sovereignty were facing their worst crisis ever.
“While the stock market can go back up again, once sovereignty is lost, it is gone forever,” he said. “The loss of sovereignty is an internal injury. It’s not visible, but it’s deadly.”
Taking Ma’s response to Chinese President Hu Jintao’s (胡錦濤) “six-point” remarks as an example, Lin said Ma had kept quiet at first but later called it a “goodwill” gesture, a move Lin said was tantamount to recognizing “one China.”
Ma also boasted about the country’s participation in this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA), calling it a breakthrough and demonstration of Beijing’s goodwill, Lin said.
To allow Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) to participate in the WHA in his capacity as a medical professional was similar to allowing Chinese officials to address the president as “Mr Ma,” Lin said.
“Ma keeps saying that Taiwan’s sovereignty has not been compromised, but does he really want to wait until the country’s name is changed to the People’s Republic of China?” he said. “Western countries and the US used to think Taiwan was a sovereignty, but a growing number are beginning to think Taiwan is part of China.”
Lin said he was not against cross-strait rapprochement or further exchanges with China, but he was concerned about the price Taiwan would pay. The crux of the problem did not lie in independence or unification, peace or war, but in democracy or autocracy, he said.
Taiwan’s record on human rights, press freedom, democracy and the rule of law has backtracked, Lin said, adding that it was hard to imagine how bad the situation could become.
Lin, a former member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said Ma should be wary of the CCP’s “united front” strategy.
While Beijing has never denied the existence of the strategy, Ma has helped the CCP hide its stratagem and joined forces with the CCP to deceive the Taiwanese public, Lin said.
Antonio Chiang (江春男), former deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council and former editor-in-chief of the Taipei Times, said there was little cause for celebration because the country was in bad hands.
Describing Ma as “lucky,” Chiang said the public realized the economic downturn could not be blamed entirely on Ma and that his engagement with China was inevitable because it was a global trend.
As the DPP had yet to recover following a series of election defeats, Chiang said Beijing has taken this “golden opportunity” to dole out small favors to Ma because it realized that this window of opportunity could close at any moment.
“Ma does not need to do much, because Beijing gives what he asks for,” Chiang said. “He has never been a competent leader. He is lucky.”
Chiang said Ma could have become a “national leader” with the power to unite the nation, but unfortunately chose to act as a “party leader” and widened the social divide.
He added that he would welcome it if rumors that Ma would soon take over the KMT chairmanship were true, as Ma would no longer have anyone to blame for his failures.
Ma has blamed the DPP for his woes, saying the party left him many problems after its eight years in power.
The best way to test an individual’s ability, Chiang said, is to give that person power. Ma seems to only be willing to claim responsibility for easier and less controversial tasks.
“His opponents don’t know how to scold him because he is as soft as cotton. The public wants to see him show some backbone, but all we see are his chest and legs [Ma is an avid jogger],” Chiang said.
With a strong mandate and legislative majority, Chiang said Ma had majority support and the opportunity to do great things, but his arrogance could erode that political capital.
There are some indications that Ma is pushing hard and beginning to pursue a unification agenda, Chiang said, but it remains to be seen how long it will last.
If Ma continues to indulge in arbitrary decisions and peremptory actions, he is bound to pay a price at the ballot box, Chiang said.
Wang Yeh-lih (王業立), a political science professor at National Taiwan University, said Ma deserved credit for his efforts to improve cross-strait ties and Taiwan’s diplomatic space.
While the DPP has accused Ma of compromising sovereignty and even selling out Taiwan in exchange for short-term benefits, Wang said the DPP should produce “more evidence” to back up these claims.
Ma campaigned for the presidency saying he would attend to economic issues, but did not deliver, Wang said.
The president also has a problematic team that is prone to gaffes and bad at communication with both the public and the legislature, he said.
Ma seems to be confused about his role as president and there is much room for improvement in his decision-making, Wang said.
Looking at the three years left in Ma’s term, Chiang said he hoped Ma would see through Beijing’s ambition to push its political agenda, adding that if independence were no longer an option in Taiwan, unification with China would be a one-way street.
Lin said he hoped to see Ma strengthen Taiwan-centered consciousness and insist on negotiating with Beijing on an equal footing.
Ma should not think his efforts to improve cross-strait relations will earn him a Nobel peace prize, Lin said, because he would go down in history as a sinner if he gave away the freedom and sovereignty of Taiwanese in exchange for a promise of “no war in the Taiwan Strait.”
Wang said Ma needed to map out a long-term, sustainable economic plan, as a responsible government should assure that business interests are protected while further engaging with China.
GRAPHIC: TAIPEI TIMES
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