June 21 marked the 10th anniversary of the attempt to push the cross-strait services trade agreement through the legislature.
Ten years ago, under then-president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) pro-China administration, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) tried to sign the Faustian deal without consultation, an undemocratic move that ignited anger among students and others that turned into the Sunflower movement.
As a political star born out of the movement, former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), founder and chairman of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and its presidential candidate, has the audacity to propose in a policy white paper that if elected president, he would restart talks on the services trade deal with China, and even an arrangement for trade in goods.
Ironically, while Ko was discussing social movements during a visit to Japan this month, he cited the Sunflower movement as an example, using it to encourage young people to “just do it” to become pioneers of social activism.
Why the U-turn?
It is clear that Ko is chasing his own political interests. New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, is facing a major slump in the polls over his response to allegations that kindergarten students had been drugged and criticism that he is a “cut and run” candidate — ie, campaigning for the presidency while still serving as mayor. Ko is using Hou’s woes to snatch support from the pan-blue camp.
For Ko to be elected, he has to rely on strategic voting by people who do not back the Democratic Progressive Party. Ko wants them to ditch Hou and vote for him, but his policy backtracking and betrayal of the Sunflower movement has exposed him as capricious, fickle and opportunistic.
In the white paper, Ko said that Taiwan should maintain “equidistant” relations with China and the US.
However, signing a cross-strait services and goods trade agreement would tilt Taiwan toward China economically and politically, and forfeit its sovereignty.
How could a pro-China treaty gel with Ko’s pursuit of “equidistant relations”?
Perhaps Ko is trying to follow in Ma’s footsteps, while forgetting that Ma’s approval rating at one point was as low as 9.2 percent.
When Bonnie Glaser, an expert on China, said that Beijing would be “more comfortable” supporting Ko than Hou, she must have hit a nerve, as Ko seemed compelled to twist her words and meaning.
Taiwanese must ask themselves before they vote whether Taiwan can afford to have a pro-China president in power and watch as he damages Taiwan’s democracy, economy and sovereignty.
More importantly, given Taiwan’s precarious situation, would it be able to of survive a “second Ma presidency” and the catastrophic consequences of pro-China policies?
Lai Yen-cheng is a doctoral candidate at National Yangming Chiao Tung University and a member of the university’s Gender Equity Education Committee.
Translated by Rita Wang
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