Dalai Lama not welcome to visit: Ma
　

NEW TUNE: The comments were a departure from the president’s statement the day after his election that the Tibetan spiritual leader would be welcome to visit
　

By Richard Hazeldine
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Dec 04, 2008, Page 1

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday that the Dalai Lama is not welcome to visit Taiwan.

Ma, attending a presidential briefing held by the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents Club in Taipei, was asked how he would respond to the Tibetan spiritual leader’s Nov. 28 comments to Elta TV in the northern Indian city of Dharamsala that he would like to visit Taiwan next year.

“We generally welcome religious leaders from all over the world to visit Taiwan, but I think at the current moment the timing isn’t appropriate,” he said.

The comments mark a distinct change of attitude for the president, who on March 23 said he welcomed the Tibetan spiritual leader to visit the nation following his inauguration.

Quizzed about the recent resignation of Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Gordon Chen (陳樹) and whether it signaled more Cabinet personnel changes to come, Ma at first declined to comment, but later said “there were no plans for a reshuffle before the end of the year.”

On cross-strait issues, Ma said the results of his push to increase the number of Chinese visitors to 3,000 per day had not been very positive, but that he hoped the deal to increase flights inked during Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin’s (陳雲林) recent visit and China’s changes to policy regarding travel to Taiwan would help.

He also said some protesters had been “wrongfully hit by the police” during demonstrations against Chen’s visit, but defended their actions by saying that more police than protesters had been injured.

Ma drew a laugh from the audience when, asked what he thought about China blocking Radio Taiwan International’s broadcast of an interview he did earlier in the day, he replied “that has happened for six decades.”

Ma said that so far there had been no concessions from China on Taiwan’s bid for entry to the World Health Assembly (WHA), but that the next few months ahead of the next WHA meeting in May would be crucial.

On defense, Ma denied that the military had changed its “offshore engagement” strategy — the idea that China’s military forces would be engaged in the Taiwan Strait — in the event of a cross-strait war.

He said the nation’s defense philosophy was aimed at deterring China from starting a “preliminary war” in the belief that an all out initial assault would bring about a quick end.

Talking about the prospect of a pardon for former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who is in detention on suspicion of embezzlement, forgery, money laundering and accepting bribes, Ma said that “no such action could be taken” until a final verdict had been delivered in the case.

“He has not been indicted yet, so I think it’s really premature to talk about a special pardon,” he said.

Commenting on Ma’s statement on the Dalai Lama, Dawa Tsering, the spiritual leader’s representative in Taiwan, told the Taipei Times by telephone: “The Dalai Lama knows very well that China would put pressure on governments urging them not to allow his visit, so he has always stressed that he would not insist on visiting a country if his visit would make trouble for the country.”

“I understand that President Ma must have his own considerations,” he said, saying that while the Dalai Lama was interested in visiting again, “his schedule is packed for the next six months — so it would be impossible for him to come to Taiwan any time soon anyway.”

Losheng activists block demolition
　

STANDOFF: It took police more than an hour to remove protesters from the site, some of whom had barricaded the doors into the Joan of Arc Hall
　

By Loa Iok-sin
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Dec 04, 2008, Page 1
　

Clashes broke out yesterday morning between police and Losheng Sanatorium activists as officers removed the protesters staging a sit-in outside a dormitory ahead of the compound’s scheduled demolition.

“[Department of Health Minister] Yeh Ching-chuan [葉金川], come talk to us,” around 200 protesters shouted repeatedly as they linked arms outside the Joan of Arc Hall, one of the compound’s dormitories.

The demonstrators started gathering late on Tuesday night after hearing that a partial demolition of the sanatorium would begin at 7:30am yesterday.

The sanatorium, completed in 1930 during the Japanese colonial period, was once used to isolate people with Hansen’s disease — also known as leprosy.

A campaign to save the complex in Sinjhuang City (新莊), Taipei County, started a few years ago when the location was selected as the site for a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) maintenance depot.

Joan of Arc Hall is one of the oldest buildings on the compound and was used to house single women. The hall was to be one of the first buildings to be torn down yesterday. It was unclear whether the demolition took place, as reporters were later blocked from the area.

“You shouldn’t be here. You should stay home and study.” — Hsu Yung-sheng, Sinjhuang Precinct police chief

As head of the department in charge of managing the sanatorium, Yeh has the authority to register Losheng as an historic site with the Council for Cultural Affairs, according to the Cultural Assets Protection Act (文化資產保護法).

Upon receiving the report, the council would be required to launch a review process, during which the sanatorium could be protected as a “temporary historic site.”

However, Yeh did not appear to talk to the protesters. Instead, more than 500 police officers, including SWAT team members, arrived.

“We are here on official duty, and you are in the way. If you do not leave within 10 minutes, we will have to remove you by force,” Sinjhuang Precinct Chief Hsu Yung-sheng (?? said through a loudspeaker.

The protesters ignored the warning and continued their chants.

After a 20-minute standoff, Hsu ordered the officers to remove the demonstrators and the situation deteriorated.

“Don’t you touch me,” protesters were heard shouting at police.

“Stay calm. You shouldn’t be here. You should stay home and study,” Hsu told the protesters, most of whom seemed to be high school or university students.

The police removed the protesters after more than an hour and proceeded to break into the barricaded Joan of Arc Hall.

Losheng resident Lan Tsai-yun (藍彩雲) and a few other protesters had locked themselves inside and blocked the doors and hallway with furniture.

The police broke the door with a saw and escorted the remaining people out.

“I didn’t want to come live here, I was brought here by force when I was little,” Lan said, crying. “I’ve lived here for more than 50 years — much longer than I was at home.Where am I supposed to go now that you’re forcing me to leave?”

“Leprosy has damaged our bodies, but this government has a damaged heart,” Chen Chai-tien (陳再添), another Losheng resident said.

Hydraulic shovels moved in after the area was cleared to proceed with the demolition.

Asked for comment on the issue, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday that Losheng was under review to determine whether it qualified as an historical site. Before a decision had been reached, the demolition should not proceed, Tsai said.

The former DPP government came up with a proposal last May to preserve 39 of the buildings, while promising to reconstruct the 10 that would be torn down, Tsai said, adding that the party still supported that solution.

Tsai said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had promised to preserve Losheng during his election campaign, but had now broken his promise.

Ma in a corner over the Dalai Lama
　

By J. Michael Cole 寇謐將
Thursday, Dec 04, 2008, Page 8

The announcement by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Friday that he hopes to visit Taiwan — where he has a large base of supporters — sometime next year will present an immense challenge to the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration, which in recent months has endeavored to improve ties with Beijing.

Despite the Dalai Lama’s assertion that, given the improved relations in the Taiwan Strait, “maybe this is a good time” to visit Taiwan, the symbolism of the presence in Taiwan of such a paramount icon of autonomy would be such that Beijing would bring tremendous pressure to bear on Taipei not to permit it.

Beijing’s response would certainly be much harsher than the retaliations it has meted out on other countries when their leaders met the spiritual leader, which usually consisted of canceled talks on human rights or demarches by Foreign Ministry officials.

If Taipei showed signs it was about to approve a visit by the Dalai Lama — and approval would be required — Beijing would likely resort to blackmail and warn that cross-strait talks could be jeopardized, if not mothballed altogether. It could also resort to various forms of economic warfare, which would highlight the misguided, if not suicidal, strategy of the Ma administration to further couple the nation’s economy with that of China.

In light of this, the expected reaction by Taipei would be to deny entry to the Dalai Lama, on the grounds that a visit at this time would be detrimental to ongoing diplomatic efforts, perhaps even to national security. In fact, addressing the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents Club at the Sherwood Hotel in Taipei yesterday, Ma said that while Taiwan “generally welcomes” religious leaders, the timing for a visit by the Dalai Lama was “inappropriate.”

Sadly for Ma, however, the problem does not end here, as he is caught between a rock and a hard place. He finds himself in a situation where regardless of his decision on the visit, he is bound to generate great discontent: While allowing a visit would send a strong signal of leadership and political independence, it would undeniably “anger” Beijing. Conversely, denying a visit would infuriate the Dalai Lama’s representatives as well as his many supporters and admirers in Taiwan, including the entire pro-independence camp, for whom the Dalai Lama also serves as a symbol.

Denying the Dalai Lama a visa could be as divisive as the visit early last month of Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), except that this time around, rather than protesting the visit of a reviled Chinese envoy, Ma’s detractors would vent anger at the state’s denial of a visit by one of their own, a symbol of liberty and human rights, and put pressure on the government to overturn its decision.

In either instance, Ma and his government would be seen to be siding with China against the wishes of Taiwanese.

By quickly launching its peace initiative with Beijing while failing to take into account the fact that there are lines Chinese leaders will never allow to be crossed — Taiwanese and Tibetan independence being two of the more salient examples — the Ma administration put itself in a straightjacket and severely limited its options diplomatically, so much so that the visit of one man, however potent a symbol for Tibetan autonomy he may be, holds the promise of either scuttling cross-strait talks or generating civil strife.

It didn’t have to be this way. A more cautious, gradual approach to “peace” with China would have provided Taipei with more room to maneuver. After all, the Dalai Lama visited Taiwan in 1997 and 2001 and met former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) without incident. The crucial difference between then and now is that the Ma administration has allowed itself to become hostage to cross-strait “goodwill” by making good relations with Beijing a cornerstone of its campaign promises.

Fully aware of this, Beijing knows that by the mere threat of withholding that goodwill, it can dictate Taipei’s decisions. Hence the contrast between Ma’s remark in March that he would welcome the Dalai Lama and what he said yesterday.

Ironically, the administration has also put itself at the mercy of the Dalai Lama and his many supporters, who now have the power to create serious trouble for Ma by simply making an official — and well publicized — request for a visit.

Ma has often talked about creating “win-win” situations. Inauspicuously for him, he’s about to get a taste of the “lose-lose” by having to choose his poison.

J. Michael Cole is a writer based in Taipei.