Free Aung San Suu Kyi, Obama tells Myanmar PM
　

LANDMARK MEETING: For the US president, the ASEAN meeting was a chance to enlist support for his strategy of engagement with Myanmar to push for democracy

AFP, SINGAPORE
Monday, Nov 16, 2009, Page 1
　

US President Barack Obama used a landmark encounter with the prime minister of military-run Myanmar yesterday to demand freedom for detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

“I reaffirmed the policy that I put forward yesterday in Tokyo with regard to Burma,” Obama told reporters, using the former name of the country that has kept Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for most of the past two decades.

White House spokesman Ben Rhodes said the president reiterated a speech he made in Japan on Saturday when he urged Myanmar’s ruling generals to release the opposition leader and all other political prisoners.

“So privately he said the exact same thing that he said publicly in enumerating the steps that the government of Burma must take — freeing all political prisoners, freeing Aung San Suu Kyi, ending the violence against minority groups and moving into a dialogue with democratic movements there,” Rhodes said.

Obama made the call to Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein as he sat down with friends and foes alike at the first summit between a US president and ASEAN.

Officials at the meeting said Thein Sein did not react to the unprecedented face-to-face demand over Myanmar’s most famous citizen, but thanked Washington for its new policy of engagement with the military regime.

Before opening the talks in a hotel ballroom, Obama and all 10 ASEAN leaders stood in a line on a stage, crossing their arms to shake hands with the leader on either side.

Thein Sein sat nearly opposite the US president as the leaders assembled at a round table, reporters noted before they were ushered out.

The meeting on the sidelines of an APEC forum was aimed at injecting some much-needed warmth into US relations with a region that has felt neglected, with Washington consumed by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) applauded the US for moving past the Myanmar issue, which has hamstrung relations between Washington and the Southeast Asian region for many years.

“That ... the US president considers it worthwhile to have a summit meeting with all 10 ASEAN members, notwithstanding difficulties which they have, particularly with Myanmar, I think that’s very significant,” he said.

For Obama, it was an opportunity to enlist the support of Myanmar’s neighbors in his new strategy of engagement to push for democracy and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

In his speech in Tokyo, the US leader offered Myanmar’s generals the prospect of a better relationship if they agreed to reform, but said sanctions would remain until they took concrete steps.

“That is how a government in Burma will be able to respond to the needs of its people,” he said on the first leg of his debut tour of Asia. “That is the path that will bring Burma true security and prosperity.”

In a joint statement released after the talks, the US and ASEAN leaders did not mention Aung San Suu Kyi, but warned the junta that elections planned for next year must be “free, fair, inclusive and transparent” to be credible.

Myanmar’s critics have demanded that Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, be allowed to participate in the elections. It won 1990 elections in a landslide, but was never allowed to rule.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Allowing IC firms to move to China could be disastrous: forum
　

By Loa Iok-sin
STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Nov 16, 2009, Page 1

Relaxing the restrictions on Taiwanese wafer and plate foundries that move to China could cause disastrous damage to the economy, because it is not only the most profitable industry, but also at the core of the country’s high-tech industry, former government officials and academics warned yesterday.

The warning came at a conference organized by Taiwan Thinktank in response to the policy change announced by the Ministry of Economic Affairs in September that wafer and plate fabrication industries would be allowed to move to China.

The plans are already in the discussion stage and the conclusions will be announced before the end of the year, the ministry said.

“Design and fabrication of 12-inch wafers and plates are the powerhouses behind Taiwan’s economy — the annual profits of the entire integrated chip [IC] industry in the country is about NT$1.2 trillion [US$37 billion], and wafer and faceplate production alone accounts for one-third of it,” former minister of economic affairs Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥) told the conference. “Once such powerhouses are gone, what do we have to fill such a big hole?”

Ho said that wafer and plate foundries were able to create such tremendous profits because the industry is not only about fabrication.

“When a foundry receives an order, it goes out to find a local IC design firm to design the product, buys raw materials locally and tests the product locally,” she said. “When the foundries are gone, it means all those related industries will have to go with them.”

“Taiwan is the second-largest wafer producer in the world after the US, with a global market share of 69 percent, while the Chinese market only accounts for 19 percent. Why not go somewhere else if ‘close to the market’ is such a big factor?” she said. “Wafer foundries in this country get most of their orders from the US and they ship the products back to the US. I don’t see why we cannot follow the same procedures with the Chinese market, especially when we’re geographically so close to each other.”

Business consultant Chien Yao-tang (簡耀堂) said the government may have overestimated the importance of the Chinese market.

“If you remember, in 2000 when Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp [SMIC] was founded in China, many people despaired, saying if the government didn’t lift the ban on wafer manufacturers moving to China, Taiwanese manufacturers would not be able to get a share of the Chinese market and would be left behind in the global market,” Chien said. “Ten years have passed, the Chinese IC market has been growing, but SMIC has not made a profit, except for one year, even with all the support it receives from the Chinese government.”

Former Executive Yuan adviser Hsiao Chiu-teh (蕭秋德), on the other hand, said he suspected that the government knew nothing about the industry.

“They think the semiconductor industry is like any other low-threshold, labor-intensive industry, like making PCs or umbrellas, that can easily be moved to another country,” Hsiao said. “In fact, the semiconductor industry has highly sensitive technologies at its core that are kept top secret by countries able to manufacture the products.”

Legislature faces heat to restrict US beef imports
　

By Flora Wang
STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Nov 16, 2009, Page 3

By Flora Wang STAFF REPORTER The legislature is girding for a fight tomorrow as lawmakers remain divided on amending the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) to ban “risky” US beef products despite a looming deadline to push through legislation.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) told reporters yesterday the caucus might paralyze tomorrow’s plenary session if no agreement is reached on the wording of relevant proposals by tomorrow.

The DPP caucus has objected to a proposed amendment submitted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) last Tuesday to authorize the government to “draw up measures to inspect beef products from areas where the risk of mad cow disease has been under control.”

The caucus has also expressed concern that the KMT’s proposal doesn’t mention “banning” US beef. It has accused the KMT of trying to violate a legislative consensus to prohibit the import of risky US beef products.

The government lifted a ban on US bone-in beef, as well as offal and ground beef from cattle younger than 30 months, on Nov. 2.

Legislators reached a consensus on Nov. 6 that the legislature should amend the law to ban potentially dangerous bovine intestines, ground beef, spinal cords, brains, skulls and eyes from being imported. They agreed to complete the amendment by tomorrow.

KMT caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) said the KMT would not forcibly push through its proposal tomorrow if lawmakers failed to reach a consensus.

KMT caucus secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said the legislature’s move was meant to safeguard public health.

If the DPP boycotts the plenary session, it would prove that the party doesn’t care about the public’s health, Lu said.

Meanwhile, in response to a march on Saturday by thousands of people demanding the government reopen negotiations on beef imports with the US, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said yesterday the government has heard the criticism.

The Presidential Office and Executive Yuan would continue to negotiate with the legislature on proposed revisions to the food safety laws, Wang said.

“We will amend the law in a way that will protect public health and not violate our international obligation,” Wang said.

The amendments must not tamper with the spirit of the WTO and World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), he said.
　

Foreign academics urge Ma to seek public consensus
　

CROSS-STRAIT MOVES: SOAS lecturer Dafydd Fell said the government must open a ‘genuine public debate’ and not just complete negotiations behind closed doors
　

By Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Nov 16, 2009, Page 3

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) must seek public consensus on the development of cross-strait ties as Taipei-Beijing relations spread into more political areas, some European experts on cross-strait affairs said in interviews with the Taipei Times.

Dafydd Fell, senior lecturer of the department of political and international studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, said Ma needs to be very cautious on the pace of liberalizing cross-strait relations.

“Many of the reforms so far are quite consensual, like direct flights [and Chinese] tourists. They have a clear economic benefit for Taiwan,” he said. “Ma needs to consider public opinion in further moves.”

Taking the Ma government’s plan to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with Beijing as an example, Fell said the government “needs to open a genuine public debate on the issue and not just complete negotiations in closed-door negotiations.”

“Taiwan needs to seek internal consensus on further developments in cross-strait relations,” he said in an e-mail interview.

The political negotiations with China cannot start at this stage because there is no domestic consensus on the issue, he said.

CHINESE CLOUT

Michael Danielsen, chairman of the Denmark-based Taiwan Corner, is also concerned about China’s economic clout, saying it has made inroads into Taiwanese politics.

He used the boycott by Chinese tourists of southern Taiwan and the screening of a documentary about exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer as examples to prove his point.

“That is what I call the economic invasion of Taiwan, which turns into political power,” he said via e-mail. “So when President Ma says that the [cross-strait] agreements are only about [the] economy, only ignorant people believe it.”

Nicola Casarini, a Marie Curie research fellow of the European University Institute in Italy, said the Ma administration has every reason to pursue its China policy if it has the support of the majority of the population.

“What is needed at this juncture of Taiwan’s history is to have more consultation with the population, because Taiwan is a country that can ask and has to ask the people about the direction where [it is] to go in the future,” he said during a recent visit to Taipei.

To form a strategic view of itself and balance relations with Beijing, Fell said Taiwan should diversify its external economic dependence. For example, Chinese tourists are an economic asset, but Taiwan must also work on other tourist markets to avoid over-reliance on the Chinese market, he said.

This means it must make significant efforts in marketing Taiwan abroad, but also improve the tourist infrastructure in Taiwan.

Casarini emphasized values, saying Taiwan should continue to engage with Beijing, but at the same time it must keep reminding China that Taiwan cares about such values as democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

So when the two sides form a long-term and strategic partnership, hopefully China would also move closer toward those values that Taiwan thinks are universal, he said.

Danielsen said he was not against engaging with China, but people need to be reminded that China’s objective is unification with Taiwan.

If there is any advice he could give to Taiwan, he said he would urge the Ma administration to allow referendums on the agreements signed with Beijing.

Most importantly, he said, the Ma government must uphold Taiwan’s sovereignty and the interests of its people.

He also urged the government to engage more with Europe. As the EU has increased investments in Taiwan in recent years, he said Taiwan should take advantage of this.

“China is not the whole world. The world is much larger than China,” he said.

Amid concerns about China’s military buildup, analysts are debating what Taiwan needs to counter the Chinese threat.

While praising the Ma government for reducing cross-strait tensions, Fell said the government still needs to maintain strong ties with the US to form a critical part of this security equation.

Danielsen said Taiwan’s most effective defense strategy was to find consensus among the Taiwanese on what they want Taiwan to be.

Citing Germany as an example, Danielsen said the German government initiated a nationwide campaign in 2004 to make its citizens conscious of national pride. Taiwan could consider adopting a similar approach to develop a new Taiwanese consciousness, he said.

However, military defense continues to be crucial no matter what because that is the reality of the world, he said.

Taiwan has to defend itself, but it will be in the interest of Taiwan to think beyond defense, Casarini said.

“To depend solely on defense issues is not going to be sustainable in the long term,” he said.

It is time for some creative thinking that goes beyond defense, he said, adding that it is something that the Taiwanese, Chinese and Americans should try to consider together.

ARMS BAN ON BEIJING

The EU has decided to maintain its arms embargo on China. Those who oppose dropping the ban say more reforms are necessary in areas such as human rights and democratic development, including the removal of missiles that target Taiwan and abandoning military force as an option in Taiwan-China relations.

Fell said he saw no reason for the ban to be lifted until China has tackled the original motivations for the EU arms embargo.

Casarini said it was in the interest of the EU to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership with China. But at the same time, it should also remind China that Taiwan has the right to exist and that only by showing its willingness to adhere to fundamental values such as democracy and human rights would it be possible for the EU to lift the arms embargo, he said.

Casarini said the proposal to lift the EU arms embargo was still on the union’s agenda. If the ban was eventually lifted, the EU should undertake measures to ensure that China will not acquire sensitive items and weapons systems that could have implications for the cross-strait military balance.

This should be one condition for the EU to lift the arms embargo, he said.

It does not matter whether China’s missiles are moved because they are mobile, Danielsen said. What matters is Beijing renouncing the use of force against Taiwan and abolishing its “Anti-Secession” Law.

“The EU should declare that we support Taiwan ... and that we are extremely concerned about the military threats to Taiwan,” he said. “We have to draw a line in the sand clearly stating that we have a limit to how much we will accept China’s behavior.”

Both President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) have suggested that the EU could serve as a role model for Taiwan-China relations.

EU NO ROLE MODEL

Fell said there were aspects of the EU model that appeal to both Ma and Chen, but there would be serious problems if the EU model was used for Taiwan.

“I doubt Taiwan would be able to cope with free labor migration from China,” he said. “We have to remember that while the EU is based on democratic systems, Taiwan and China’s political systems are worlds apart.”

The Chinese side has never shown any interest in an EU-style model, which would be accepting a “two China” model, he said.

Danielsen said the EU model was not suitable because it was for sovereign states with common values that treated each other equally. While Taiwan was a democracy, China remains an authoritarian regime despite reforms, he said.

“Why should you marry someone who puts a gun at your head?” he said. “It will not be a happy marriage with the ‘Anti-Secession’ Law in place.”

Casarini said the EU model was not suitable for Taiwan — or any other region in the world.

This does not mean that the idea of integrating nations was not a viable one, however, because it was in Taiwan’s interests to find a way to develop a closer relationship with China but maintain its independence, he said.

The pundits agree that time is a key factor.

Time is on Taiwan’s side if the Taiwanese are ready, Danielsen said. It would require unity among the Taiwanese to send a clear message to the world exactly what they want for their future.

“The next presidential election is crucial for Taiwan,” he said. “We are living in a historic juncture in which the EU and US want compromises no matter what price they will pay ... Taiwan could be sacrificed in a compromise for ‘peace.’”

Casarini said it was easy to say time was on China’s side, but such an assertion was superficial.

While the majority of the Taiwanese prefer maintaining the “status quo,” they must pay attention to changes in the world and in China.

“The ‘status quo,’ I’m afraid, is not going to last,” he said. “If we still think nothing will happen in the world, Taiwan will be taken by surprise one day.”

Hundreds of tips about vote-buying received: official

STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA
Monday, Nov 16, 2009, Page 3

More than 800 allegations of vote-buying related to the Dec. 5 local government elections have been reported, a Ministry of Justice (MOJ) official said yesterday.

In the mayor and county commissioner elections, 74 bribery allegations and two allegations of violence have been reported, the official said, adding that the cases included problems with a “ghost” population in Kinmen County.

The “ghost” population refers to people illegally registered in Kinmen. One household was reported to have four times as many “ghost” residents as real ones.

In the city and county councilor elections, 449 vote-buying allegations have been reported, five suspects have been indicted and three suspects are in custody, the official said.

As for the township chief elections, 286 allegations of suspected bribery and eight allegations of violence have been documented, the official said. Eight cases have been open for investigation and two suspects have been detained.

The official said prosecutors would cooperate closely with police in cracking down on bribery and violence ahead of the polls.

People reporting information about alleged illegality could be eligible for rewards as high as NT$5 million (US$154,800) for tips involving mayoral and county commissioner elections, NT$2 million for councilor elections and NT$500,000 for township chief elections.

China shuts unregistered church
　

THOU SHALT NOT: An academic said past visits by US presidents were met with signs of goodwill, but that with Obama’s visit this time ‘it’s the opposite’

AP, BEIJING
Monday, Nov 16, 2009, Page 4
　

Followers of a church in Beijing were forced by the government to again find a new place to worship yesterday, a move one analyst suggested would be a test for US President Barack Obama on religious freedom during his first visit to the country.

Worship in China, governed by the officially atheist Communist Party, is allowed only in state-backed churches, but millions of people belong to unregistered churches that often face official harassment.

Yesterday’s was the latest banishment of the underground Shouwang church. It was forced to hold services in a park earlier this month after being kicked out of a rented area indoors. Photos and video posted on the church Web site, which was later blocked, showed hundreds of members gathered, holding snow-flecked umbrellas and Bibles.

Police blocked church members from meeting again at the park yesterday, and hundreds ended up at a performance hall elsewhere in the city.

Another underground church in Shanghai has also been forced to relocate, members said.

Obama, who was to arrive yesterday, will be closely watched during his visit to see whether speaking out on human rights, including religious freedom.

“Sometimes before a major US visit, Chinese authorities show goodwill and release someone. But this time, it’s the opposite,” said Yang Fenggang (楊鳳崗), director of the Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University. “Interesting. I tend to think this is a test case.”

Activists and others in China worry the US doesn’t want to risk angering China when it needs cooperation on issues such as climate change and the financial crisis.

One Shouwang member said the church service is what is important, not the location.

“Whether we meet indoors or outdoors, I’m happy we can worship,” a man greeting members at the door said.

Chinese netizens quiz US president

Monday, Nov 16, 2009, Page 4

AFP, BEIJING The state of US President Barack Obama’s marriage and Tibet were just two of the topics raised in thousands of questions submitted by Chinese Internet users ahead of the US president’s first visit to China.

The Web sites of the official Xinhua news agency and the People’s Daily has for days been collecting questions for a planned meeting between Obama and students in Shanghai today where he also aims to address online users.

“The details of the Shanghai event are still being worked out. Netizens’ questions were solicited by Xinhua.net and we expect the president to answer a few of them,” US embassy spokeswoman Susan Stevenson said.

Many Net users have taken up China’s usual grievances against the US — from protectionism to support of Taiwan and US stances on Xinjiang and Tibet — but it was impossible to verify the spontaneity of the questions.

“The United States has announced a series of anti-dumping measures towards China, which approved the Disney project in Shanghai — do you not think China is loyal to the United States, which has not respected China?” one contributor asked.

“If China used the same methods towards [al-Qaeda chief Osama] bin Laden that the United States use towards the Dalai Lama, what would be your impression?” asked another, referring to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

“To protect American interests, you bring about redundancy for around 100 Chinese workers. Do you think that’s normal?” asked one, reflecting Beijing’s concerns over a rise in protectionism.

Other questions were more surprising.

“Why have many American presidents had daughters and not sons?” one asked.

“Could you talk to the NBA and let Yao Ming [姚明] and the Houston Rockets win the championship?” another queried.

Some inquisitive souls even ventured into Obama’s private life — “Is your marriage happy? What in your opinion are the foundations of a successful relationship?” — or mention the president’s half-brother who lives in China.

The two official Web sites are subject to censorship, but some voices critical of China’s communist regime have still managed to slip through the net.

“Is there corruption among American leaders and what do you do to prevent such a phenomenon?” one online user said, in a veiled criticism of rampant corruption among China’s officials.

“What do you think of the typically Chinese way of interpreting freedom of expression, with a propaganda department that filters comments and removes messages?” one contributor asked on the People’s Daily Web site.

Highlighting the importance of the Internet in China, the US embassy organized a meeting with a dozen well-known Chinese bloggers on Thursday.

Jin Rao, who rose to prominence with his anti-cnn.com Web site aimed at exposing the Western media’s reporting mistakes, and others met officials ahead of Obama’s visit, which began yesterday in Shanghai.

The aim of the meeting was to “hear the voices of bloggers, outside of traditional media,” Jin said on his Web site.

And the US consulate in the southern city of Guangzhou has set up an account on Twitter to post live feeds from Obama’s meeting in Shanghai. Twitter is blocked in China, but online users still access it regularly, managing to bypass the so-called “Great Firewall of China” by using proxy servers.

Misjudging public opinion

Monday, Nov 16, 2009, Page 8

Taiwan is not only passive on cross-strait matters, it is at an impasse. Academics from Chinese think tanks made loud calls at a recent seminar in Taiwan for the two sides to begin political talks, while Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) proposed launching talks on a peace accord when meeting former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰) at the APEC summit in Singapore.

Although neither a memorandum of understanding nor an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) has been signed, it is undeniable that China has an economic unification strategy.

Not satisfied with its progress toward economic unification, China hopes to move on to political talks. Is President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) ready? During his election campaign, Ma mentioned a peace framework. The government recognizes the “one China” principle and is willing to engage in cross-strait political negotiations. Members of the Democratic Progressive Party have said that Ma wants to sign a peace agreement before the end of his term in 2012 in hopes that he and Hu would win the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Ma administration’s submissive attitude toward China has caused public discontent. Lien participated in this year’s APEC summit as a special envoy of a member state, and his meeting with Hu was deliberately arranged to take place after a meeting between Hu and Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權). The Lien-Hu meeting was on a party-to-party basis rather than on an equal footing between APEC members.

China is trying to give the impression that Taiwan is on the same level as Hong Kong and Macau. The Ma administration’s failure to object to this is unacceptable.

China and the Ma administration have misjudged Taiwanese public opinion and overestimated public support for Ma and the KMT. Ma’s approval ratings have hovered between 20 percent and 40 percent since the Morakot disaster. The Presidential Office has incited a strong backlash by its handling of US beef imports while trying to force through an ECFA with China. The KMT has been rattled by vote-buying allegations after its Central Standing Committee poll, the premier is fending off allegations that he has links to gangsters, several KMT legislators have lost their seats for vote buying and a top party hack has been caught having an extramarital affair. These events are draining the government and the legislature of their strength. The KMT will face massive opposition in the next month’s elections as the public reacts to the government’s mistakes. With the DPP now recovering from the scandals surrounding former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), the KMT cannot be sure of winning the next legislative or presidential elections.

The KMT does not wield the total power it claims and it cannot do as it pleases on every political issue. Given the Taiwanese public’s skepticism toward China, if Beijing thinks the Ma administration is weak and wants to force early cross-strait talks on political issues, it will not be able to help the KMT consolidate its leadership or bring about unification. Instead, they will force the Ma government onto the road of political destruction.

Improving ‘competitiveness’
　

Monday, Nov 16, 2009, Page 8

I’d like to offer some observations on President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) announcement concerning university classes taught in English (“Ma calls for more university classes taught in English,” Nov. 8, page 3).

“If we refuse to make changes, great teachers and students will be gone and it will be more difficult for us to raise competitiveness,” Ma was quoted as saying.

This fragment is ambiguous. In what sense did Ma mean “competitiveness” — in relation to the economy or to Taiwan’s universities versus universities in other countries?

Unfortunately, the article does not clarify this. If Ma intended it in the former sense rather than the latter, then that is substantially different. However, I suppose it would strike most people as obvious that more competitive universities would improve general economic competitiveness.

Yet there is overwhelming evidence that this is simply not true. Two months ago, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in China, reported that graduates from Chinese universities were earning salaries equal to or in many cases lower than those of migrant field workers from Southeast Asia.

The situation in Taiwan is not vastly different. How does it raise economic competitiveness for a young person to spend large sums of their parents’ money (often financed by debt) and four crucial years of their young lives only to graduate and work at a deli counter or a KFC?

This is lunacy.

Earlier in the article, Ma is quoted as saying: “Higher education in Taiwan should not keep its doors closed any more.”

Might I suggest that Taiwan do precisely the opposite? It is high time that many universities and technical colleges were deprived of state funding. This would not only result in the closure of many smaller, less prestigious universities, but, perhaps more importantly, force the government to repeal or relax laws and regulations that stand in the way of entrepreneurial start-ups.

The best way to raise economic competitiveness is to allow young people to learn to compete economically. The traditional Chinese attitude of revering education, along with disproportionate state support for education, is destroying the potential for many young people to create and sustain their own lives.

Michael Fagan
Tainan

Letting the public have its say on policies
　

By Hsu Yung-ming 徐永明
Monday, Nov 16, 2009, Page 8

The results of US-Taiwan negotiations on beef imports and the government’s subsequent attitudes and actions in dealing with the matter reflect the failings of a political system characterized by one-party rule.

The government ignored the importance of the issue from the start and paid no attention to South Korea’s problems after it allowed US beef to be imported again. Negotiations lasted for 17 months yet lacked communication with the legislature, opposition parties and civic organizations. The government was so arrogant that it did not even consult experts on mad cow disease.

Comments made by senior officials after the protocol was released were surprising. Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) made contradictory statements. Even the most fundamental food safety regulations were compromised.

In the end, Yaung cited a set of administrative control measures to gloss over the dissatisfaction of 80 percent of the public. National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起) was unwilling to shoulder responsibility, saying only that the trade protocol would take precedence over the law. Yet the legislature would not review the protocol, making one wonder whether the NSC overrides the legislature.

The premier, meanwhile, acted as if the matter were none of his business and dismissed calls for a referendum as “populism.”

More importantly, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has yet to make a complete statement to explain the focus of the beef negotiations and what his position was. He cannot divert attention by saying that he supports boycotts by local governments.

If negotiations on US beef were conducted in such a slapdash manner, who knows what under-the-table deals will be struck in the future “era of negotiations” that Su speaks of.

Even more worrying is the risk that Taiwan’s democracy will become dysfunctional and fail if negotiations with other countries are used to redistribute domestic interests without being monitored by the public and the legislature.

The public should stop dismissing the referendums proposed by civic organizations such as the Consumers’ Foundation, while the Referendum Review Committee should stop acting on behalf of the Cabinet to block a referendum.

Most people don’t think a referendum initiated by the public for its own well-being would be successful because of the high threshold required for passage. However, the recent gambling referendum in Penghu shows that even in an atmosphere where there is little confidence that the public can make decisions, things can change when citizens are given a chance to have their say.

The People’s Sovereignty Movement began a protest on Saturday. Now that Ma is in charge of both the government and the ruling party and is negotiating with other countries to restructure Taiwan’s economic and political environment, campaigns like the People’s Sovereignty Movement are probably the only way to resist the government apart from elections.

A presidential election every four years is not enough to change things. Four years is a long time, and if we look at Taiwan’s turbulent history, it is easy to see how improvement or failure can be decided in an instant.

This is where the significance of referendums becomes apparent — the only way to correct the government’s ineptitude is to uphold democracy and hold referendums to let the public be masters of the country.

Hsu Yung-ming is an assistant professor of political science at Soochow University.