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Democracy degenerated
Friday, Jun 25, 2010, Page 8
The answer to your editorial question (“Where is the fruit of our democracy?”
June 16, page 8) is that the fruit of Taiwan’s democracy is being eaten up by
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his administration. They like to eat fruit but
do not follow the Taiwanese maxim “to worship the roots of trees when eating the
fruit.” Instead they are trying to cut down the tree.
It is undemocratic for Ma’s administration to reject a proposed referendum on
whether Taiwan should sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA)
with China.
It is also authoritarian for Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) to issue a directive to
amend the Referendum Act so that the government can do as it wishes.
The recent on-site police surveillance of a survey on the ECFA in Chaojhou
Township (潮州), Pingtung County was reminiscent of the White Terror period under
Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
If Ma is proud of democracy in Taiwan, how can he let this police surveillance
happen?
In the mid-1990s, Ma was strongly opposed to Taiwanese voters directly electing
their president; now he owes his presidency to this democratic process. Ma has
been in office for more than two years — what has he accomplished in terms of
democratization? How does his performance compare to his campaign pledges and
promises?
Recently, Ma has vowed to “create a golden decade” in Taiwan and proposed six
measures to “strengthen the country.” Judging from his performance to date, how
much trust should Taiwanese have in his new proposal? The “gold” might turn out
to be fool’s gold.
The “country” might become an entirely different country.
CHARLES HONG
Columbus, Ohio
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