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FEATURE: Ma
appointments lay bare his cross-strait ambitions
CREATING LEGACY: The appointment of two close Ma
aides to head China and US relations may be a prelude to his plan to negotiate a
peace treaty with Beijing
By Mo Yan-chih / Staff reporter
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) latest appointment of close aides to head
cross-strait affairs, foreign affairs and national security sectors demonstrates
his ambitions to implement his cross-strait and US policies efficiently, while
the list reveals the lack of talent in the government, especially among Ma’s
small clique of aides, analysts said.
In the latest personnel reshuffle in the Ma administration, unveiled on
Wednesday, Ma’s top aide, former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
secretary-general King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) takes over as the nation’s representative
to the US despite being an outsider to the foreign service system.
Another close aide, National Security Council adviser Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦), will
take over as Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) chairman.
KMT Secretary-General Lin Join-sane (林中森), who also has little experience
handling cross-strait relations, was also announced as the replacement for
Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), who stepped
down on Wednesday after tendering his resignation in May.
The appointment of his top aides to lead cross-strait and foreign affairs
reflects Ma’s intention to exercise full control in these two areas and
implement his policies efficiently via trusted aides during his second term,
said Tamkang University political science professor Alexander Huang (黃介正), who
served as a council deputy chairman in the former Democratic Progressive Party
administration.
“Ma wants to strengthen bilateral relations with the US and maintain
cross-strait stability during his second and final term, and he wants people who
can deliver his messages precisely and be granted full authority to execute his
policies. Previous experience in those fields is not his main concern,” Huang
said.
The personnel reshuffle in foreign affairs, cross-strait affairs and national
security began in May after Chiang tendered his resignation to Ma, insisting
that he should retire from the position after completing eight rounds of
cross-strait negotiations and signing the cross-strait Economic Cooperation
Framework Agreement (ECFA). Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) and
National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-chen (胡為真) have also offered
to resign on several occasions.
King dismissed concerns about his lack of experience in foreign affairs, saying
said he would “precisely implement President Ma’s US policies and communicate
with the US at top levels without any interference.” Wang, who also seems to be
inexperienced compared with his Chinese counterpart, Taiwan Affairs Office
Minister Wang Yi (王毅), also said his goal was to implement Ma’s cross-strait
policies precisely.
Huang said both the US and China should have no problem with the Ma
administration’s selection of King and Wang Yu-chi as top officials in handling
US and China affairs, as the government has laid plans for US-Taiwan relations
and cross-strait developments, including trade negotiations with the US under
the Trade Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) and follow-up cross-strait talks
to the ECFA.
“I don’t think the appointment will have a great impact on current cross-strait
development or US-Taiwan relations. Whoever takes over the positions will not
change the challenges the government faces in these fields, and its goal of
deepening relations with the US and China remains the same,” he said.
Soochow University political scientist Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said rather than
political implications, the appointments reflect more on Ma’s strategic
placement of his clique of trusted aides in major positions to continue his
influence after completing his second term.
“The reshuffle came as a surprise because it is beyond imagination that those
inexperienced appointees would take over such important positions. On the other
hand, such an arrangement is no surprise, as it is an old habit of Ma’s to only
use his an extremely small circle of aides,” he said.
Hsu said the appointment of Wang Yu-chi and Lin, both inexperienced and little
known in cross-strait circles, also suggests that Ma will place more importance
on US-Taiwan -relations in the second term.
National Tung Hwa University political analyst Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒) said the
appointment of King aims to build more trust with the US, while the government
could be preparing for political negotiations with China as Ma’s pro-China
stance will not change.
“Without the pressure of seeking another term, Ma is seeking to establish his
personal reputation in history. The list explains that he will speed up
implementation of his policies regardless of criticism,” he said.
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