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FAPA president pans
Ma over name change
OVERSEAS ANGER: A number of Taiwanese-American
organizations are unhappy about a commission¡¦s new name and say the president is
not addressing their many concerns
By William Lowther / Staffreporter in WASHINGTON
Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) president Mark Kao (°ªÀsºa) on
Friday criticized President Ma Ying-jeou (°¨^¤E) for ¡§surreptitiously moving
Taiwan towards closer political linkages with China.¡¨
In a strongly worded statement, Kao said that FAPA and 31 other
Taiwanese-American organizations wrote to Ma last month about the renaming of
the Overseas Compatriots Affairs Commission (OCAC) and they had received ¡§no
adequate response.¡¨
Kao said he was ¡§deeply concerned¡¨ about the direction in which Ma was taking
Taiwan, adding that Ma was pushing Taiwan into ¡§unwelcome closer economic
integration¡¨ with China.
Kao said that under Ma, Taiwan had experienced ¡§an erosion of the judicial and
democratic institutions.¡¨
He said changing the name of the OCAC to the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission
without any consultation with the Legislative Yuan or overseas organizations was
¡§stepping back into the dark days of Martial Law.¡¨
Kao objected to inclusion of the word ¡§Chinese¡¨ in the new name and said that an
appropriate new name might be the Overseas Taiwanese Affairs Council.
By not responding to the original letter sent by the organizations, Kao said Ma
had shown ¡§disdain¡¨ for democracy.
¡§We urge the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan to let its voice be heard and make it
clear to the Taiwan government that its actions are not in line with
international democratic principles and practices,¡¨ he said.
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