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Green cards and sovereignty

Thursday, Mar 06, 2008, Page 8


Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) surreptitious hedge on the fate of Taiwan's sovereignty has come home to roost.

The uproar surrounding his loyalties stems from the KMT's haphazard handling of Taiwan's sovereignty. This long-standing mindset is itself a manifestation of the party's ultimate goal of uniting Taiwan with China.

The fact that Ma and the KMT are running his presidential campaign by focusing on integrating Taiwan's economy into China's while muddling all underlying sovereignty issues further underscores the urgency of vetting Ma in that particular light.

During his mercurial rise Ma has at times attempted to convince the Taiwanese people that he is a Chinese Taiwanese. Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) once even went so far as to proclaim Ma a "new" Taiwanese. Ma's US green card brouhaha has complicated those claims.

Should it be found that Ma kept his green card in the closet for years, and that the primary reason he tried to become an American in the first place was an instinctive yearning to belong to a nation when the one he was attached to up to that juncture was fast sinking into a "non-nation," the fundamental legitimacy of Ma's candidacy would be called into question. It would indicate the lack an undivided allegiance to Taiwan.

Significantly, Ma applied for his green card in 1974, three years after Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) abandoned the Republic Of China's (ROC) seat at the UN and at the height of public anxiety over the imminent derecognition of Chiang's ROC by the US. Equally noteworthy is the fact that Chiang concurrently turned down an opportunity to remain in the UN by refusing to define Taiwan's sovereignty, marking the beginning of another chapter of the KMT's treachery toward Taiwan.

In other words, Ma was, if not still is, a person with a nation while nearly all Taiwanese weren't, at least not with an internationally recognized one, a reality which Chiang ascertained in 1971. This, combined with the fact that Ma has always vehemently defended the notion that the ROC is a state, speaks volume on Ma's disingenuousness.

Ma's constant aversion to an independent Taiwan compounds that outrage. So does his continuing objection to a referendum for a UN bid using the name "Taiwan" that would expand the nation's international space in the long run.

These sentiments reflect the contradiction of Ma's pursuing an office that symbolizes Taiwan's sovereignty, the very subject Ma and the KMT are trying to compromise at every turn.

The moral of Ma's situation should serve as a reminder to the Taiwanese people of the relevancy of issues pertaining to democratization and sovereignty in this month's poll.

Huang Jei-hsuan
California

 


 

Media failing on international news
 

By Hsu Yu-fang 許又方
Thursday, Mar 06, 2008, Page 8


I often hear TV news broadcasters use the word "isolationism" when criticizing the government's China policies. A closer look at the local TV news stations, however, indicates that it is the local media themselves that are suffering from isolationism.

I followed developments surrounding Kosovo's declaration of independence. Apart from a few reports and commentaries in the print media, there was almost nothing on the TV news apart from scattered mentions.

I was thus forced to turn to CNN, the BBC and other international media outlets to gain a deeper understanding of events in Kosovo. This begs the question of where those who don't speak anything but Mandarin or Hoklo should turn. Could it really be that Kosovo's independence is of no interest at all to Taiwan, a nation that wants nothing more than to become a full member of the international community?

We will only be further disappointed if we look to TV news for information on other international news related to Taiwan.

A week ago, several former US government officials and experts on East Asian strategy in the Taiwan Policy Working Group published a report titled Strengthening Freedom in Asia: A Twenty-First Century Agenda for the US-Taiwan Partnership. In it, they make some important recommendations to the US government, such as affirming Taiwan's leading position in Asia in terms of technology, economy and democracy, confirming the strategic importance of Taiwan and advising that the US must not see Taiwan as an adjunct to Sino-US relations.

The contents of the report were worthy of deeper analysis. Unfortunately, most TV stations either ignored or only briefly reported it. I monitored one of the news stations most persistent in its critique of the government for almost an hour and it did not say a word about the report.

At a Washington seminar last month Bonnie Glaser of the Center for Strategic and International Studies mentioned a study conducted by Chinese academics on Taiwan's upcoming presidential election, citing their prediction that there might only be a narrow margin of 6 percent between Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷). Perhaps I am ignorant and ill-informed, but I do not remember seeing this news reported on local TV.

Although such news events happen overseas and are categorized as "international news," they are closely related to Taiwan in light of their regional significance. But news stations either ignore them or only mention them briefly. If the media are not active even when dealing with news related to us, how would they deal with international news that appears to be unrelated to us?

As for the media channels that often push the government to loosen its cross-strait policy, they themselves seldom report China's situation and problems, and fail to give us an understanding of whether we are dealing with friends or foes. Regardless of whether we support unification or independence, shouldn't people on both sides of the Strait at least have some general understanding of each other?

According to research, narratives of more than 1,000 words cause impatience in most readers. Fewer people read newspapers now, and their in-depth grasp of news correspondingly weakens. Hence the electronic media have become the fastest and most convenient conduit for information.

But news stations are not fully realizing their responsibilities. They focus on political confrontation, social incidents and even entertainment gossip, bombarding the audience with the same news again and again.

Although some weekly news programs do occasionally cover international headlines, the proportion is still insignificant -- let alone the fact that some falsify news reports.

Even the most popular political commentary shows in Taiwan restrict themselves to the confrontation between the blue and green camps without a sense of right and wrong. Their general attitude is one of disinterest with any other issues.

No wonder the Taiwanese public is unaware of the international situation and has little awareness for matters that should be general knowledge. This is a result of the media's "isolationism," and their neglect to perform their duty to disseminate information.

Hsu Yu-fang is an associate professor of Chinese at National Dong Hwa University.

 

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