Tsai promises that DPP will build a better country
　

REBUILDING CONFIDENCE: Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen used the Maokong Gondola and Muzha-Neihu Line to pan KMT-controlled cities and counties
　

By Loa Iok-sin
STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Oct 19, 2009, Page 1
　

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday said that her party would make Taiwan a better country if given the chance by voters and urged candidates for the year-end local government elections to work hard to rebuild confidence in the party.

“Right now, the people are giving us a chance to prove that we’re still upholding the DPP’s core values and ideologies, and to prove ourselves to be the party that is closest to the people,” Tsai told delegates at the party’s annual National Convention in Taipei. “We should shoulder the responsibility to present ourselves as not only a better choice than the current Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] administration, but also better than how the DPP performed in the past.”

It’s a critical moment for the DPP, since the public have voiced their discontent with the current government a little more than a year since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was inaugurated with overwhelming popular support, she said.

“In the past year, we’ve seen economic recession on an unprecedented scale, with the unemployment rate hitting a record high,” Tsai said. “The government does not use its resources to look after the disadvantaged; it only cares about rich corporations; it faces and handles natural disasters with a careless attitude; its appeasing policies toward China have meant civil servants and public officials are not willing to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty and dignity.”

When it comes to comparing local governments under the leadership of the DPP and the KMT, Tsai said DPP members had achieved much when heading local governments — such as the Dongshan River Water Park and the International Folklore and Folk Game Festival in Yilan, the Bali Left Bank Park and the Fishermen’s Wharf in Taipei County, the project to turn Love River (愛河) in Kaohsiung into a popular tourist attraction and the success of the World Games in July.

“When we look at the cities and counties under the KMT’s control, we see the Maokong Gondola that has been out of service for more than a year and the Muzha-Neihu Mass Rapid Transit line that is still full of problems, the broken promise of building a branch of the Guggenheim Museum in Taichung, the failure of the Yilan International Rain Festival and the out-of-place Ma Village [馬家庄] in Miaoli County,” Tsai said.

Ma Village is a Hakka village in Tongsiao Township (通霄), Miaoli County, where the majority of the people bear the surname Ma (馬). Having never lived in the village and having learned of its existence in his 40s, Ma, who was born in Hong Kong, decided to designate the village his hometown and goes there each year during the Lunar New Year.

After Ma was elected president, Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) of the KMT decided to promote tourism by using the connection to Ma and spent hundreds of millions of NT dollars renovating roads and constructing tourist facilities. Ma Village, however, did not receive as many visits as the county government expected.

Following the opening speech, all 14 DPP candidates for the year-end local government elections were introduced to the delegates.

“We must remember that ‘work hard, stay clean, love the country’ are our core beliefs forever,” Tsai said. “Let’s promise people that a better DPP that will make Taiwan a better place.”

Protester throws bottle of white paint at president
　

WHITE TERROR: President Ma Ying-jeou's security detail whisked away the assailant, who was among a group of protesters at a night market in Kaohsiung
　

By Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Oct 19, 2009, Page 1

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was touring a night market in Kaohsiung late on Saturday night when he was confronted by about a dozen angry protesters. A man was whisked away by Ma’s security detail after he tossed a bottle of white paint that barely missed the president.

Ma spent the night in the city after he was reinstated to the post of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman earlier in the day.

While touring the night market, he was heckled by protesters who called him a “liar” and an “economy killer.” The protesters accused him of being too soft on Beijing and said that he was there merely to “put on a show.”

He then came under attack when the protester tossed the bottle of white paint.

Unfazed by the protests, Ma enjoyed some papaya milk and waved to the crowds at the night market.

Chinese tourists began cutting Kaohsiung from their travel itineraries after the Dalai Lama visited southern Taiwan early last month in the wake of Typhoon Morakot and the Kaohsiung Film Festival decided to screen a documentary about Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Fan Liqing (范麗青) said on Wednesday that it was “natural” for Chinese tourists to express their displeasure, because there were “forces in Kaohsiung who align themselves with the separatist forces supporting Tibetan and Uighur independence, which creates trouble and runs counter to the core interests of China.”

“It hurts the feelings of their mainland compatriots,” she said, marking the first time Beijing confirmed its tourists were boycotting Kaohsiung.

Ma spent Saturday evening shopping at the night market, touring a commercial district and visiting a department store in an apparent bid to help promote tourism in Kaohsiung.

Ma, however, did not make any comment about Fan’s remarks.

Watchdog group urges reform push
　

LEGISLATIVE AGENDA: Citizen Congress Watch said Ma should allow the legislature to vote on cross-strait pacts and the KMT caucus should back ‘sunshine’ bills
　

By Flora Wang
STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Oct 19, 2009, Page 3

Citizen Congress Watch urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday to push legislative reform now that he is also chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).

The legislative watchdog said in a press release that it expected Ma to allow the legislature to approve or reject the content of any cross-strait agreements signed by the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), instead of allowing the agreements to take effect automatically.

The group was referring to Article 95 of the Act Governing Relations Between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例), which stipulates that a cross-strait agreement takes effect automatically 30 days after being inked if the legislature fails to reject it.

The pacts signed during the second and third rounds of talks between the SEF and ARATS last year and earlier this year all took effect automatically even though the mechanism had drawn criticism.

SUPERVISORY ROLE

“The legislature should review the content of every cross-strait agreement. As the fourth round of cross-strait talks approaches, whether or not [the government] should sign an ECFA [economic cooperation framework agreement] with China has become the subject of debate,” the group said.

The Ma government said signing an ECFA with China would boost the flow of goods and personnel across the Taiwan Strait and improve the country’s ties with ASEAN nations, but the pan-green camp said Taiwan’s economic muscle and its sovereignty would be jeopardized by over-reliance on the Chinese market.

The CCW also urged Ma to lead the KMT in pushing through more “sunshine bills,” such as obliging legislators who fail to complete their terms to return the government’s election stipends given them after winning their seats.

The watchdog group urged Ma to listen to civic groups instead of insisting on pushing through party-proposed amendments or bills such as the rural revitalization act (農村再生條例) and a proposed amendment to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法).

WARNING

“The KMT has undergone major changes over the past year. It occupies the majority of legislative seats and has regained executive power. However, it seems to have been going downhill since the start of the year,” the CCW said. “We hope Chairman Ma takes heed and ponders the KMT’s future.”

KMT will back expanded cross-strait relations: Ma
　

By Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTER, WITH CNA
Monday, Oct 19, 2009, Page 3

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) will support the continuing development of cross-strait ties.

Speaking at the party’s 18th Central Advisory Council meeting, Ma reiterated that the improvement of ties with China has had a significant impact on Taiwan and that maintaining bilateral relations would be an indispensa

Though there is still room for debate over how close Taiwan’s relations with China should be, there is no doubt that ties must be developed, he said.

Ma also reiterated his support for using the so-called “1992 consensus” to “uphold basic constitutional principles while developing cross-strait relations.”

The “1992 consensus” refers to a supposed understanding reached during a meeting in Hong Kong in 1992 between Taiwanese and Chinese representatives, under which both sides acknowledged that there was only one China, with each side having its own interpretation of what “one China” means.

The Democratic Progressive Party insists that the “1992 consensus” does not exist and that it was fabricated by then-Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起).

Su admitted in 2006 that he had created the term in 2000, shortly before then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was inaugurated, with the aim of giving the two sides of the Taiwan Strait a “basis for dialogue.”

Ma said the government had adopted a moderate policy to cope with the financial crisis and economic recession to allow Taiwan’s economy to gradually rebound. He said the country’s economic indicators would move into positive territory in the fourth quarter this year.

Ma highlighted the improved economic prospects created by closer economic ties with China, pointing to an announcement on Saturday by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) that his firm would give each employee a special bonus next month equivalent to half-a-month’s pay.

> Chang also praised Ma for making an important contribution to normalizing cross-strait ties, which he said could create more opportunities for local businesses.

Earlier yesterday, Ma visited Yilan County to inspect areas affected by Tropical Storm Parma. However, he distanced himself from Yilan County Commissioner Lu Kuo-hua (呂國華) by not showing up at Lu’s campaign office.

Lu has been harshly criticized for his poor performance in dealing with the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot in August.

Next Magazine has also alleged that Lu pocketed NT$22 million (US$680,000) from the contractor of the Yilan Green Expo project. Next claimed that prosecutors had launched an investigation in June last year.

Lu has denied the allegation and vowed to resign and withdraw from the election if he was found guilty.

He also downplayed Ma’s absence yesterday. However, Ma did attend an evening rally for Changhua County Commissioner Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源), who is also seeking re-election in Dec. 5 elections.

Musicians and audience happy with tunnel show

STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA
Monday, Oct 19, 2009, Page 3
　

Two special concerts were staged in an underground waterway in Kinmen yesterday to mark the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Kuningtou (古寧頭戰役), in which the Nationalist forces fought off invading People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to maintain control of the island.

The first-ever concerts on the waterway in the Zhaishan Tunnel (翟山坑道) featured performances by five musicians who wanted to convey their hopes for lasting peace in the Taiwan Strait and an end to war around the globe.

Cellist Chang Cheng-chieh (張正傑), soprano Lin Hui-chen (林惠珍), flutist Wu Chung-hsien (吳宗憲), violinist Chiang Chih-yi (姜智譯) and harpist Hung Chi-mei (洪綺鎂) either performed solo or presented famous classics together on a floating stage that moved around the A-shaped waterway.

Each of the two concerts drew an audience of about 250 people packed onto a walkway.

“I feel so lucky to be able to enjoy music in this special setting. I believe it is the first time in the world that a concert has taken place in such an underground tunnel,” one excited audience member said.

Chang, who performed on his 319-year-old Ruggieri cello, said he was amazed by the marvelous acoustics during the concerts, which he described as “much, much better” than he had expected.

“I have only one word —terrific — to portray today’s concerts,” Chang said, adding that he was determined to give another concert at the venue next year.

Yesterday’s repertoire focused on gentle, sentimental pieces, as Chang said he wanted to turn the Zhaishan Tunnel into a romantic, Venice-like heaven.

The Zhaishan Tunnel, which is about 100m long, 6m wide and 3.5m high is connected to the Taiwan Strait.

The Battle of Kuningtou took place from Oct. 25 to Oct. 27, 1949, when nearly 10,000 PLA troops in 200 ships invaded Kinmen. The invaders were routed, however, losing nearly 4,000 soldiers, with another 5,200 captured. The defeat brought a 10-year halt to Beijing’s attempts to take Kinmen, and consequently Taiwan, by force.

In 1958, Beijing began a protracted bombardment of Kinmen, but again failed to seize any part of the island.

With cross-strait relations improving, the number of Taiwanese troops stationed in Kinmen has been reduced and the island has gradually been transformed into a tourist stronghold, with Cold War-era sites becoming major attractions.

Little to show for a lot of hype

Monday, Oct 19, 2009, Page 8

Despite President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) campaign promises and the policies of his administration, which envision a big cake for everyone to share, the reality is very different. The government’s move to allow Chinese investment in Taiwan is a case in point. In the three months since deregulation, Taiwan has attracted just NT$189 million (US$5.87 million) in Chinese investment.

The government has tried to explain why there has been no rush to invest: Taiwan still has too many restrictions on Chinese capital and Chinese visitors; the global economic climate is not favorable; China is partly to blame. It is now nearly a year and a half since Ma’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regained control of the government, but its core policy — improving cross-strait economic and trade ties — has not produced many benefits.

The government also opened Taiwan to Chinese tourists, but even during the Golden Week holiday following China’s Oct. 1 National Day, only about 1,000 Chinese visitors arrived per day — far short of the predicted 3,000. Japanese and US tourist numbers are also down. As most Chinese tourists come here on low-cost tours and are not big spenders, they generate less revenue than the missing Japanese and Americans.

After all the hype, the opening to Chinese tourists and investment were anti-climactic. Now the government is preparing to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cross-strait financial supervision and an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China. Taiwanese businesspeople are uncertain about the promised benefits of these agreements, while the working class fears they may exacerbate unemployment.

The MOU will allow Chinese banks to open branches in Taiwan. The problem is that China has no private banks — they are all state run. Their branches in Taiwan can therefore be expected to serve a political purpose. If they offer higher interest rates than local banks, they will attract the majority of deposits and can then lend this money to Chinese-invested businesses in Taiwan, allowing them to buy up key resources and take control of the economy.

While the planned MOU is limited to finance, an ECFA would go farther. The Ma administration wants to use an ECFA to connect with ASEAN and avoid marginalization, but this is just wishful thinking. Other ASEAN members may not want Taiwan in their club, and China has not promised to allow Taiwan in.

An ECFA will also make it easier for businesses to move from Taiwan to China, which means less jobs in Taiwan. Taiwan’s market will be open to Chinese agricultural and industrial products and services and China’s low labor costs will make it impossible for Taiwanese firms to compete. The government has promised that imports of Chinese farm produce will be limited and Chinese workers barred, but these measures go against the free-trade spirit of the WTO and an ECFA, casting doubt on their viability. The benefits of an ECFA are far from clear, while the negatives are obvious. It is only natural that Taiwanese workers and some entrepreneurs, especially those in the traditional manufacturing sector, would be anxious.

China and democratization
　

Monday, Oct 19, 2009, Page 8

The recent plenary session of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee adopted “party construction” as its main agenda item, meaning that several intra-party democratization reforms will be promoted.

Five years ago, the central committee plenum also adopted “party construction” as its principal agenda item and it released a resolution on strengthening the CCP’s governance.

Intra-party democratization has again emerged as a priority policy because the CCP has no intention of abandoning its monopoly on political power. Since the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 there has been no significant political reform. But the Chinese leadership is keenly interested in enhancing the CCP’s governance capabilities and performance and responsiveness to public opinion on the part of cadres at all levels. Internal democratization is perceived as useful.

In recent months, Chinese media have highlighted several reform experiments. These include: the direct election of CCP committee leaders by all party members in Lingshan Township, Pingchang County, Sichuan Province; the reform of CCP representatives’ congress into an active standing organ in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province; and the reform of the CCP committee system in Minxing District, Shanghai, including the standing committee holding a question session for all members of the party committee and the election of the preliminary list of candidates for officials at the county head level, with choices by the entire party committee.

These reforms are not new; they have been mulled for at least three or four years. Apparently they encountered some resistance and now Chinese leaders would like to promote them again.

Adopting “party construction” as the main theme of the coming Central Committee plenum is a bit surprising; in view of the global financial crisis, economic issues might have been expected to be more pressing.

But in the eyes of the Chinese leadership, it is exactly because of the economic difficulties that social stability has become of greater concern.

Rapid economic growth in the past decades has given rise to contradictions; in the context of an economic downturn, rising unemployment and other problems, these contradictions have been exacerbated.

Chinese leaders are under pressure to reduce hardships and grievances.

Intra-party democratization appeals to the Chinese leadership to ensure that cadres at all levels pay attention to hardships and grievances and respond to public opinion.

A tighter crackdown on corruption in the past year was also probably intended to reduce public grievances. After all, economic difficulties, unemployment and corruption are a recipe for social unrest in China.

The rise in the number of “mass incidents” and their expansion in scale, including the riots in Tibet and Xinjiang, are warning signals. The recent Han riots in Urumqi showed that CCP organizations at the grassroots level don’t function well. This is why the city’s party secretary was sacked promptly and publicly.

Internal democratization in political terms is similar to joining the WTO in economic terms. Former premier Zhu Rongji (朱鎔基) understood that economic reform had reached a difficult stage: To overcome the resistance of vested interests, he had to rely on commitments made to the WTO.

By the same token, relying on mild campaigns and instructions from Beijing to reform the CCP would not be effective.

The party democratization measures demand strong consensus and political will on the part of the central leadership to make an impact before the 18th party congress in 2012. Reforming the election system and turning the CCP representatives’ congresses into standing organs would be relatively easy, as competition in the elections and the effectiveness of the representatives’ congresses in monitoring party secretaries at corresponding levels will depend on the circumstances.

Ensuring transparency and encouraging democratic deliberation within the CCP will be much more challenging. The declaration of financial assets by cadres has been on the agenda for more than a decade, but there is still no sign of implementation.

A resolution of the central committee plenum is far from adequate to produce results.

JOSEPH YU-SHEK CHENG
Hong Kong

Classical Chinese proposal is a bad idea
　

By Cheng Cheng-yu chen Gau-tzu winston Yu Chen wan-Der Chang yeh
TRANSLATED BY TED YANG
Monday, Oct 19, 2009, Page 8

Minister of Education Wu Ching-chi (吳清基) has proposed changing the maximum proportion of classical Chinese in high school Chinese textbooks from 45 percent to 65 percent. The change will apply from the next academic year. The classical Chinese that Chinese intellectuals Hu Shih (胡適) and Chen Duxiu (陳獨秀) fought against 90 years ago is making a comeback in our high school curriculums.

We believe Wu himself and the professors on the Joint Board of the College Recruitment Commission would not pass the classical Chinese tests they are proposing. Although President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has a doctorate and admires Chinese culture, we even wonder how he would fare on the tests Wu and his associates want to implement.

More classical Chinese texts and tests in high schools is harsh on students and will undermine their interest in literature.

Tzeng Ching-wen (鄭清文) is the only Taiwanese writer to have won an international award in literature — the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize — since the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime fled to Taiwan 60 years ago. The plain language, humanity and moral integrity of the people in his works have drawn admiration from literary circles at home and abroad. Yet the excerpts from his works (which include Taiwanese) in high school textbooks seldom come with footnotes or translations, so teachers say they can’t teach them.

A key problem is that since the Qing Dynasty, professors of Chinese literature have played a dominant role in controlling high school literature education. In Taiwan, the focus on classical Chinese has stifled the development of Taiwanese literature.

Long dominated by narrow-minded scholars of Chinese literature, elementary and high school literature education has failed to reflect the native culture of Taiwan and has lagged behind changes and trends in world literature.

As a result, Taiwanese students have not come into contact with the inspiring works of poet Lai He (賴和) and novelist Lu Ho-jo (呂赫若). They have also missed out on classics of world literature such as Shakespeare’s plays and Greek and Roman mythology.

The lack of art and culture programs on TV in Taiwan is also a result of the domination of classical Chinese literature in school curriculums.

Increasing the proportion of classical Chinese content in high school textbooks is an indication that Chinese colonial education is being implemented.

Soon, former minister of education Tu Cheng-sheng’s (杜正勝) proposal that Taiwanese and Chinese history receive equal attention in the high school curriculum may also be scrapped.

In the years since its founding, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has failed to place enough importance on educational reform. If the DPP continues to sit by and let Taiwanese students be kept from learning about their native culture, we will be forced to act.



Cheng Cheng-yu is president of the Taiwan Southern Society; Chen Gau-tzu is president of the Taiwan Northern Society; Winston Yu is president of the Eastern Taiwan Society; Chen Wan-der is president of the Taiwan Central Society; Chang Yeh-shen is president of the Taiwan Hakka Society; Ellen Huang is president of the Taiwan Green Shield Party; and Tsay Ting-kuei is chairman of the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan.