Protests will be peaceful, DPP’s chairperson says
　

By Jenny W. hsu
STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, Dec 19, 2009, Page 1

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said it was confident that planned protests in Taichung City against talks between the government and China would be peaceful, but urged police not to provoke participants.

DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Taiwanese were “rational and peaceful” by nature and it was unlikely any violence would occur unless police overstep their bounds and provoke protesters.

A 100,000-person-strong street demonstration initiated by the DPP is scheduled to take place tomorrow in Taichung to protest against the fourth round of cross-strait negotiations headed by Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and his Chinese counterpart Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS).

This is Taichung City’s first opportunity to host the series of Chiang-Chen meetings since cross-strait talks resumed last year after a 13-year hiatus. The last meeting held in Taiwan occurred in November last year in Taipei when several people were injured during protests.

While the DPP blamed last year’s violence on the police and the government, the pan-blue camp accused Tsai of failing to control the crowd.

Tsai yesterday panned Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), who has already ordered hundreds of police to guard the city, saying that if the protests get out of hand, he did not rule out blocking off the city’s major intersections to ensure the safety of the Chinese delegation.

“Hu is already treating the protesters as if they are rioters. This erroneous assumption will only encourage and justify the police to brutalize protesters,” the chairperson said.

DPP Secretary-General Su Chia-chuan (蘇嘉全) is scheduled to meet the mayor today to explain the party’s stance, she said.

Tsai said that contrary to media reports, which have alleged that the protest would be aimed at Chen, the event was meant to send a message that Taiwanese were fed up with China’s arrogant attitude and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) blatant disrespect for the country’s democratic system, especially about his administration’s plan to forge an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with Beijing in the absence of a national consensus.

“So far the government has been unwilling to communicate with the public about what would be included in an ECFA. This shows the trade pact is nothing but a deal established by a small group of people behind closed doors without public consent based on their own self interest,” Tsai said.

She said Taiwan’s unemployment rate was on an upward trend and many indicators showed that signing a free trade pact with China would only worsen the situation, while at the same time adversely affecting Taiwan’s agricultural sector.

Earlier at the same press conference, a farmer from Yunlin County yesterday said garlic producers in his county were already suffering.

“It is unthinkable what will happen to our farmers, even my own family, if Taiwan opens its market to Chinese agricultural products,” he said, adding that the government must delay signing an ECFA until after a referendum is held.

In addition to meeting Chiang, Chen is expected to tour central Taiwan, including a trip to visit Typhoon Morakot victims in the area. However, Tsai said such a gesture was both “impolite and denigrating to Taiwan” because Chen is not a head of state and therefore he should not be treated as one.

Tsai said Chen’s itinerary should be simplified and that he should not enjoy any fanfare or preferential treatment from the government.

At least 10 other local civic groups have planned to stage their own protests next week. Tsai said the DPP has communicated with these organizations and urged them to avoid violence.

MAC says talks will showcase Taiwan openness
　

By Mo Yan-Chih And Loa Iok-Sin
STAFF REPORTERS
Saturday, Dec 19, 2009, Page 3
　

Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) said yesterday that the council expected the fourth round of cross-strait negotiations next week to serve as a platform for Taiwan to demonstrate its democracy and openness.

Lai reiterated the administration’s resolve to protect freedom of speech, but stressed that the government will also make an effort to protect the safety of “the guests” and ensure that the meetings proceed smoothly.

“We expect people to respect the value of democracy and freedom while expressing different opinions and demonstrating democracy to the world,” she said.

No matter what happens, Lai said the meeting and other arrangements would go ahead as planned and she believed the Ministry of the Interior and security agencies would use their experience and professionalism in the proper manner.

The meeting between Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) will be held on Tuesday.

Lai will meet Chen on the same day, but the council declined to comment on who else Chen would meet or when he would meet them.

Lai said more than 500 reporters had applied to cover the event, and called on the public to express their opinions while respecting others.

Meanwhile, human rights activists yesterday urged people who plan to protest against Chen’s visit to closely monitor the policing of demonstrations and videotape it if possible.

“Last year [when Chen visited Taipei], the police brutally cracked down on demonstrators without respect for their basic freedom of expression,” Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) secretary-general Tsai Chi-hsun (蔡季勳) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.

“Many of the victims of police brutality later filed lawsuits against the police, but investigations on the cases aren’t very smooth, since most of the complainants lacked direct evidence to support their accusations,” she added. “So we’re asking protestors to videotape any incidents to be used as evidence in court if police brutality occurs again.”

Several of the complainants showed up at the press conference to recount their stories and report on the progress of their cases.


Around a dozen people who took part in last year’s protests filed lawsuits against the police claiming brutality, accusing officers of beating them after their arrest, taking away Tibetan and Republic of China flags and arresting them for no apparent reason. A music store accused officers of forcing it to close its doors as protesters danced to the music it was playing.

However, the legal process for the cases has been slow because of a lack of concrete evidence, they said.

As well as asking people to videotape police action with their cameras or cell phones, Tsai said that several human rights groups including the TAHR, the Judicial Reform Foundation, the Humanistic Education Foundation and Amnesty International Taiwan will send volunteers to the protest scenes to monitor how the police handle demonstrations.

“This is also a time to see if President Ma Ying-jeou [馬英九] is serious about applying international human rights standards since a law that turned two international human rights covenants into legally binding documents just took effect earlier this month,” Tsai said. “We want to see if the police handle things differently to last year.”

She was referring to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights ratified by the Legislative Yuan earlier this year.

“We will release a report on our observations afterwards,” Tsai said.

DPP needs to build on trust of people: Tsai
　

In the local government elections on Dec. 5 the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won in four counties and cities, and the party’s overall percentage of the vote saw a clear improvement. DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) discussed the results with Tsou Ching-wen of the ‘Liberty Times’ (sister newspaper of the ‘Taipei Times’)

Saturday, Dec 19, 2009, Page 3
　

Liberty Times: How do you look upon the results of these elections?

Tsai Ing-wen: Of the four county commissioners that were elected, three were incumbents and they all won solid victories. In regaining power in Yilan County, we defeated the incumbent because of his poor performance. This once again gave the DPP a foothold in northern Taiwan and made inroads into this blue region, which is of major significance.

In a few areas where we have had difficulties, we edged closer [to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)]. For example, the difference in Penghu County was a mere 500-odd votes. Then there is Taitung and Taoyuan and a couple of other places. Unfortunately we lost there, but we fought well, and this shows that the traditional strength of the pan-blue camp in these areas can no longer be taken for granted.

The total vote exceeded 45 percent, a clear improvement on the 38.2 percent from four years ago, and it is also better than the 39.5 percent in last year’s presidential election. Considering that there were no elections in areas where we traditionally have been strong, such as Tainan County and city and Kaohsiung, and also considering that we are not the ruling party, this was the best result ever in the mayor and county commissioner elections. Considering all elections, it is second only to the presidential election in 2004.

As for the township chief and city and county councilor elections, the DPP saw a great increase in its number of seats. This has strengthened our monitoring powers in local councils and improved our ability to develop the grassroots level.

LT: Is this in any way significant to the DPP as an opposition party?

Tsai: This is a very positive result for the DPP, and an important step toward a comeback. In particular, given the KMT’s frequent vote buying and slander, and its disproportionate administrative resources and party assets, we are fighting an asymmetric war. This shows that Taiwan is affirming the DPP’s local government record and our ongoing reform and review.

As I see it, the government has committed many mistakes, and the DPP has grasped this opportunity to win more votes through rational persuasion. Furthermore, pan-blue supporters did not come out to vote because they were disappointed with the achievements of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

That doesn’t mean we can say that these people will not come out to vote next time or that they will begin to support the DPP. That means there is still a lot of room for improvement. Only when a majority of voters trust the DPP and votes for us can we talk about victory.

We should welcome the results with humility and be confident without being complacent, because each future election will be harder. There are seven legislative by-elections and the preparations for the special municipality elections. Beginning today, I have already told the party leadership not to relax and that they should once again begin preparing for battle.

In terms of developing party affairs, three things must be stressed. First of all, this was the first time that the DPP had relied mainly on small donations to fight a national election, and that has helped the party transform. We are not in control of the central government and have no party assets, and we have had to put every individual and every cent to their best use in these elections. It’s as if I am once again seeing that past pioneering, hardworking spirit of the DPP. The significance of finding our way back to this traditional spirit may be even more important than the election results.

Second, despite a lack of resources, many young cadres are not afraid to take on difficult tasks and many young candidates have been willing to take on difficult constituencies and taken up impossible challenges. They have delivered excellent results and even more importantly, they have been the engine that has helped city and county councilors and township chiefs to also deliver excellent results. The DPP must cultivate these cadres for the long term and help them grow local connections so that they can win over new voters.

Third, the party’s unity was on full display in these elections. We have proved that the DPP is united in adversity.

LT: What do you think the election results mean to the government?

Tsai: The KMT’s number of votes declined in these elections. Many blue voters voted for the DPP or elected not to vote at all in order to teach the KMT a lesson. The public is capable of differentiating between the achievements of different rulers. They’re not blind, and every political party must be aware of this.

The most significant lesson from these elections was that the public cast a vote of no confidence in the government’s performance over the past year. Behind this lies public complaints over failed economic policies, the damage to national dignity and the insensitivity of top officials.

The public is beginning to lose patience. The government’s digging their heels in on the ECFA and US beef issues, and their ineffectual responses to natural disasters and economic decline, speak of complacency. They are in government and have a majority in the legislature, and this has blinded them to their own errors. The KMT needs to scrutinize these results, and look at the message the public is sending them: They cannot just rely on money, factions and vote buying when it comes to elections.

LT: Next year we have five special municipalities elections. How do you plan to tackle them?

Tsai: Well, we’ve made some minor gains during these elections, but our goal is to get back into central government. There is quite a way to go before this is achieved, and a lot of work to be done. The special municipality elections are just one step, albeit an important one. If we can win them, we may harbor some hope of victory in the next step, the legislative and presidential elections.

However, if we are going to get that far, the last thing we want is party infighting. There is nothing wrong with competition per se, but we are going to have to unite under the party banner. Party members are going to have to put the fortunes of the party first, it’s not about having a platform for individual egos. It’s just like baseball. Winning is everything, and the only goal is to get glory for the team. Our supporters are not going to be impressed if we can’t work together.

So, we’re going to find some time after the election and have everyone sit down together. We will need to discuss how we are going to allocate work for the 2012 presidential elections. We have to find a way we can move forward together and eradicate problems ahead. I am hoping we can do this without too many opposing voices within the party. We have several options for candidates for next year’s special municipality elections within the green-held areas that can potentially win, so we are looking for a fair, coordinated process unhindered by disputes.

LT: What are the DPP’s mid and long-term objectives and plans, in terms of party development?

Tsai: The DPP has made significant progress over the last few years, but that is not to say that there are not some areas in which we can improve as a party. We need to build more trust among the public and make them believe that they can really hand the reins of the country back to us.

I don’t think it right to discuss too far into the future. Having said that, there are three things I would like the DPP to achieve before 2012. First, I would like to see us win at least three posts in the 2010 special municipality elections.

The places we win will form the foundation of our bid for victory in 2012, and I would like at least one in the north and north central areas. Second, the party needs to produce a comprehensive and complete set of political ideas and policies, to show what we stand for.

We want to present ourselves to the public again, but they are going to be asking us where we want to take the country. They will be asking us what we have, policy wise, to offer as an alternative to President Ma Ying-jeou’s policies. We cannot rely on the superstars within the party, or hope that the KMT are going to slip up, if we want to win the election. It is imperative that we can provide some kind of vision of how we want to see Taiwan develop, if we are going to win the people’s trust.

I believe that the gap in support for the ruling party is because of a question of credibility, and this is something that the DPP needs to think long and hard about if we are to break through the current blue- green deadlock.

Now that President Ma has fallen from grace, Taiwan has been left without a king to lead it into the future. We cannot rely on some superstar figure to come and elevate the party, we have to move forward as a whole. It is important for us to present a clear image and set of ideas to the public, and build on the trust of the people to give our candidates the best possible chance.

Justice and the sleazy coalition

Saturday, Dec 19, 2009, Page 8

The Ministry of Justice’s power games continue unabated.

Yesterday, this newspaper ran a story on a proposed amendment to the Criminal Code that would allow judges and prosecutors to punish defendants, lawyers, reporters, activists and any other people who publicize evidence or case details in a manner that upsets the court. Other behavior in or out of court that “disobeys the orders” of the court in the eyes of judges would also be dealt with severely.

The main problem with these changes is that they are impossibly vague, which is sure evidence that they are a kneejerk response from prosecutorial officials who suffered professional humiliation during the debacle-ridden trials of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

There is no question that reform of how the media deal with the courts is warranted. Unfortunately, the ministry and the drafter(s) of the proposed amendment are exploiting a system in flux and a souring institutional reputation to crack down on one side. The bias this reflects is distressing for anyone who hoped for a legal system that placed propriety before political meddling.

The ministry’s justification for this attempted change is impossibly superficial. It is not about the law and how it determines guilt or innocence, but about preventing the impression that the court “indulges madness.”

The result will be a chilling effect on the activities of lawyers as they set about defending their clients and on reporters and activists who attempt to expose judicial abuses and illegalities. The new court environment would resemble the bad old days of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rule, in which judges took their orders from above as necessary and issued orders below, and defendants had precious little advocacy and were routinely framed.

Only a decade after defense attorneys were granted the power to cross-examine witnesses, this proposed amendment stands as a political counterattack launched against reform in general, as well as against irritants who have exposed the lack of accountability of judges who break the law by denying suspects due process in court, and of prosecutors who habitually leak evidence to damage the standing of defendants.

We are led to believe, if this amendment is passed, that the material many prosecutors use to defame suspects through leaks to pliant media outlets cannot be held to account by legal teams defending their clients — at risk of prosecution by the same people who leaked the information.

Under Minister Wang Ching-feng (王清峰), the ministry has ignored its responsibility to uphold the integrity of the judicial system as a whole and has blocked or stalled essential reforms. In this context, the proposed amendment is an unwitting indictment of the sleazy coalition of bureaucrats, prosecutors and judges who back it, and marks a possible new stage in the degradation of the nation’s judicial system.

If granted these new, vague powers, certain prosecutors and judges will crack down on aggressive defense teams for no other reason than to make their jobs easier and keep dissident opinion in its place. Inevitably, they will also seek to intimidate, silence and/or punish people who champion reform of this increasingly maladroit institution.

This pathetic minister must be thrown out. It appears, however, that the old-school forces she represents or tolerates are formidable and shaping for a fight.

Ma’s search for ready scapegoats continues
　

By James Wang 王景弘
Saturday, Dec 19, 2009, Page 8

In the 1960s, the US went to some lengths to persuade dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to be pragmatic and accept a two-China arrangement in an attempt to preserve Taiwan’s international status. Chiang dug his heels in. At the time, US State Department officials predicted that two Chinas, or one China and one Taiwan, would only be accepted after Chiang’s death, when a new generation would be in power in China and Taiwan.

This prediction was borne out: Chiang’s son and successor, Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), launched a policy of “innovation to protect Taiwan”; former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) set about democratizing Taiwan and advocating a two-states policy; and former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) added his approach of “one country on each side” of the Taiwan Strait.

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is currently reversing this process with his vassal state mentality, however, and China has him exactly where it wants him.

Ma is a strange fish: His is neither your average Chinese nor your average Taiwanese family, and as such he has neither empathy for, nor a natural affinity with, ordinary people. He is the product of a very specific mindset meticulously engineered by his elders. He studied in the US, yet the spirit of democracy has not rubbed off on him; he grew up in Taiwan, yet he has no natural affinity with this country.

He has inherited the vested interests and exile mentality of his father and has remained consistent throughout his rise to power in that he doesn’t really instigate anything: He only knows how to oppose. From the very beginning, he has spoken out against the two enemies of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — the Chinese communists and Taiwanese independence advocates. This has won him friends in the older generations in China.

With the democratization of Taiwan and the expansion of his political arena, his mindset has run into conflict with political considerations. He fears Beijing, but doesn’t like to talk of being “anti-communist”; he worries about losing votes, but declines to elaborate on his objections to Taiwanese independence; he is not pro-democracy, but you will only see this in his actions, for he will not articulate it.

To continue his oppositionist tendency, he needed to find a new enemy, so he chose Chen. Chen’s “one country on each side” got officials’ tongues wagging, and the fact that certain family members were sending large sums of cash of unknown origin abroad just so happened to give these same officials the excuse to take aim at Chen under the guise of attacking corruption.

Under these two banners, Ma attacked the idea of one country on each side of the Strait, mobilizing staunch pan-blue supporters and moderates to give him the presidency. Once in power, however, he has proven to be arrogant, incompetent and cold, and seems to be content to associate with criminals.

However, Ma doesn’t seem to realize any of this, and blames anyone and anything for problems as they arise. When he is criticized for errors that he has made, he has had the audacity to make comparisons with Chen.

Then, after being hit by an election setback, he returned to persecuting the former president. One minute he is taking his cues from Chen, the next he is criticizing him.

Does he really think the public is fooled by such duplicity?

Opposing Chen no longer works, but then again, Ma’s biggest enemy now is his own incompetence and lack of affinity with the public’s expectations. If he needs something new to fight against, he should look no further than himself.

James Wang is a media commentator.