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Ma must stand up to Beijing
It appears that the controversy over comments made by Jiang Ping (江平), head of
China’s delegation to the Tokyo Film Festival, has come to an end. China’s
Taiwan Affairs Office has said the incident was unfortunate and attributed
Jiang’s remarks to a lack of communication, while the Executive Yuan has happily
designated Jiang’s overt rudeness a matter of personal behavior. That it seems
is that, except for the fact that no one really believes such politically
expedient assertions to be actually true.
If Jiang’s outburst was an isolated incident, then how do we explain the
Taiwanese student studying in South Korea who was chased and beaten up by a
group of 30 Chinese students when she displayed the Republic of China (ROC) flag
after winning a Korean speech competition in December last year?
How about the decision at the Venice Film Festival in 2007 to label Taiwanese
movies such as Lust, Caution (色戒), Blood Brothers (天堂口), Just in Love (幫幫我,愛神)
and The Most Distant Course (最遙遠的距離), as films from “Taiwan, China” under
pressure from Beijing.
Or there is Taiwanese competitor Liu You-chen (劉祐辰), who was insulted by Chinese
participants at the World Cyber Games in Seattle in 2007 after he showed the ROC
flag when receiving his bronze medal?
Any random search on the Internet or cursory survey asking about the experiences
of overseas Taiwanese students would instantly disprove the Executive Yuan’s
claim that this was “an isolated incident.”
Anyone in his or her right mind knows perfectly well that Jiang’s remarks were
simply the tip of the iceberg and appeasement cannot possibly be the best
approach to such challenges to the nation’s sovereignty.
We cannot but wonder, if as the Taiwan Affairs Office said the incident was the
result of a lack of communication, what would have been the result of “proper
communication?”
Will it ever be possible for competitors and delegates from our nation taking
part in international events to be referred to as Taiwanese and nothing else?
Over the years, the government has rarely, if ever, indicated to Beijing that it
will simply not tolerate similar acts of rudeness.
Although Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) seemed to take a tougher stance on the Jiang
controversy by saying on the legislative floor that he supported a proposal made
by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators to list Jiang as persona non
grata, this does not mean the KMT Government government intends to follow
through on the lawmakers’ plan. Indeed, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman
James Chang (章計平) declined on Tuesday to comment further on the issue.
One cannot help but wonder if the plan was not deliberately concocted to
temporarily appease Taiwanese anger, only to be quietly shelved when the
brouhaha dies down.
The KMT administration must publicly demonstrate that it is committed to
defending the nation’s dignity and it can do this by fully supporting a
legislative resolution to sanction Jiang, and endorsing a Democratic Progressive
Party proposal to demand an apology from China.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in a speech in Tainan yesterday that China
should treat Taiwan with benevolence while Taiwan should interact with China
with wisdom.
True perhaps, but wisdom means knowing when to play tough instead of constantly
backing down when the nation’s sovereignty is challenged.
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