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2012 ELECTIONS: Ma
accuses Tsai of baseless unification accusation
By Mo Yan-chih / Staff Reporter
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday heaped scorn on a claim by Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) that he would
seek unification with China if re-elected, focusing on his efforts to defend
Taiwan’s sovereignty and national dignity.
In an interview with the Broadcasting Corp of China, Ma challenged Tsai to back
up her accusation with evidence, urging her not to irresponsibly incite social
and political confrontation with baseless accusations.
“Does she have any evidence to show that I stand for ultimate unification?” he
asked. “I want Chairperson Tsai to tell me, which of the 16 cross-strait
agreements we signed has sacrificed our sovereignty? The nation’s sovereignty
remains intact.”
Ma made the comments in response to Tsai’s criticism of his cross-strait policy
on Friday night during a policy platform presentation, when she said that if Ma
was re-elected, “our generation could very possibly face the question of
ultimate unification.”
Citing the government’s achievement in attending the World Health Assembly (WHA)
as a member country and enhancing economic cooperation with many countries, Ma
slammed Tsai and the DPP saying they blamed the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
for such international participation, even though they failed to achieve a
similar international profile for Taiwan when the DPP was in power.
“Taiwan is able to move forward and enhance international participation,
including our attendance of the WHA. Did that not promote Taiwan’s sovereignty?”
he said. “The KMT has achieved things that the DPP was simply unable to in the
past, and we did so without damaging sovereignty and Taiwan’s dignity.”
Ma said that the so-called “1992 consensus,” which refers to a consensus with
Beijing on the concept of “one China,” but with each side having its own
interpretation, is designed to help the two sides of the Taiwan Strait put aside
political differences and focus on cross-strait exchange.
He again pointedly questioned Tsai on her earlier comments that the Republic of
China (ROC) is a government-in-exile.
“She has said that the ROC is a government-in-exile, and now she is running for
the ROC presidency. Would that not make her a president-in-exile if she is
elected?” he asked.
Ma won a decisive victory in the 2008 presidential election. However, his
support has declined since taking office, and many opinion polls have put the
two candidates neck-and-neck
When asked to comment on public indifference over the government’s performance,
Ma dismissed criticism of his preference for quoting statistics when promoting
government policies, insisting that such figures best reflected the government’s
achievement in various fields.
“The DPP did very little when it was in power and so the party does its best to
avoid talking about statistics,” Ma said.
“It tries to appeal to voters with stories, but the problem is that once the
stories have been told, what’s left? Can they govern the nation with nothing but
feelings?” he asked.
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