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2012 ELECTIONS: TECRO
responds to Washington op-ed criticizing Ma
By William Lowther / Staff Reporter in Washington
The Taiwanese representative office in Washington responded sharply on Friday to
an op-ed article that quoted critics accusing President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of
undermining the country’s sovereignty.
The article, published in the Washington Times, was written by Taiwan Institute
of Political, Economic and Strategic Studies chief executive Parris Chang (張旭成),
and the rebuttal came from Frank Wang (王億), director of the press division at
the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington.
Chang said in the op-ed that most Taiwanese opinion polls showed Ma trailing
Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in the
upcoming presidential election.
“Critics fault Mr Ma’s government for pre-emptive concessions to the communist
government [in China] and charge that his strategy has undermined Taiwan’s
sovereignty and compromised its de facto independence,” he added.
In his response, Wang accused Chang of alleging that Ma’s policies have
undermined sovereignty, when Chang had actually said that Ma’s critics made the
charge.
Wang said in a press release issued from Washington that Chang’s op-ed was
“misinforming.”
He went on to claim that Ma’s policies had improved cross-strait relations and
enhanced regional stability and prosperity “a fact that [US] President [Barack]
Obama and [US] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have publicly praised.”
Politicians from both major parties have expressed concern about the way the
Obama administration has supported Ma in a seeming attempt to boost his
re-election chances.
There are worries that Washington will be accused of interfering in the
Taiwanese elections at a time when it should be strictly neutral.
Chang said that Ma’s economic engagement with China had been responsible for
capital flight and accelerated the movement of Taiwan’s manufacturing to China.
“Consequently, more that 1 million blue-collar and white-collar workers in
Taiwan have lost their jobs,” he said. “While Taiwan’s close economic links with
China have benefited Taiwan’s big businesses and foreign multinationals,
unemployment remains high, and incomes are shrinking.”
“Given Mr Ma’s present high disapproval rating, running close to 70 percent, if
polling were held now, he would probably lose his re-election bid, and Taiwanese
voters would likely elect the first female president in Taiwan’s history,” Chang
wrote.
Washington-based observers said that it was unusual for TECRO to respond on Ma’s
behalf during an election campaign and that it left the “troubling impression”
that Ma was using government staff to support his re-election bid.
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