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Choice of diplomatic
rookies all due to King
By Chin Heng-wei 金恒煒
When President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) appointed the 43-year-old Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) to
head the Mainland Affairs Council, there wasan uproar. It was not a matter of
his age, but of his experience, or lack thereof. Wang is a rookie, with no
experience in foreign relations and no experience in dealing with China. One
could even make the case that he lacks any practical political experience
whatsoever. And yet now he has been propelled, in a single bound, into a key
position in China relations. It’s difficult to know where to start in describing
such a decision.
Is it possible there were no other candidates? Of course there were. And Wang
was just one of three surprise appointments, the others being King Pu-tsung
(金溥聰), named as Taiwan’s representative to the US, and Chinese Nationalist Party
(KMT) Secretary-General Lin Join-sane (林中森), who is to take over at the Straits
Exchange Foundation.
They are, to a man, amateurs in the position they are being offered, and yet
these positions put them right in the thick of the all-important foreign
relations with the US and China. Even pan-blue camp legislators are at a loss
for words. This kind of political inbreeding is the sort of thing that only
someone like Ma is capable of.
But what, exactly, is Ma up to? In terms of political relationships, it is not
really all that complicated. People speak of Ma and King belonging to an
exclusive club, and there certainly is something in that. This spate of
nominations has less to do with Ma than it has to do with King; it was King who
was at the heart of it all, allocating power where he wants it. To put it
bluntly, King orchestrated these promotions, making sure that he was the central
player within it.
Wang is but a foot soldier, but he is under King, not Ma. King is calling the
shots here. King has said that Wang has the same political thinking on
cross-strait affairs as Ma, but it is more accurate to say that Wang and King
have the same ideas. This is the only way to explain how Wang, despite his lack
of credentials for the job, has been chosen.
Turning to Lin, he has always been a bit of a yes man. While he was originally
one of Vice President Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) men, and by all accounts he has been
operating at high levels for some time, the main thing is that he is not
associated with other senior KMT members involved in cross-strait relations,
such as former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) and former KMT chairman Wu
Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), so King can use him with no concerns over where his loyalties
may lie.
It is doubtful whether former foundation vice chairman Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉) will
be overjoyed at Lin’s appointment. In his resignation letter, foundation
Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) strongly recommended Kao as his successor, citing
Kao’s experience, ability and judgement, saying that he was not only qualified
to take over at the foundation, but would also be a good candidate for next
council chairman.
Consequently, these appointments would have left Kao not only feeling aggrieved,
but also rather humiliated.
Why did Ma have to go for Lin? Why is it that he would rather see Kao
humiliated? The media have pointed out that it is because he is relatively new
to the game. But hold on — isn’t that generally considered to be a shortcoming
in a politician? Since when did that become a strength? Surely not because King
will find it easier to control him? Or maybe it is that. And whoever controls
King controls what all of the new appointees do in their roles.
No wonder the print and online media are all talking about all this as an
example of political inbreeding. But is the public willing to accept this kind
of nepotism in the government?
Chin Heng-wei is a political commentator.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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