|
Ma shows alienation
in US paper interview
By James Wang 王景弘
People have thrown so many shoes at President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) lately that by
now he must be at risk of developing scabies and losing all his hair from all
that old, stinky footwear. Despite this, he seemed completely at ease in a
recent interview with the Washington Post. Although Ma perhaps thinks that his
performance in interviews with foreign media can be used for domestic
consumption, it seems clear that what he is trying to do is declare his position
to the US and China by hiding behind the Taiwanese public.
However, if he really intends his activities in a foreign context to be used for
domestic consumption, then the Post interview was a complete failure. Ma’s
answers were misleading and evasive, and made it clear how disconnected he is
from the Taiwanese public. Among the photographs that accompanied the interview
in the print edition, a picture of an anti-Ma demonstration was made four times
larger than another photo depicting him raising his fist.
For Ma, the most urgent task is to declare his position to the outside world.
His statements keep changing and the surprising remarks he made in his Double
Ten National Day address on Oct. 10 that “cross-strait relations are not a
matter of international relations” made US academics with an interest in Taiwan
suspect that he is preparing to walk that last mile toward surrender.
It was only because he wanted to dispel US suspicions that he suddenly
remembered that the public are the masters in a democratic nation and therefore
mentioned the idea of holding a referendum on political talks with China, saying
that: “We thought it would be best to first put it to a referendum to confirm
that we had strong public support.”
However, if this is true, then why does the president consistently ignore public
opinion, while arbitrarily accepting the “one China” framework and rejecting the
view that the nature of cross-strait relations are international or
state-to-state?
In the interview, Ma also gave a response to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s
(習近平) call for Taipei to engage Beijing in talks about “political issues.” Ma
divided “political issues” into two categories: procedural talks of a political
nature and political talks that deal with terminating the Republic of China and
Taiwanese sovereignty.
He also hid behind the public, saying that cross-strait political talks would
require a national referendum to be held first because that would make it
“easier to move on with discussions.”
However, he also signaled to Beijing that: “we will not, either domestically or
abroad, promote ‘two Chinas,’ ‘one China, one Taiwan,’ or ‘Taiwan
independence.’”
Given that Ma is promoting the idea of holding a referendum, why does he then in
effect force his views upon public opinion by arbitrarily ruling out Taiwanese
citizens’ freedom to choose?
The conditions for establishing diplomatic relations between China and the US
included accepting the “one China” principle, Washington’s recognition of the
People’s Republic of China as the only legal government of China and demands
that the US not promote the principles of “two Chinas,” “one China, one Taiwan,”
or Taiwanese independence.
However, in yielding to China, Ma is ignoring that Taiwan is democratized, as
well as what is acceptable to the Taiwanese public.
Anyone who ignores public opinion, but is quick to hide behind the people, will
have to live with being the object of ridicule. Protecting Taiwan’s sovereignty
means standing on the side of the Taiwanese public.
James Wang is a media commentator.
Translated by Perry Svensson
|
