Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Taiwan's Ma Ying-jeou, When Apologies Are Not Enough

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

I remember listening to Ma Ying-jeou explain why his 6-3-3 policy failed miserably; his advisers simply missed the boat, made bad evaluations, and caused Ma to make a false promise. Is a man responsible for the poor judgment of his advisers? Technically, Ma did not make the judgment that 6-3-3 was achievable in his first term. (Note that after it was seen to be failing miserably, Ma changed the time-line and said he really meant he would do that by the end of a 2nd term) Of course if it failed by that time as well, Ma would be long gone and with a hefty pension to live on.

Taiwanese paying for a Chinese anniversary

William J.K. Lo 羅榮光

President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government recently used several billion New Taiwan dollars worth of taxpayers’ hard-earned money to celebrate what it calls the 100th anniversary of the “Republic of China” (ROC).

However, based on what I have seen and experienced over more than six decades, the essence of and truth about the “ROC” can be demonstrated through the following three points:

First, the ROC is a foreign entity.

Self-determination key to survival

Chen Yi-shen 陳儀深

In UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, the UN decided “to restore all its rights to the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and to recognize the representatives of its Government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations, and to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it.” The “representatives of Chiang Kai-shek” were of course the representatives of the Republic of China (ROC), so some people say that the whole incident had nothing to do with Taiwan, and that Taiwan and Taiwanese need not concern themselves about it.

Chen found guilty of receiving bribes

Taipei Times

Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was yesterday sentenced to 18 years in prison by the Taiwan High Court for taking bribes in relation to a series of bank mergers during his eight years in power, fined NT$180 million (US$5.95 million) and stripped of his civil rights for nine years.

His wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), was sentenced to 11 years and fined NT$102 million in the same case and stripped of her civil rights for eight years.

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