Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

In a recent celebration in Greater Tainan to mark the third anniversary of his presidency, Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) gave a speech in which he touted “human rights” as one of the three major achievements of his presidency. The other two were “sovereignty” and “environmental rights.” However, Ma’s rhetoric is clearly not backed by facts. Aside from signing two UN Human Rights Covenants into law, a token move, Ma’s presidency has no record of advancing human rights at home or abroad.

To the contrary, Ma’s presidency has been marred by incidents in which officials tried to restrict freedoms of expression and assembly. The incident where police beat up demonstrators and confiscated national flags and forcibly closed a record shop for playing Taiwanese folk music when Chinese official Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) visited Taiwan in November 2008 is still vivid in people’s memories.

There are many ways that Ma Ying-jeou and his leadership style have been characterized in the past. Ma has been called the "Phony Pony," "Ma Ying-joke," "The Chameleon on a Wind Sock" etc.; the list goes on and on. A recent interview with political commentator Nan Fang Shuo, published in Mandarin in the "Liberty Times," and then in English in the "Taipei Times" ("Ma Shifts with the Political Winds: Nan Fang Shuo," May 29, 2011) adds to the list. Nan Fang Shuo addresses how Ma's logic is "to say no independence to the people wishing for unification, and saying no unification to the people wanting independence. This sort of taking advantage by playing word-games is not a government that takes responsibility."