Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Ma Ying-jeou's "Do Nothing" Promises Deceive Taiwan

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

A recently released WikiLeaks cable revealed yet another set of Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou's strange and vacuous negative promises that in effect define him as a "do-nothing president," that is, a president who attempts to be a good little boy that will sit in the corner vis-à-vis the US-China-Taiwan triangular relationship and not rock the boat or try to offend anyone. This latest revelation, dated March 20, 2009, a year after Ma's taking the presidency referenced three promises Ma made through staff to American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt. Ma's first set of three strange, empty "do nothing" pledges were made when Ma had become president. Both sets of promises demand closer examination for they not only reflect Ma's characteristic avoidance in taking an accountable position on anything but they also imply an obtuse simple-mindedness on the part of anyone who accepts his words as noteworthy.

Safeguarding Taiwan’s freedom

Li Thian-hok 李天福

According to Chinese jurist and writer Yuan Hongbing (袁紅冰) in “The Taiwan Crisis: China’s Plan to Annex Taiwan Without a Battle by 2012,” former paramount Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) drafted a secret political will before his death in which he focused on Taiwan. The most crucial section reads: “Advocates of freedom in the bourgeois class ... are itching to follow the so-called ‘Taiwan experience’... Settling the Taiwan problem directly affects the existence of the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] and socialism in China ... The Taiwanese problem must be resolved by the end of Comrade Hu Jintao’s (胡錦濤) second term. Do not go beyond 2012. I hope that the 18th Party Congress will also be able to celebrate solving the Taiwan problem.”

US lawmaker plans another hearing

Taipei Times

A recent US Congressional hearing held by US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen on “Why Taiwan Matters” suggests continued US support for Taiwan and that Washington would not abandon Taiwan, Formosa Foundation chief executive Terri Giles said yesterday.

Ros-Lehtinen, who is also chairman of the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, is planning to organize and invite administration officials to a second congressional hearing on issues concerning Taiwan at the end of the year, Giles said, adding that she hoped the discussion would focus on democracy in Taiwan.

The June 16 hearing held by Ros-Lehtinen before the House Foreign Affairs Committee was the first hearing on Taiwan to be held in Congress in seven years.

Ex-AIT chair warns on political system

Taipei Times

Former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) chairman Richard Bush yesterday expressed concern about whether Taiwan’s democratic system, which he said is “polarized” and “divided,” could withstand Beijing’s efforts to bring about unification.

Before wrapping up his short visit to Taipei, Bush remarked on the state of cross-strait relations and Taiwan’s democratic system during a roundtable discussion at a symposium entitled “A Spectacular Century: The Republic of China (ROC) Centennial Democracy Forums.”

In his speech, Bush discussed how the development of cross-strait relations might have constrained the choices available to Taiwan’s political system, examining how changes to the balance of power might have impacted Taiwan’s democracy.

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