Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

The fourth meeting between Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) begins today.

Even before Chiang and Chen meet, the government has mobilized a large number of police and soldiers and tried to persuade shops near the venue to close. The opposition is mobilizing support from around the nation to demonstrate their opposition to Chen and some have even said they would “capture him alive.”

In the local government elections on Dec 5, voters taught the ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) a lesson. A majority of the public and international media got the message voters wanted to express. Ma experienced the largest setback since taking office as his policies and governance were rejected by voters. Foreign news reports said Ma was the main loser in the elections. Ma, however, has completely ignored the message, continues to shirk his responsibility and is unwilling to accept defeat. He has blamed the “less than ideal” election results on the sluggish economy. This president, who does not accept losses or face up to his mistakes will be punished again in future elections, but what we should be concerned about is whether Ma in his remaining two years in office will continue to blindly and arrogantly persist in his errors, leading Taiwan on a course to destruction.