Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Two months after the US’ decision in September to provide defensive weapons to Taiwan and upgrade its fleet of F-16A/B aircraft, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gave a speech in which she said emphatically that Taiwan was an important security and economic partner of the US (“Clinton issues call for US ‘Pacific Century,’” Nov. 12, page 1).

Soon afterward, two senior US officials were sent to Taiwan to highlight the importance of US-Taiwan ties.

Most are familiar with the adage “businessmen have no country,” so it came as no surprise that immediately after President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) victory (51.6 percent of the vote) in Saturday’s presidential elections, numerous pro-China business pundits cheered. One after another they declared that Ma’s win was a clear mandate for his cross-strait policies.

Let everyone go full steam ahead in investing and deepening business ties with China; profit allegedly awaits all. Some even suggested establishing political ties with China as well, as a means to cement these alleged profit gains. Was this really what Taiwan’s vote signified? Not by a long shot. Instead of being a mandate, the vote was a call for caution; the populace at best decided to leave things in a holding pattern. The devil is in the details.