DPP Newsletter Oct2008

8/7/2019 DPP Newsletter Oct2008

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O

A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY THE DPP’S

DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Progress

O CTOBER 200 600,000 PROTESTS AGAINSTTHE POOR

PERFORMANCE OF THE MA GOVERNMENT...1

CEPA WITH CHINA DANGEROUS FOR

TAIWAN……….........................................2

OCTOBER 25TH

‘ANTI TOXIC GOODS, SAFEGUARD TAIWAN’………………………3

MA DISPLAYS UNREALISTIC VIEWPOINT

DURING RECENT SPEECH……………….....4 Democracy &

600,000 protest against Ma Policies

600,000 Taiwanese citizens, led by the DPP, marched in the streets of Taipei on October 25th to show their

strong discontent with the Ma administration’s economic policies as well as expressing the people’s displeasure

regarding the upcoming visit of Chen Yunlin, China’s Head of Association for Relations Across the Taiwan

Strait (ARATS).

Citizens expressed their anger at the lack of government action on tainted milk products from China, slow

response to floods from several hurricanes, rising unemployment and a stock market that has plummeted by

more than 4,000 points since Ma’s inauguration as president. Anger was focused both on President Ma as well

as Premier Liu and his cabinet, who have truly shown incompetence in the face of the economic issues

bedeviling Taiwan over the past months.

Citizens also expressed their deep concern over President Ma’s declaration that Taiwan was simply an “area”

within the “Republic of China”, that Taiwan’s relationship with the People’s Republic of China was only a

“special” relationship and not a “state-to-state” one , that he was willing to be called “Mister” instead of

“President” during Chen Yunlin’s upcoming visit – all belittling Taiwan and the Taiwanese people’s

achievement in building a strong democratic nation.

The demonstration came at a critical time for Taiwan, as the nation is facing a significant challenge in the form

of the visit by Chen Yunlin. Chen is arriving at a time when the Taiwanese, as both consumers and ordinary

citizens, are losing confidence in Ma Ying-jeou. Many are angry at the lack of transparency Ma utilizes when he

conducts his policies, especially concerning cross-strait relations. They also share the concern that the

government truly does not hold their best interests in mind, which thus necessitates a major event to demonstrate

their desire to see the government make major corrections. This visit is merely the latest example of Ma’s

mismanagement, as it signals a foreclosing of future opportunities for Taiwan.

The demonstration was a major success in terms of clearly expressing the general discontent that the majority of

Taiwanese holds towards the cloudy policies of the Ma administration. The success of the demonstration will be

sustained by a series of similar events during Chen Yunlin’s actual arrival in November.



2 DEMOCRACY & PROGRESS

DEMOCRACY &

PROGRESS

Department of

International Affairs

Democratic Progressive Party

8F, No. 30, Pei-Ping East Rd.

Taipei, Taiwan

t. 886-2-23929989 ext. 306

f. 886-2-23930342

e-mail: [email protected]

web: http://www.dpp.org.tw

Director:

Lin Chen-wei

Deputy Director:

Huang Chih-ta

Editor-In-Chief:

Roger Lee Huang

Editor:

Mike Fonte

Staff Writer:

Britt Mercadante

A CEPA with China places Taiwan’s economy and sovereignty in

danger

President Ma Ying-jeou feels strongly that signing a CEPA (Closer Economic Partnership

Agreement) with China will greatly improve Taiwan’s economy, as it will supposedly

make China’s vast market available to Taiwan’s economy. Yet this desire for economic

improvement has blinded Ma and the KMT party to the downside of signing such an

agreement.

An Oct. 17 Policy Research Committee hosted forum allowed panelists to voice their

apprehensions concerning the CEPA, an agreement which Beijing currently shares with

Hong Kong and Macau. Many of the concerns of the panelists centered on the adverseeffects the CEPA would have on Taiwan’s economy and sovereignty.

Chen Po-chih, Chairman of Taiwan Thinktank, echoed the sentiments of many in

attendance when he criticized the ulterior motives of Beijing in wishing to pressure

Taiwan into a CEPA. Chen declared, “What China is doing is trying to secure political

power through the support of the business community and speed up unification by

economic means.” Chen further criticized the CEPA when he observed that the agreement

would weaken Taiwan’s sovereignty and further increase Taiwan’s dependence on China,

thus allowing Beijing to impose its will on Taiwanese politics.

DPP Legislator Twu Shiing-jer highlighted another concern when he mentioned that a

CEPA would open up Taiwanese markets to an influx of contaminated foods from China.

One needs only to examine the outbreak of bird flu suffered by Hong Kong in 2003,

which ultimately was caused by the loosening of inspections on domestic foods forced by

Beijing on Hong Kong after they signed a CEPA. Many in the forum were also afraid that

by signing a CEPA, Taiwan would become just another Hong Kong.

The plight of Taiwanese laborers following the signing of the CEPA was also brought up

at the forum, as Taiwan Labor Front President Ngou Giok-siong questioned how laborers

would be able to compete with the vast number of Chinese laborers expected to pour into

the country.

All the panelists agreed that the decision on a CEPA should ultimately reside with the

Taiwanese voters in a referendum. President MA should respect the results from such a

referendum, even if it means declining China’s offer for a trade agreement.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.dpp.org.tw/

http://www.dpp.org.tw/

mailto:[email protected]




October 25th: “Anti China’s Toxic Goods, SafeguardTaiwan!”

The five main themes of the demonstration:

1) Against tainted Chinese goods.

2) Against One China education.

3) Protect Taiwan’s sovereignty.

4) Against One China market.5) Against incompetent government.




Ma displays unrealistic viewpoint during recent speech

Britt Mercadante

President Ma recently announced in a speech to officials from the Ministry of National Defense that no war would occur

between the Taiwan Strait in the next four years. Combined with his recent expression of confidence that a peace accordwith China would be possible during his presidency, President Ma is certainly feeling optimistic about cross-strait

relations. Yet despite these so-called "thawing of relations" with China that President Ma is so keen on boasting about,

one must wonder if he is giving up too much without a reliable prospect of return. Ma's recent overtures to China,

including talks of the CEPA deal, the declaration that relations between the two nations were actually between two

regions from the same country, and his endorsement of the 1992 consensus, have been met favorably by Beijing, who

has viewed the weakening of Taiwan’s sovereignty with greedy eyes. These recent remarks made by Ma only confirm to

the CCP that Taiwanese forces will not be ready if an attack occurs, and will be overtaken easily if unification with the

mainland comes down to force.

In his comments to the National Defense University, President Ma also remarked in a vague statement that a "reasonably

and sufficient budget" would be earmarked for the military. Of course, one must then wonder what exactly does this

reasonable and sufficient budget detail? How will this money be spent? The most important question, though, is how

will Taiwan respond if China does decide to attack within the next few years? Will Taiwan be prepared? Of course no

one wants to see a war erupt in the Taiwan Strait. But to ignore the threat that China will resort to force if it does not

achieve its goal of unification is a very unrealistic and dangerous viewpoint.

China is more than willing to accept offers of economic agreements that place Taiwan in the same status as Hong Kongor Macau, and is more than happy to hear their relationship between Taiwan be referred to as one between two ‘areas’,

so imagine their excitement when President Ma makes his remarks concerning war, or the lack thereof, in the next four

years. They know that they can continue to increase their stockpile of missiles in its coastline that are aimed at Taiwan

without fear of reprisal from either the Taiwanese government or the international community. They know that if the

issue of unification must be solved by arms, they will not have to wage a costly war that would be very unpopular

amongst the international community. This speech, coupled with Ma’s recent actions, has painted Ma into a corner from

which unification is the only escape. So, no, President Ma, there will be no war between Taiwan and China in four

years. And China could not be more elated.

Britt Mercadante is an intern with the DPP’s Department of International Affairs. He recently graduated from

Davidson College, and is currently living in Taipei. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not

represent the views of the DPP.

Quest ions or comm ents? Fee l f ree to em ai l them to

fore ign @dpp.org. t w or dpp fore ign@gm ail .c om

Democracy & Progress is a monthly electronic newsletter published by the Democratic Progressive Party’s Department of International

Affairs. Please note that articles in this publication should not be used as direct quotation unless with the explicit permission from the

editor.

Documents

DPP Newsletter Oct2008