林保華

Ma disqualified himself at Xi meet
By Paul Lin 林保華
Taipei Times  2015.11.17

Since Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) sanctioned a meeting with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Ma has become “Mr Ma” and, in doing so, has forfeited both his responsibilities and the dignity of his office as president of Taiwan.

Ma could hardly contain his excitement over the Nov. 7 meeting in Singapore, from his pre-departure international press conference to an 81-second handshake with Xi.

Ma sold out Taiwan during the meeting and then, after some drinks, indulged in incoherent babbling, calling himself one of Xi’s officials. It seems Ma became intoxicated by Xi’s charm offensive, so much so that the former “communist bandits” have now become masters in the eyes of Ma.

For a number of reasons, Ma’s behavior demonstrated that he is no longer qualified to be president of the Republic of China (ROC).

First, Ma failed to mention the “different interpretations” in the “one China” principle or refer to the ROC during the public meeting with Xi. In doing so, Ma personally read the last rights to Taiwan’s official name.

The day of the meeting also happened to be the 98th anniversary of Russia’s October Revolution.

Chief bandit Mao Zedong (毛澤東) once said: “The explosive October Revolution gave China the gift of Marxist-Leninist thought.”

Subsequently, China slid into catastrophe. Ninety-eight years later, the bandits have subjugated Ma so that Taiwan, too, is teetering on the brink of catastrophe.

Second, with the Democratic Progressive Party as the main opposition party, Taiwanese are working hard to thwart Ma’s plans to throw Taiwan at the feet of China — the younger generation particularly so, as seen during last year’s Sunflower movement.

However, Ma obstinately refuses to change tack, choosing to sail against the tide of public opinion.

During his meeting with Xi, Ma even volunteered some advice to his master, saying that China’s military exercises and missiles directed at Taiwan have become a tool for the opposition party to oppose his cross-strait policy. This demonstrates that Ma views both opposition parties and the wider public as his enemy, as he has allied himself with Beijing to suppress Taiwan.

Third, while answering questions at the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Affairs Committee yesterday, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) said that the council had prepared a series of scripts for Ma to use during his address, in order to cover all eventualities, which used the complete phrase “one China, each side with its own interpretation.”

However, Hsia said Ma jumped ahead during the delivery of his speech, omitting the words “each side with its own interpretation,” simply saying: “one China.”

In his eagerness to become one of Xi’s officials, Ma has sacrificed Taiwan’s national interest and cast aside his own officials. Is a traitor such as Ma still qualified to be president of Taiwan?

Fourth, Ma talked in bold terms of the “descendants of emperors Yan and Huang” and of the “Chinese people,” yet not once did he raise the issues of liberty, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

Instead, Ma chose to echo Xi’s racist doctrine, while overlooking the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) massacres of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) soldiers and officials, and ordinary Chinese, in addition to the CCP’s raping of non-Chinese. Ma even cooperated with Beijing’s rejection of universally held values and its attempt to smear Taiwan’s democracy and diversity.

Lastly, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍), on his return to Beijing, expanded on the meeting, saying that the so-called “1992 consensus” has become a matter of “one country’s domestic relations.” Ma’s administration has not refuted Zhang’s statement.

If the relationship between Taiwan and China is now defined as “one country’s domestic relations,” then, no matter what happens, foreign countries would be unable to intervene. This begs the following questions: Is the US’ Taiwan Relations Act now invalid? Has Taiwan under Ma turned its back on the free world to embrace socialism? Is Ma laying the groundwork to take up an official post in Beijing after stepping down as president?

Xi is likely to believe that he has succeeded in his strategy, while Ma has worked himself into a frenzy of excitement, resulting in both leaders having torn off the masks disguising their double-faced and deceitful behavior.

However, this has helped the public to fully understand their true intentions: to lord over and trample upon Taiwan’s future.

Taiwanese must use the power of their votes to send Taiwan’s traitors into oblivion, while preparing for the unexpected.

Paul Lin is a political commentator.

Translated by Edward Jones