Why Ma is a tool

RTI:

馬總統在記者會上語氣堅定的表示，對於民進黨主席蔡英文的質疑，他要強調，台灣前途當然是由2300萬人決定，在總統大選之前他就已經公開承諾過，這是當然之事。而對於台灣主權跟主體性的維護，他也是絲毫都沒有讓步。總統：『維護台灣主權、主體性，我一吋沒有讓步，一點沒有鬆口，我身為中華民國的總統，我沒有任何在這方面有失誤的地方。』

At the press conference this morning, President Ma firmly emphasized that Taiwan's future will be decided by the 23 million people of Taiwan; that he openly promised this before the election; and that there is no debating this topic. Ma was responding to DPP chairwoman Tsai Ying-wen's suspicions about Ma's policy. In regards to protecting Taiwan's sovereignty, Ma said that he had made absolutely no concessions. The President said, "I did not give an inch on protecting Taiwan's sovereignty and territorial integrity. I am the President of the Republic of China, and have made no slip ups on this front at all."

OK now, as I've said over and over again, the one thing Ma refuses to say and actively denies is that Taiwanese can decide their future by referendum, because Ma fully opposes a referendum, and because he knows it would be an unacceptable statement if he wishes to continue negotiations with China.

And there's the point, isn't it? China will talk to Ma if he says "the Taiwanese people will decide Taiwan's future" because China knows Ma means "if the Taiwanese people elect the KMT we'll do what we want in this regard, which is to move slowly toward unification and cut off any hopes of independence no matter what it takes." If Ma even said "the Taiwanese people will decide Taiwan's future by referendum," China would accuse Ma of being a Taiwan Independence supporter, even if Ma took no moves to institutionalize a referendum for deciding Taiwan's future.

Regarding whether Ma has relented on sovereignty, the Green complaint is that Ma wants to have it both ways, trying to suggest Taiwan = ROC when that's politically expedient here, but taking the official position that the ROC includes all of China, both when he talks with the Chinese and in a very telling interview with overseas press.

And of course, the position that the ROC is the only legal government of all of China is as dated as it is blatantly absurd, but it is exactly because Ma accepts this and believes Taiwan and China are part of the same country that China is willing to hold dialogue with his government in the first place, which only reinforces Green arguments that we have already capitulated on all the most important points of Taiwan's sovereignty -- and all we've got to show for it are more charter and cargo flights. It is exactly Ma's acceptance of the "One China principle" that the Greens have called selling out Taiwan; most everyone would be happy to have good normal relations with China, but not at the cost of accepting that the CPP has a legitimate role in deciding Taiwan's fate.

The most hilarious point is that this "One China = ROC" position has no currency with anyone -- the PRC doesn't buy it, Taiwanese don't buy it, the international community doesn't buy it, and I am sure that even the KMT leadership doesn't believe it; they just are willing to say it in order to get closer to China, all while making institutional changes so that Taiwanese Independence can be made impossible and the destiny of Taiwan can be taken out of the Taiwanese people's hands.