Latest polls

Ma set expectations unrealistically high and its showing; TVBS showsonly 30% are satisfied with his performance, lower than even the DPP's poll showing 37% satisfaction.

TVBS also shows the politician with the highest current poll rating it Tsai Ing-wen, the DPP's new chairwoman.

Pun intended

Via Weichen:

馬英九總統今天下午在總統府內和中華民國中小企業協會舉行座談會，對於外界用「馬上做」之類的用語來做文章，總統有些抱怨，總統說，他才上任快2個月，但是外界的標準好像他已經上任2年，什麼事都可以馬上做，總統自我調侃，或許他姓馬，吃了點虧。

I'm going to hold Ma to that -- if he complains he's only been in office two months and people treat him like he has been in office two years and could do everything he wanted, then after two years I'm going to ask if he's accomplished those goals.

More on Kuan Chung

KMT Vice chair Kuan Chung points out there were many witnesses during his speech in Wuhan and that, if the Liberty Times had bothered to ask them, none of them heard him say a thing about unification.

KMT Vice chair: We want unification badly

The Liberty Times lead story today is about transparent if unofficial behaviour between the KMT and CCP. This news was also printed in the very China-friendly Wenwei paper (文匯報) in Hong Kong.

There are two significant snippets that stand out in the article. First is Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Kuan Chung (關中)'s comments at the fourth annual Focus on Taiwan (台湾周) event in Wuhan, Hubei, China. Speaking there , Guan Chung said the KMT "wholeheartedly wishes" to secure long term governance of the island and bring about peaceful annexation by unification with China. Update: Kuan Kong denies saying anything about long term KMT rule leading to unification. Or specifically, he says "Those were not my words."

The second eye-catcher is former deputy secretary-general of the Presidential Office Cheyne Chiu (邱進益) discussing details of a peace agreement at the 2008 Cross-strait Symposium in Hangzhou (兩岸研討會). Chiu indicated that if the mainland renounces the use of force, Taiwan would "not engage in any further separatist activity," end military exercises aimed at practicing for invasion from China, and work with China to prevent "third countries" (Japan or the US) from interfering in Chinese territory.

The presidential office said both Kuan Chung and Cheyne Chiu are in China in private capacities, do not represent either the government or the party, and offered no further comment on the meat of the statements, offering only that Ma's "no unification, no independence, no force" policy (「不統、不獨、不武」) is unchanged.

Responding to Cheyne Chiu's comments, Professor Xu Bodong (徐博東) of Bejiing's Lienhe University said a peace accord was premature and that "moving too fast would make the goal unreachable."

In his speech, Kuan Chung further said that the KMT must spend the next four years working hard to reverse the trends toward independence and "de-Sinification" (a KMT word if there ever was one), but that the KMT will need China's help (friendliness) to accomplish this goal.

=================

This is the kind of thing that has drawn serious ire from the DPP and again raises questions about behind the scene negotiations between the KMT and CPP. What constitutes discussion and negotiation, and what is appropriate?

How transparent are all of these exchanges? (answer: not very.) How much will be taken care of before hand before the public negotiations proceed? (answer: probably a lot).

How will these back-door exchanges effect the public's ability to voice their opinions before official agreements are signed? If a peace accord puts specific limitations on Taiwan's options, how will the KMT ensure they are enforced even in the event of a future KMT loss: would a constitutional amendment be an option?

Damn it.

My felt hat is back

Made by the Master Hatters of Texas, the "Bandit," which sports a Low Cattleman crown and a low-key band, this has been laying low in Texas. But no longer -- it has found its way into my hands, and on to my head, in Taiwan.

Formosa TV

Since my loss of cable I've been limited to watching Formosa News (somehow we get that one anyway). And let me just say how disappointing it is to watch them hammer Ma's government for the economy every night on their talk show. I find the total role reversal of TVBS and Formosa TV to be absurd. Three months ago they were essentially running opposite programs -- one apologizing for the government, one slamming it. Now that someone else is in charge, there's an immediate reversal. It's very childish and indefensible. Sure, Formosa's right to show how Ma can't keep the promises he made, but really, does it have to become a FOX News level 24-hour bash fest?

DPP to negotiate for upcoming election candidates

The DPP will use internal negotiations, rather than a primary, to assign candidates in the upcoming mayoral and county commissioner elections.

The decision has had some mixed reviews, with Chai Trong-rong and some other legislators expressing concern this was going back toward a more authoritarian model for the party.

Supports of the decision like Yu Shyi-kun pointed out difficulty in getting qualified candidates to run for all seats, even those that are very unlikely DPP wins, as well as the potential for good candidates to group in one county or city and then run against each other even after primary results choose a DPP candidate.

There are also serious cost considerations.

The decision was passed by a large majority in the DPP central committee meeting.

China woo-ing blue commentators?

Liberty Times reports that several blue-leaning political commentators are being invited to China for a conference with the head of the Taiwan Affairs Office next month. No names are named.

Roundup

Posts have been scarce these last few weeks because (1) work is busy, which is good! and (2) not a lot has been happening of interest in the areas I normally blog about. However, there are a few nuggets out there today worthy of attention:

The DPP is questioning the total lack of transparency between the KMT-CCP communications apparatus which will inevitably guide the policy decisions publicly announced by each side. Considering the Liberty Times recently suggested Ma may revive the National Unification Council, the DPP has been especially suspicious. They held a meeting yesterday to discuss this issue and mentioned in the press conference,

雖然總統府否認要恢復國統會的運作，但總統府對國統會的實質態度是什麼，並未明確表態，反而留下更多問號。

Although the Presidential Office has denied doing anything to reactivate the National Unification Council, the Presidential Office's actual attitude toward the Council is still not clear, and in fact there are now even more questions.

If any one wants to make a bet, I will bet my bottom dollar that Ma will revive the National Unification Council, because China will make it a demand for getting some perk ... long before we get to the peace agreement stage of negotiations.

Also, the former first lady has broken her leg but is getting treatment at Taida Hospital, so she should recover.

No comment on this comment

I think this comment by Scott on Michael Turton's blog is a great insight:

Most KMT party members and supporters seem not to believe that China actually means any harm to Taiwan-- and especially not now that there will be a unified KMT government. They believe that the anger of China and the rest of the world is directed solely at Chen Shui-bian and the DPP. They think that if Taiwan's government can just behave, quietly cooperate with Beijing and give up the quest for de jure independence, that China will reciprocate by allowing Taiwan to indefinitely maintain the "status quo" of de facto independence. People voted for Ma because they mistakenly believe he is capable of indefinitely prolonging the so-called "status quo" --which in reality has never been static.

The majority of voters are apparently naive enough to believe that they can keep all of their freedoms and civil rights, while simultaneously acceeding to a gradual accomodation of the PRC's one-China ideology.

CNN article on direct flights

This one is full of inaccuracies and vague statements.

The first regular charter flights between China's mainland and Taiwan began Friday in a sign of warming relations between Beijing and Taipei.

The flight took off at 6:31 a.m. from Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province in southern China, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported, and it arrived in Taiwan at 8:10 am. after a 1,124-km (700-mile) journey.

Previously, the only chartered flights across the 100-mile Taiwan Strait took place during major holidays. They will now run on weekends from Friday through Monday.

So far, so good.

About 760 mainland Chinese plan to make the trip this weekend, but that number is expected to increase to 3,000 by mid-July.

Expected by the Taiwanese authorities, yes, but nothing has been formally signed on this and Beijing has indicated that China has their own considerations in the speed of expanding the number of tourists.

The charter service eventually could lead to regular commercial service.

Chinese and Taiwanese officials agreed last month to set up permanent offices in each other's territories, in the first formal talks between the two sides in almost a decade. The Beijing talks also resulted in the agreement for weekend charter flights.

Dandy.

Cross-straits talks between the two delegations began in 1993, a year after China and Taiwan informally agreed that the two sides belonged to "one China." They did not, however, specify what that meant, and both sides were free to use differing interpretations.

Incorrect.

After that, the dialogue was delayed for five years over cross-strait tensions.

A second meeting in 1998 was held in Shanghai, but Beijing canceled a 1999 meeting when then-Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui proposed that Taiwan and China treat each other as separate states.

But they are separate states.

Taiwan's new president, Ma Ying-jeou, has rejected the push for independence.

Although Ma opposes unification with China, he campaigned on promises of seeking closer ties to the mainland, particularly seeking for Taiwan some of the benefits of China's robust economy.

The DPP also sought those benefits, but China denied them to Taiwan because of a refusal to accept "One China."

Taiwan separated from China after the communists victory in the Chinese civil war in 1949 -- about 2 million Nationalists Chinese fled to Taiwan and set up a government there.

Beijing has always considered it a part of China and has threatened to go to war should Taiwan declare formal independence.

Also false:

History teaches that in 1949 Taiwan was owned by Japan as it had been since 1895, not China, and would be until 1951. What split in 1949 were the KMT and the CCP.

Nominee for Control Yuan VP voted down

As the Taipei Times reported today,

Some KMT legislators have threatened to vote down nominees such as former DPP legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄), who was named vice president of the yuan ...

Well, I just saw him get voted down by the legislature while I was watching TV at lunch. You may wonder, why would Ma have nominated a former DPP legislator for the #2 spot in the Control Yuan in the first place. Shen resigned in October 2007:

Approached for comment at the legislature, Shen, a four-term DPP legislator, said he had stayed "long enough" and "done enough" for the party....

Shen had been a member since 1992 when he ran for legislator under the party flag.

However, he was long considered a "loner" because of his outspokenness about the party's policies or other members with whom he disagreed.

He created a stir before the 2004 presidential poll when he gave credence to claims by tycoon-turned-fugitive Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪) that the businessman had given a donation to first lady Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍) 10 years earlier.

Chen Yu-hao said Shen had been a witness to the transaction.

Shen's unwillingness to contradict Chen Yu-hao's allegations threatened to derail President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) re-election campaign in the week before the poll.

Shen has been sharply criticized ever since by pan-green supporters, who denounced him for being a DPP apostate and for making connections with pro-blue figures.

In April 2004, Shen urged pro-green politicians to stop using the phrase "love Taiwan" as an encapsulation of their pro-localization stance, saying the phrase was detrimental to ethnic harmony between the majority Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) and Mainlanders who came to Taiwan after 1945.

Yeah, so you can see why Ma would have nominated him and made himself appear to be reaching across party lines. But the KMT caucus would have none of that. In questioning a few days ago:

Meanwhile, Shen admitted that he had accepted a political donation of less than NT$1 million (US$32,900) from tycoon-turned-fugitive Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪) 14 years ago, but he said he had reported the money in accordance with the law for disclosing the annual assets of public officials.

He declined to answer KMT Legislator Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆), who asked about Wang’s support of claims by Chen Yu-hao in 2004 ahead of the presidential election that the businessman had given a donation to then-first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) a decade earlier.

Also, remember:

At the end of the year 2004, President Chen Shui-bian sent a list of Control Yuan member nominees to the Legislative Yuan for approval. The Pan-Blue Coalition, which holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, has so far refused to ratify President Chen's nominees demanding that he submit a new list. This political deadlock had technically stopped the Control Yuan from functioning since February 2005.

Latest laws

Instead of posting them directly most of the time, now, I'll just show you how to search for them.

To see which bills have been brought up by session or bill name, check here.

To see how far along a bill is, check here.

To see which laws have most recently been passed, check here.

Ma has kept 92% of campaign promises?

Hmm. Notice all the biggies are off the list. And what about Aboriginal autonomy? Or the stupid commercial coral mining operations? Or the raises made to low level officials that got out the vote to the KMT? The last two of those weren't on the promises list, but they sure were made a high priority.

On a side note, if I were running for head of my county, I'd put only 3 things on my campaign list: water quality, road quality, traffic safety.

Ma leads cadets in servicemen's doctrine

If you missed this, you shouldn't have:

Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers yesterday blasted President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for leading graduating cadets in chanting the servicemen's doctrine. It was originally derived from a 1936 speech - written in classic literary Chinese - by the late President Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and was suspended by the DPP government in 2003....

DPP lawmaker Pan Meng-an described the practice of reciting Chiang's servicemen doctrines as being very similar to the customs of the warlord, saying that having soldiers memorize Chiang's servicemen's doctrine was no different than having the People's Libaration Army recite Mao Zedong's Little Red Book.

I found the full text of this serviceman's doctrine, (Liberty Times printed it today as a graphic) and it drones on and on about "our" Zhonghua Minzu occupies so much land in China and has such and such a population, we have to carry out the Three People's Principles and be loyal to the Guomin Zhengfu (國民政府), which historically refers to a temporary government during the struggle against the Northern Warlords but which is also quite clearly referencing the KMT, etc... In short, it is racist, party-centric and hopelessly outdated for Taiwan.

As Taipei Times notes:

One passage in the directives’ preface — which is not recited as part of the 10 directives — illustrates just how out of date the directives have become, Chai said.

It reads: “We Chinese people, who have been building our country to today, have existed for 5,000 years, and a 400 million-strong peaceful and outstanding people has converged on a land of more than 11 million square kilometers.”

See the primer on Zhonghua Minzu: this term is geographical and political, not merely some general ethnic reference.