Mr. Ma reaches out to Chinese, Taiwanese
(From The Japan Times May 25 issue)

台湾新総統、台中双方に呼びかけ

Taiwan has a new president. Mr. Ma Ying-jeou, of the KMT (Nationalist) Party was inaugurated May 19 after a decisive win in March's election. In his inaugural remarks, Mr. Ma hit the right notes, reaching out to Taiwanese at home and Chinese 150 km away across the Taiwan Strait. This is a historic opportunity to stabilize relations, and establish a strong foundation for peace between Taiwan and the mainland. Will Beijing seize it?

Mr. Ma's landslide win in the March presidential election completed the KMT sweep of Taiwanese elections. With the KMT taking an overwhelming majority in the legislature in January's parliamentary ballot, the pendulum swing in Taiwanese domestic politics is complete.

Voters, tired of the ideological policies of former President Chen Shui-bian, have embraced the pragmatic, economics-first agenda promoted by Mr. Ma.

Implicit in this approach is the draining of tension from the cross-strait relationship. With Taiwan's economy increasingly dependent on that of the mainland, that relationship is crucial to the island's future prosperity. Mr. Chen, and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), feared that increasing ties with the mainland would render Taiwan vulnerable to Chinese pressure. His government did its best to keep the two separate. For that effort (and other policies), Mr. Chen was labeled a "splittist" whose attempts to promote Taiwanese national identity were considered by Beijing to be steps toward independence.

The mainland's distrust of Mr. Chen grew throughout his administration and the Chinese government did its best to counter every Taiwanese initiative and humiliate Mr. Chen. (To be fair, the former president seemed to revel in the fight.)

Thus, getting the economy back on track requires outreach to the mainland and a blunting of the cross-strait rivalry. In his inaugural address, Mr. Ma spoke of a common Chinese heritage and, in a particularly bold gesture, he referred to 4 statements by Chinese President Hu Jintao on cross-strait relations — "building mutual trust, shelving controversies, finding commonalities despite differences, and creating together a win-win solution."

Mr. Ma said Mr. Hu's "views are very much in line with our own." He also promised to negotiate on the basis of the "1992 consensus," a slippery concept, but one that Beijing insists upon.

Reaching out to China is only one part of Mr. Ma's agenda. The eventual success of his entire platform depends, first and foremost, on forging a broad consensus in Taiwan that includes even those people who did not vote for him. Again, to his credit, the new president recognizes this. His speech included phrases in the local Taiwanese dialect, as well as in Hakka and the aboriginal languages. He highlighted Taiwan's need for international space and "respect."

To cover his flank, he named a strong supporter of Taiwanese sovereignty to oversee relations with China. Most significantly, he reiterated his campaign pledge that there would be no negotiations on unification during his term in office.

Equally important, Mr. Ma also laid down a marker, underscoring the need for the mainland to make progress toward democracy. That dismayed Taiwanese investors who had banked on stronger cross-strait ties: They have pumped $1.4 billion into the stock market since the beginning of the year, expanding it by over 9 percent in the process. His remarks triggered the biggest drop in the Taiwan market since he was elected.

Yet, even that did not dampen China's response to his remarks. The minister of Taiwan affairs acknowledged that both sides are making positive efforts to resume talks. The challenge now is to move beyond the rhetorical pats on the back, and to substantive acts that reduce the risk of miscalculation and misperception in the Taiwan Strait, and build genuine confidence between the two sides of the strait.

There is one other player in the cross-strait dynamic: the United States. Washington insists that it seeks good relations with both governments, and prefers good relations between Taipei and Beijing. It is vitally important that the United States continues that policy — and that both sides believe that the United States wants them to improve relations.

Mr. Ma has said that another of his priorities is to improve Taiwan's relations with the United States. That should be a means to an end: A strong relationship provides Taipei with the confidence to engage Beijing. That is the first step toward stable and enduring peace in the Taiwan Strait.

3月の台湾総統選で与党民進党候補を大差で破った野党国民党の馬英九氏は5月20日の就任式で、台湾と中国双方の住民に呼びかける演説を披露し成功を収めた。中台関係安定化の歴史的機会を中国側はとらえることができるだろうか。

国民党は１月の立法院選で絶対多数を制し、3月の総統選での圧勝で国内政治における権力を確実なものとした。有権者は陳水扁前総統のイデオロギー的政策に失望し、実利的な、経済政策優先の馬氏を選んだのだ。

この経済政策には、台中関係の緊張緩和が事実上含まれる。台湾経済の中国依存度が高まり、相互関係が台湾の将来に多大な影響を及ぼすからだ。民進党の陳水扁前総統は、中国に取り込まれることを恐れ、台湾の民族性に訴えかけ独立志向を強めた。中国側は氏を「分裂主義者」と呼び、氏の各政策に異議を唱えて屈辱を与えた。

馬氏は就任演説の中で、中台人民は同じ中華民族だと強調し、胡錦濤・中国国家主席の発言である「相互信頼の構築、食い違いの棚上げ、共通利益の共同創出」に触れ、「その観点はわれわれの理念と一致する」と主張。さらに、一つの中国を前提とした「92年共通認識」を基に対話を再開すると約束した。

中国側への歩みよりは馬氏の課題の一部で、公約の実現化は、住民の幅広い合意にかかっている。その意味で、彼が演説に台湾語や客家語、原住民語を取り入れたのは快挙だった。演説でも「任期中に独立も統一もしない」と表明している。

米政府が引き続き中国と台湾双方との良好な関係と台中関係改善を望み、両政府もそれを信じて対話を始めることも大切だ。馬氏は台米関係強化を課題の一つとしているが、結果としてそれが台中関係改善と台湾海峡両岸の平和をもたらすことが望まれる。