Ma Ying-Jeou's Taipei Times Interview:I will force Taiwan's TibetizationThere is nothing Taiwanese can do about it

A transcript of the interview is here: ECFA will help Taiwan catch up with Asia: Ma

2010-01-21-頭家來開講-5 shows just how openly Ma can lie. It is as if he said to the interviewers during the interview: I am not doing an interview!

President Ma Ying-jeou spoke with ‘Taipei Times’ reporters in an interview at the Presidential Office on Thursday, expounding on his government’s plan to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China. He tried to allay public qualms over the proposed pact, while emphasizing that an ECFA would be a crucial lever that would allow Taiwan to sign free-trade agreements with other countries

Some comments about the interview:

• He again reiterated that Taiwanese will not be allowed to use referendum to decide ECFA
• Ma was evasive and Ma was stonewalling, for example:
  

  Taipei Times(TT): Mr. President, you just mentioned that signing an ECFA is just the beginning. Can you tell us exactly where it will eventually lead Taiwan? ...
  
  Ma: First, we have to ask ourselves this question: Can we afford not to sign an ECFA? Ten years ago, there were only three FTAs [free-trade agreements] in Asia, but the number jumped to 58 last year. The only two countries in Asia that do not have FTAs [with other Asian nations] are Taiwan and North Korea.
  
  Taiwan has signed FTAs with five of its diplomatic allies in Central America. Although they have increased bilateral trade, the amount of the increase has been small.
  
  So when we sign FTAs, we can do it with our major trading partners, such as mainland China, Japan, the US, ASEAN countries, the European Union, South Korea and Singapore.
  
  However, we have encountered various obstacles over the past years. We launched FTA negotiations with Singapore about 10 years ago, but many factors made the attempt unsuccessful.
  

  He did not answer the question. So the reporters came back after a while:
  

  TT: So that brings us back to our original question. Exactly where will the ECFA lead Taiwan, if it’s just the beginning?
  
  Ma: First, it will help us catch up with the pace of economic integration in the region. There are 58 FTAs in Asia, but Taiwan has none. We have FTAs with our diplomatic allies in Central America, but we must remove the obstacles and sign more with other countries. The solution is to sign an ECFA with Beijing.
  
  Cross-strait trade in 2008 exceeded US$130 billion, but there was no mechanism in place to institutionalize the trade. If there is such a mechanism, it will not only reduce obstructions to our effort to sign FTAs with other countries, but also increase the ratio of our products in the Chinese market.
  
  An ECFA is conducive to Taiwan, but some local businesses will pay a price at the same time. We have conducted studies on the issue and held countless meetings to integrate opinions.
  
  But it seems all of your questions presume that signing an ECFA will be negative to Taiwan. Do you think it’s better not to sign it?
  

  Ma would not answer the question where will ECFA eventually lead Taiwan? He would not say I will turn Taiwan into Tibet. He would not say I refuse to answer your question. He chose to say something without answering.
  

  TT: But Mr. President, you still did not answer our question: Where will the ECFA lead? Will the two sides [of the Taiwan Strait] eventually become a free-trade area or form a customs union?
  
  Ma: Basically, the tariffs will be lower under an ECFA. A customs union is unlikely because both sides will have uniform tariffs. That will be impossible.
  

  I pray that Taiwanese will dump Ma (if he is still around) and choose a president in 2012 who can be forthright. Fortunately, the Taipei Times reporters were persistent:
  

  TT: So it will eventually be a free-trade area?
  
  Ma: Something similar to a free-trade area, and that is in the spirit of the WTO. But I want to emphasize the WTO does not require any member to open its labor market and there are grace periods for the opening the market to some businesses.
  

  This is too much for me.
• Can you believe that Ma did not say China even once during the interview? He either said Mainland China or Mainland, but not China. To me, when someone uses Mainland to refer to China, the person is either China-centered, or is deeply brainwashed. Why, to a Taiwanese, mainland should be the island of Taiwan! I find Ma's use of Mainland China or Mainland objectionable because they are not country names. People don't say Mainland America or Mainland to refer to USA.