By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
Mon, Aug 08, 2011 - Page 3
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) might not talk about Taiwan independence as often as some would like, but there are “no shortcomings” in her China policy, World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI) chairman Ng Chiau-tong (黃昭堂) told the Taipei Times in a recent interview.
The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) criticism of the DPP presidential candidate’s China policy is “narrow-minded, mean and out of focus,” the 79-year-old Ng said, referring to the KMT’s sustained criticism of Tsai’s policy in recent weeks.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), tapped by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to be his running mate in January’s presidential election, recently said Tsai’s advocacy of Taiwanese was “only rhetoric that she dare not implement.”
Meanwhile, King Pu-tsung (金溥聰), executive director of Ma’s re-election campaign, said Tsai “would not dare include ‘no independence’ as part of her campaign platform.”
“Tsai might not address the issues much publicly, but if you break down her speeches and read between the lines, you will know that she would do everything to protect Taiwan’s sovereignty,” Ng said.
Tsai has also said she would not stop economic engagement with China and that the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) signed in June last year should be reviewed by the legislature in line with the WTO’s multilateral framework, Ng said.
In terms of Tsai’s position on independence, Ng said she has maintained a moderate and patient approach to appeal to voters, most of whom draw a connection between supporting independence and the increased risk of military conflict with China.
Ng said the DPP’s position as a party on the status of the country has been stated very clearly — Taiwan is an independent and sovereign country with the current name of the Republic of China (ROC) — as it said in its resolution on the nation’s future in 1999.
This means that “the DPP’s policy is to maintain the ‘status quo,’ rather than establishing a Republic of Taiwan anytime soon,” Ng said.
According to Ng, Tsai has been criticized by the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party for her support of Taiwan independence and “running for the president of the ROC with the Republic of Taiwan in mind.”
While Ma has reiterated his “no independence” position to appeal to Beijing, Ma should understand that the ROC is an independent political entity outside the jurisdiction of China, Ng said.
“Bear in mind that an independent ROC is also unacceptable for China,” Ng added.
A self-proclaimed supporter of “swift independence” when he was younger, Ng said the eventual goal of the WUFI would be “removing the ROC political system, which was forced upon Taiwanese by the regime of [former president] Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) after the end of World War II.”
Ng, who has served as WUFI chairman since 1995, has since adopted a more moderate approach, saying that the removal of the ROC system would take time and could not occur without a healthy combination of domestic political development, global trends and, most of all, the consensus and will of the public.
“The ROC is like a cap on the top of our head. If it’s rainy, we’ll have to wear it for now, but we are waiting for a sunny day to take it off,” he said.
Most people don’t want to risk their lives, families and property to achieve independence, as peace is a universal value nowadays, Ng added.
“However, you have to prepare and be ready for that day [to finally achieve independence], otherwise God will not make it happen,” he said.
More than five decades have passed since Ng first joined the Taiwan independence movement as a 27-year-old graduate student at the University of Tokyo in 1959. He laments the stagnation of the movement.
“Many people love to say that Taiwan is too close to China and too far away from God,” said Ng, who was on the KMT administration’s blacklist and did not return from Japan until 1992.
However, he was able to find a silver lining in the dark clouds over Taiwan.
Increasing numbers of people, in particular the younger generation, identify themselves as Taiwanese rather than Chinese, he said, adding that now even the second or third-generation of Mainlainders who came to Taiwan in 1949 now think of themselves as Taiwanese, and that is an encouraging fact.
The next step would be raising the awareness of a “Taiwan nation” so when the time is right, Taiwan can finally achieve the de jure independence.
“I am very optimistic. The Taiwan independence movement will succeed someday,” he said.