ENCOURAGEMENT:An academic said if President Ma were to be re-elected, he might interpret a recent opinion poll as indication the public wants a peace deal with China
By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
While President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) initiative for a possible peace accord with China within the next decade has been interpreted as a pseudo-issue and a tool to help his re-election bid, its possible ramifications should not be underestimated, academics told a forum in Taipei yesterday.
“Ma’s initiative might be only a ‘pseudo-issue’ for his campaign. However, Ma could push for a peace pact if he won a second term in January,” said Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政), chief executive of the Taiwan Brain Trust, the organizer of the forum, which focused on cross-straits relations.
It is notable that Ma has backed away from talk about a referendum on the idea of a peace agreement after being criticized by the public, as well as the Chinese, for saying that a referendum — a “red line” for Beijing — would be a prerequisite before any proposed peace pact, Lo said.
“A referendum was not among the ‘10 assurances’ Ma mentioned on Monday to reassure the public,” he said.
Also absent in Ma’s initiative was a role for international participation, which would guarantee the effectiveness of any peace accord, Lo said.
According to the latest survey conducted by the Mainland Affairs Council, 67 percent of respondents expressed a desire for Taipei to sign a peace pact with Beijing, Lo said, adding that those results could encourage Ma to go ahead with the negotiations if he were re-elected in January.
Tung Cheng-yuan (童振源), a professor at National Chengchi University, also expressed concern about Ma’s future moves, saying that a referendum was the last line of defense to ensure that the will of the majority of Taiwanese would be respected and protected.
China has been opposed to referendums in Taiwan because “if economic negotiations require referendums, then political talks also require one,” Tung said.
“And if referendums become common practice, there could be referendums on unification and independence in Taiwan someday,” he added.
Former presidential adviser Koo Kuan-min (辜寬敏) questioned the necessity of a peace accord, saying that waging war against Taiwan does not benefit China, who understands very well that peace should be a shared value and that economic growth is a priority for both sides at present.
Taiwan and China were able to maintain peace during the past three decades without a peace agreement, he said.
“Why do we need one now?” he asked.
Ma is facing enormous pressure from a tight presidential race against Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said.
That pressure has reached the point where Ma might turn to Beijing for help, in the form of economic benefits or the removal of the missiles the People’s Liberation Army has targeted at Taiwan, he said.