Ma Ying-jeou Continues to Talk out of Both Sides of His Mouth

Thursday July 03, by Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

Ma Ying-jeou seems to be talking out of both sides of his mouth again; how else does one match his words with his actions? Speaking at the graduation ceremony for the nation's five military schools, Ma put forth the following statements.

• China remains the biggest threat to Taiwan's security.
• We need to be well-prepared to defend ourselves.
• Some of you may wonder whether China is our friend or foe. What you should do is to help us build a strong military force and be prepared for war.
• Only by being prepared for war can we prevent it.

Be prepared! Now that sounds like a president who recognizes Taiwan's precarious situation and is ready for action. But wait, what about Ma's actions?

This is where we see the other side of Ma. For years since early 2002, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) with its majority in the Legislative Yuan had blocked arms sales to Taiwan (over 40 times). When Ma became Chairman of the party in 2005, he promised that he would get the ball moving. During Ma's year and a half as Chairman, he did nothing to honor that promise. Little has happened over the years. Then in December 2007, we find that not only were Ma and the KMT not moving on getting the necessary arms for Taiwan to defend itself, but they told the United States to hold off on arms sales. Ma wanted to build economic ties with China and did not want to offend the same China which was piling up missiles against Taiwan.

Whose side is Ma on? How does not purchasing anything for over six years along with the swiftly developing arms build-up by the biggest threat to Taiwan's security qualify as being prepared? Ma's actions speak louder than his words, which unfortunately has always been the case with the duplicitous Ma. When will Taiwanese wake up to Ma's character?