Taiwan, Let the Waffling by Ma Begin

Friday February 03, by Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

Now that Ma has won re-election, be prepared for him to waffle on the beef issue. Before the election, he would not touch it. Now however, he has passed the ball to one of the Ministry's, you will never find him taking personal responsibility in case anything hits the fan.

For those who are accustomed to Ma double-talk it is classic. First he says."Food safety is the most important concern." Then he qualifies saying that of course, Taiwan must also fit international standards. Read that as saying that if Taiwan's standards conflict with the USA's interpretation, then it is time to bend to fit the USA. One wonders why he never said that before the election.

PREDICTION: After feigned appropriate deliberation, the Ma government will quickly declare that the USA beef is acceptable even though when this hit the fan before the election, it stated that the citizen's came first. Of course it will not be Ma that says this, but the Council of Agriculture (COA) that takes the responsibility. Just like it was Ma's secretary that took responsibility for putting the illegal money into Ma's bank account. The only question is how long will it take the COA to come to this conclusion. Any bets?