Ma Ying-jeou Against a Statue of Liberty in Taiwan?

Friday January 04, by Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

There is a developing case against Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou and Kinmen County Culture Affairs Bureau Director Li Shi-lung in a US District Court. The case again seems to be both an example of more bumbling by those led by Ma, and Ma's need to micromanage all things that would hurt his image.

Involved is an ironic twist regarding the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty. One ironic part is that the Tiananmen Square protesters erected a Statue of Liberty and were repressed by the one-party state in China. That part is understandable; a symbol of liberty is the antithesis of the control that such a one-party state wants. The second part is how Ma is going along with the PRC and trying to suppress such a symbol on Taiwan's territory--Kinmen.

It seems that Kinmen had signed a contract with the American Chinese Statue of Democracy Foundation to erect a Statue of Liberty on Kinmen, and facing China. Such symbolism would be a clear statement in support of those who were massacred in Beijing. But then,it seems that Good-boy Ma learned of it, and supported China.

Ma has always been shy to speak out against human rights violations in China; now as the case implies, he wants to aid China in not letting others speak out against them also.

The Taiwan Economic and Culture Office in New York is also being dragged into this one--just as Taiwanese officials in London were dragged in to try and explain away the "Economist" calling Ma a bumbler. Stay tuned this one is not going away. January 25 is the next court date when Ma's team has to come up with a valid excuse.

The irony deepens as the case implies that Ma