Status quo, tomorrow

Ok, Mr Ma Ying-jeou is handsome, but he isn’t drop-dead gorgeous. Yes, he is a Harvard graduate but the President of a country does not necessarily have to be book-smart. It is true that his appearance and personal image played a role in his electoral victory in Taiwan, but a great number of votes seem to have come from his emphasis on economic invigoration.

Frankly, I do not think that his career path towards presidency was terribly rocky. He was seen as a politician with personal integrity and a keen sense of justice. He is good-looking elite. Those who loathed old, money-power politics especially had expectations on him and ‘change’. However, he has often been exposed to political attacks due to his mainland-born origin. I would have thought he would put great emphasis on Taiwan’s independence during the election, to silence his critics and enemies. His overwhelming victory, however, came from other reasons. He stood for the status-quo. He stressed neither unification nor independence nor military clash. Instead, he focused on the revival of the economy and economic coorperation with China.

I am not so sure what consequences his cautious political approach will bring about. The status-quo he stands for is vulnerable to regional and international conflicts; the preservation of this status-quo may require strong crisis management skills, that some doubt he possesses. What draws my attention is that realistic voters are more concerned with economic growth than unification. With Ma Ying-jeou’s administration, will the unification issue disappear from Taiwanese politics?

My view is that the issue will certainly remain. The Democratic Progressive Party (DDP) has suggested thawing policies before the election, and the DDP will try to rally its supporters around the clear view on this. As the KMT drives forward economic cooperation with China, the DPP might make a fuss over cross-straits issues, particularly in the Legislative Yuan. Will Ma Ying-jeou simply use China for Taiwan’s development and prosperity without magnifying any of the hot issues, i.e. unification versus independence, military conflict? How are China and the US going to react? With recent developments in Tibet, is China going to leave the status quo in peace? It will be interesting to see the changes and strategies that newly elected Asian leaders will make.

written by Minju Kim