“Precisely because we have had these unfortunate episodes in our own past, we are more than willing as ethnic Chinese to share our -experiences and remind the mainland Chinese authorities of the need to be accepting of dissidents, and to appreciate their value to society,” he said. “When they are locked up and prevented from speaking, the true victims are not just the -dissidents themselves. All of society suffers when mistaken policies go uncorrected.”That's exactly the sort of thing to be expected of a democratically elected President, although the green-shirts will continue to villify him anyway.
Sunday, 5 June 2011
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Staff reporter for the Taipei Times, Mo Yan-chih, reports on President Ma's written remarks for today, the 22nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square murders:
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Still, it is of great consequence, I would argue, that he is purposely and purposefully moving Taiwan closer to that "mainland" demon--no matter what mantra he mouths.
ReplyDeleteRunning people down with tanks and shooting them then disappearing the bodies is an unfortunate accident? I'd hate to see how he would label Chinese Naval piracy in the 1990's.
ReplyDeleteThis is a President democratically elected to engage in limited cooperation with the PRC: like I said, it's about the best you can expect of someone in his position.
ReplyDeleteDo I think Ma was insincere when he wrote those remarks? No, I don't actually - President Ma has not had his critics arrested and detained without charge. Do I agree with him that Tiananmen was an "unfortunate episode" (note: he did not say "accident")? Of course not; Tiananmen was an orgy of State murders. Do I agree with him that Beijing should free Liu Xiaobao and Ai Wei Wei? Absolutely.
Look: credit where - and to the extent - it is due.
I disagree with President Ma's policies, both foreign and domestic, but if and when he says things I agree with (such as the freeing of Liu Xiaobao and Ai Wei Wei), I will not bash him anyway out of spite. The same goes for Tsai and everyone else I am critical of, e.g. Turton (and he knows this, but still keeps me banned even though he has apparently lifted his ban on FOARP).
Perhaps my criticism of government sometimes seems wild and hyperbolic, but it's a good self-discipline to try to keep criticism measured.