:: Nihal Singh

Made-in-Taiwan games please China

S. Nihal Singh

Sept.17 : In sentencing former President Chen Shui-bian for life on corruption charges, a Taiwan court has deepened the divisions on the island between those who support the present holder of office, Ma Ying-jeou of Kuomintang (KMT), and the supporters of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). And these differences centre round one idea: the Taiwanese identity.

Mr Chen’s is a rags-to-riches story and among his accomplishments has been the first democratic change of power in the Chinese world. The long-ruling KMT, which governed the island since Chiang Kai-shek fled the mainland in 1949 after losing the civil war, was typically authoritarian. Indeed, the transition from a dictatorship was in itself a signal achievement.

Although most Taiwanese believe there is some substance to the corruption charges, the severity of the sentence on him and his wife — the latter too sentenced for life — and the legal process have been called into question. His wife is wheelchair-bound since a truck repeatedly ran over her in 1985 in what was widely interpreted as an attempt to kill Mr Chen by the then authoritarian regime. He has been held in solitary confinement since last November and changing the panel of judges revoked the bail twice granted him by a judge.

One of the judges who sentenced Mr Chen was the one who acquitted President Ma of corruption charges during his mayoralty of Taipei. Taiwan’s press is divided between those who hailed the judgment as "a milestone" and others who said the process was flawed. The sentiment of Mr Chen’s supporters was best expressed by the Taipei Times, which said: "Chen’s enemies in the KMT will celebrate tonight, comfortable in the knowledge that the man most responsible… for furthering the agenda of an independent democratic Taiwan has been taken out".

Mr Chen was the first Taiwan-born ruler of the island and did much to give voice to the urge for maintaining the Taiwanese identity. Relations between Taiwan and mainland China, which claims the island as its territory, had been prickly for most of the eight years of the Chen administration and even Taipei’s relationship with Washington often became strained because the latter was not in favour of provoking Beijing. Although Mr Chen realised that declaring de jure independence was not practicable — sometimes he came perilously close to it — he became a symbol of what most Taiwanese want: the status quo of de facto independence.

But the Taiwanese tired of Mr Chen’s histrionics and voted Mr Ma’s old KMT back to power in legislative and presidential elections last year. President Ma has been careful in avoiding the explosive political issue of the island eventually joining the mainland. It was a Japanese colony before Chang Kai-shek landed his remaining troops and much of his treasure on the island after the Communists won power in 1949. Since then the Chinese authorities have made the "one China" policy denoting the inclusion of Taiwan as a touchstone in their relations with the world.

But there has been a dramatic tactical shift in Beijing’s approach to Taiwan since the days it threatened to take the island by force, necessitating the United States to send warships to the region at one stage under the Clinton administration. China is now adopting a softer approach even while retaining batteries of missiles aimed at Taiwan, and welcomed President Ma’s own desire for better relations with open arms.

The result has been a flurry of activity. There are now for the first time direct flights and shipping links with the mainland. Chinese traders, tourists and officials have been welcomed to the island and while these measures have been popular with the Taiwanese, an undercurrent of unease has crept in over the pace of changes and Beijing’s agenda behind them. The Taiwanese have invested billions of dollars and run factories on the mainland, with a substantial expatriate Taiwanese community residing there.

President Ma has, indeed, been acting as if he was on a song, until Typhoon Morakat arrived killing more than 600 people, causing uproar over the administration’s slow response. The Prime Minister has now taken the rap by resigning but President Ma’s spell has been broken. Apart from accepting his Prime Minister’s resignation, he yielded on another count: agreeing to let the Dalai Lama visit the island to console the island’s victims at the risk of incurring Chinese displeasure. The demand for the spiritual leader’s visit, initiated by supporters of the Democratic Progressive Party, had earlier been rejected by the Ma administration.

Whatever the truth in the corruption allegations against Mr Chen — both he and his wife are expected to appeal — the court drama has connotations for the future course of domestic politics and the island’s relations with the mainland. Will DPP supporters take to the streets to protest against the treatment meted out to their leader? Can the opposition party draw a line under the Chen phenomenon to retain the support of moderate elements in its support base?

The larger question relates to Taiwan’s relations with the mainland. Before assuming presidency, President Ma had given a public undertaking that the question of the island joining the mainland would not be on his agenda during his administration, which can extend to a second four-year term. But the concern among many Taiwanese is that the speed and intensity of the economic linkages taking place will smother the island in an unwelcome Chinese embrace.

Significantly, in criticising the Dalai Lama’s Taiwan visit, Chinese ire was directed at the DPP initiators of the invitation, rather than President Ma, who did not meet the spiritual leader during the visit. Mr Chen, for his part, is reported to have penned a third book during captivity — his first two books topped the popularity charts. President Ma has still to convince his people that the trial and sentencing of Mr Chen and his family were not politically driven to please Beijing.