MAC’s Lai should defend her stance

President Ma Ying-jeou, accompanied by Premier Liu Chao-hsiuan, paid an unprecedented visit to Lai Shih-yuan, chairwoman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), on July 29 to express support for her handling of cross-strait relations.

Lai, a member of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), a “pan-green” party, has recently become a target of severe criticism from her erstwhile comrades and political allies for failing to do a good job of “gate keeping” in executing mainland policies of the Ma administration.

However, both Ma and Liu gave credit to Lai for displaying “surprising ability to resist pressure.”

In response to questions from reporters about the suggestion made by followers of former President Lee Teng-hui that the TSU should strip her of party membership, Lai replied in an indirect manner by saying that ever since she began serving in the government in a variety of capacities, she has always done her job with the principle of upholding Taiwan’s sovereignty, a record that can be examined by the public.

It appears that Lai has been caught in the cross fire between the two different kinds of mainland policies of “blue” and “green” camps.

The opposition, led by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), espouses basically the idea of “checking haste with patience,” initiated by Lee to insure national security and safeguard a competitive edge for the people of Taiwan.

On the other hand, the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), under the leadership of President Ma, is calling for speeding up cross-strait exchanges to follow world trends for the benefit of Taiwan. It also emphasizes that in making such moves, extraordinary care should be exercised to preserve the dignity and sovereignty of the island.

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