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. Apparently, the arguments for the respective policies offered by the two opposing camps are justified to certain extent.

According to Premier Liu, he told Lai during his first meeting with her that the MAC should play the role of "balancing relaxation with tightening," aiming high and far, which needs astute wisdom and great resilience.

Even though the tightening of mainland policies do have their justification, the undeniable fact is that after practicing them in the years since the days of President Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan has become weaker, not stronger, as confirmed by various indicators.

Now, in terms of economic strength, all indications point to the slippage of Taiwan from the No. 1 ranking to the last of Asia's "four small dragons." Some even claim that Taiwan actually ranks behind countries such as India and Thailand.

With the inauguration of the Ma administration, it is time for Taiwan to try to pursue another course, which is the policy of "opening up with caution."

It is reported that Lai did frequently act as a "brake" in mainland policy debates, and in many cases she had President Ma's ear.

Therefore, Lai should quickly switch her position to become more aggressive by forcefully expounding the logic of government measures and what she has done during the process of policy-making.