In a televised National Day speech, President Ma said his government “has full confidence in its ability to fulfill its commitments to our people and to take Taiwan’s economy to new heights.”

Instead of calling on the people to have confidence in his leadership, which has been battered by the administration’s poor track record in the past four months, President Ma said he is equally confident that he can rebuild a clean and competent government and win the war on corruption.

The previous government under President Chen Shui-bian was corruption-ridden, Special Counsel prosecutors investigating his alleged involvement in a multimillion-dollar money laundering scandal.

His wife is standing trial for corruption, charged with misusing the “state affairs” fund under his control. He wasn’t indicted, for he was immune to prosecution, but was regarded as an unindicted co-defendant who would be indicted on leaving office.

“In the face of turmoil and uncertainty in the global economy,” President Ma declared, “it is incumbent upon me as President of the Republic of China to be resolute and persevering in leading our country through these difficult times.”

People have ceased to believe President Ma is capable of resolute leadership. His approval ratings have dropped to a little over 20 percent since he took office on last May 20.

They have even lost patience as the administration has miserably failed to cope with a tainted milk scare, which shouldn’t have started in the first place.

Milk powder imported from China contained traces of melamine, a highly toxic chemical, and after the news broke that four children fed with tainted baby formula were found dead, the people in Taiwan panicked, the flip-flopping food safety policy making them lose faith in the government.

Taiwan shall work to remove the danger posed by tainted milk from China, President Ma said. But, he added, Taiwan has to heighten its vigilance against potential hazards of economic integration with China.

“While our policies of deregulation and liberalization will remain unchanged,” the president said, “this government will make every effort to minimize social risks by strengthening safety controls and crisis-management mechanisms.”

He then reiterated his oft-repeated China policy.

“While differences still exist between Taiwan and mainland China over sovereignty issues,” President Ma said, “we hope that the two sides can apply wisdom to shelve disputes and chart courses to steadily extend the political reconciliation achieved in cross-strait relations to the international arena.

“We hope to thereby eliminate unnecessary conflict and confrontation between the two sides in the international community, and create a win-win situation for Taiwan, mainland China, and the world community.”

Ma also called attention to the importance of the Taiwan spirit.

“In facing challenges,” Ma said, “we need to emulate the fighting spirit of our country’s Olympic taekwondo contestant Su Li-wen; the courage of Wei Te-shen, director of the movie Cape No.7, to remain true to his ideals; and the passion that drives the Ming Hwa Yuan Taiwanese Opera Company to take their art to audiences around the world.”

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