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Updated Monday, November 28, 2011 0:00 am TWN, The China Post news staff

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US won't sell out Taiwan to China: Ma

In an interview with Time magazine, President Ma Ying-jeou dismissed the recent New York Times op-ed proposal for the U.S. “ditch Taiwan” in exchange for debt-relieving favors from China, stressing that it was “not mainstream opinion.”

To support his point, Ma pointed out that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reaffirmed on a recent trip to Hawaii that Taiwan is “a very solid security and economic partner of the United States,” which effectively “refutes the 'abandon Taiwan' line of thinking.”

Both Ma and his presidential election opponent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Tsai Ing-wen were featured in the Time magazine exclusive, the content of which was published on the magazine's website on Friday.

Topics discussed include cross-strait relations, Taiwan- U.S. relations and whether Ma would re-visit mainland China if he is elected for a second term. When asked why people should re-elect him, Ma said, “Because I changed Taiwan; I succeeded in transforming and upgrading Taiwan.”

Tsai, on the other hand, responded bluntly, “because I am the better leader ... I want to make a difference.” She criticized the changes made in the Ma administration, which in her opinion, “has to be changed.”

When asked what Ma envisioned as his legacy in Taiwan history, the president said he believes his plan for Taiwan is ongoing, with the first four years used to restore “just governance,” and with the hope to reinvent Taiwan in the next four.

“Many of my key programs require a long period to be implemented. So, regarding my legacy, ask me again in four years.”

As for the controversial “abandon Taiwan” op-ed suggestion, Ma was quick to point out that only a “minority of the U.S. academic community” proposed the idea, a sign that it was not “mainstream opinion.” The president then cited Clinton's statement of close Taiwan-U.S. relations to refute the thought.

Regarding the U.S. sentiment towards Taiwan's election, namely its inclination towards Taiwan's status quo, Tsai said that despite the loud whispers of an underlying preference for Ma in Washington D.C., different agencies of the U.S. government told her that “this is not their official position.”

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