Beijing doesn’t trust Ma: Lee Teng-hui

Speaking in an interview with Japan’s Sankei Shimbun newspaper, Lee dismissed suggestions that Ma, who is a moderate on China issues, would integrate the island with the mainland.

“Taiwan will not be taken by the mainland China so easily. Why? Actually the Chinese Communist Party doesn’t trust Ma from the bottom of its heart,” he said in the interview published yesterday.

“I’m not in a position to elaborate but he is influenced very strongly by the United States,” the 85-year-old Lee said of the Harvard-educated Ma.

The former president said Ma “can be self-righteous but is also modern.”

Lee had supported Ma’s rival Frank Hsieh in the presidential election. Ma served as justice minister in the 1990s under Lee’s rule.

Lee, Taiwan’s first democratically elected president, is reviled by China for seeking a separate identity for the island. During his tenure Beijing lobbed missiles near Taiwan, prompting the United States to send in warships.

Lee also doubted that China’s crackdown on Tibet was a decisive factor in the election, saying that people did not want to provoke Beijing.

“Would it do Taiwan any good if we supported Tibet when Taiwan’s safety is not guaranteed? No,” Lee said.

Ma focused his campaign on reviving Taiwan’s economy by tapping into the vast mainland market.

Rival Hsieh also wanted closer ties with China but was much more cautious, saying Ma’s plan would leave Taiwan’s economy vulnerable to being swallowed up.

Beijing views Taiwan as rebel territory and has threatened to retake it by force if it formally declared independence.

Japan switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1972. But Lee and other Taiwanese critical of the mainland enjoy wide support in conservative circles in Japan.

Ma has tried to play down a reputation that he is anti-Japanese. Lee said he was willing to work with the incoming president to promote ties with Japan, which ruled Taiwan for a half-century until 1945.

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