PDF(2.7mb) - 國家政策研究基金會

Development of Democratic Politics after 2008 7
undecided 28 undecided 28.8 undecided 22
Ma 55 Ma 54
2008/2/29
Hsieh 18 ─
─
Hsieh 30
─
─
undecided 26
undecided 16
Ma 49 Ma 52.7 Ma 54 Ma 41.3
2008/3/5~9
Hsieh 21 Hsieh 21.1
─
Hsieh 28
─
Hsieh 19.8
undecided 28 undecided 26.1
undecided 18
undecided
38.9
Ma 52 Ma 48.9 Ma 50
2008/3/10 Hsieh 22 Hsieh 21.8 ─
Hsieh 31 ─
─
undecided 26 undecided 29.2
undecided 19
Source: Poll survey made by the press published at UDN website(United Daily, China Times, Global Vision, TVBS,
ERA TV and Apple Daily). http://mag.udn.com/mag/vote2007-08/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=109235
II. Ma as President
With Ma Ying-jeou taking office as president, the
Kuomintang is in full control of the government.
Gone are the days of a minority government under the
Democratic Progressive Party.
Born in Hong Kong, Ma is considered a mainlander,
an ethnic Han Chinese who came to Taiwan after
1945 and any of his offspring. He became the first
mainlander president of the Republic of China popularly
elected, shaking off the jinx on a mainlander unable
to become the head of state in Taiwan, where native-born
islanders form by far the great majority. The
Democratic Progressive Party tried in vain to cash in on
his original sin of being born a mainlander. The
pro-independence party was able to win elections before
by arousing the feud between the islanders and
mainlanders, which was triggered by the bloody massacre
of innocent people following the February 28
Incident of 1947. It never failed to castigate the Kuomintang
government as an alien colonial regime.
Ma’s election has proved that curse futile and signifies
Taiwan in need of better cross-strait relations to stimulate
the economy, putting the islander-mainlander feud
behind, and strengthening its “subjectiveness.”
1. Need for Cross-Strait Relations
The press all over the world interpreted Ma
Ying-Jeou’s landslide victory as an expression of the
desire of the people of Taiwan to stimulate the economy
by improving relations with China. The people hope
that the improvement would help Taiwan to repeat its
rapid economic development in the last two decades of
the last century. CNN commented: “In Taiwan, the
people’s expectation on facilitating economic growth
by strengthening cross-strait relationships overrode
their fear of possibly losing independent autonomy due
to closer cross-strait relationships.”
The people remember the economic miracles Taiwan
wrought in the late twentieth century. Gross domestic
product grew by eight percent a year. After 2000,
the growth fell to 3.7 percent a year on an average.
Taiwan led the Asian dragons in economic growth in
the last century. It trailed at the bottom after the Democratic
Progressive Party had come to power. The
disposable income of the people shrank, while com-