President Tsai Can No Longer Bury Her Head in the Sand

  President Tsai Can No Longer Bury Her Head in the Sand

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

August 23, 2018

 Translation of an Excerpt

President Tsai Ing-wen visited Paraguay and Belize; she originally hoped to consolidate our ties, yet the "double 85" incidents occurred. First 85°C cafés were boycotted by Mainland netizens and the firm promptly issued a statement in support of the "92 Consensus"; later El Salvador, which had maintained 85 years of amity with us, broke off diplomatic relations. Economic interests and international realities have once again cruelly proven that President Tsai’s cross-Strait policy could not find a viable path for Taiwan; conversely it would lead Taiwan to the valley of death.

El Salvador established diplomatic ties with the Republic of China in 1933, being one of our partners that maintained the longest diplomatic relations and also one of the few countries that did not swing across the Strait. However, after 85 years, diplomatic relations were abruptly ruptured with no prior warnings. We cannot but be worried that the Mainland, we are afraid, has in its hand a list of countries for setting up diplomatic ties, which could be tossed out at any time to the embarrassment of the Tsai government. Our relations with Central American countries have always been very close; they originally were the most important bedrock of our diplomatic partners. Now nearly half of these partners have been poached by the Mainland; the possible domino effect is indeed shocking.

The cross-Strait environment is the most important factor affecting Taiwan's survival and development; if the powers that be remain oblivious to this issue, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, mindless of the deterioration of the reality, then it is tantamount to leading the country to a land of no return. Not only because Taiwan’s disadvantageous situation of being isolated would become increasingly perilous, but also because the mood of desperation on the part of the entire nation would make Taiwan lose its aggressiveness for striving ahead, and this would be a crucial matter of life and death for Taiwan in the adverse situation. We must know that when Taiwan was compelled to withdraw from the United Nations and when the United States jettisoned Taiwan to establish diplomatic relations with the Mainland, the storm facing the nation was even more serious than today. Taiwan not only survived, but also created an economic miracle relying precisely on the fighting spirit to strive on, while the people’s fighting spirit relies on the government’s correct policy decisions and the capacity to move people’s hearts.

The people have already clearly seen that the DPP’s cross-Strait policy is absolutely at a dead-end; President Tsai can no longer bury her head in the sand. She should squarely face the reality as soon as possible and admit mistakes, persuade the Green camp to lay down its ossified policy and fear, and courageously seek a new foundation for restarting dialogue with the Mainland. That would be the sense of mission that a responsible leader should have.

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