Ma Ying-jeou

Ma Ying-jeou

Ma Ying-jeou
Order:	22nd, 23rd-term Mayor of Taipei 4th-term Chairman of Kuomintang
Term of Office:	December 25, 1998–present (Mayor) August 19, 2005–present (Chairman)
Date of Birth:	July 13, 1950
Place of Birth	Kowloon, Hong Kong
Occupation	Mayor of Taipei
Political Party:	Kuomintang

Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九; Hanyu Pinyin: Mǎ Yīngjiǔ; Wade-Giles: Ma Ying-chiu; Tongyong Pinyin: Ma Yingjiou) (born July 13, 1950) was elected mayor of Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China in 1998 and reelected in 2002. He was elected chairman of the Kuomintang by party members on July 16, 2005. He is ineligible to run for mayor a third time in 2006 due to term limits; he will likely be the KMT presidential candidate in 2008.

As Minister of Justice he was seen as viciously cracking down on "black gold", especially in his own party and government. His personal charisma has made him one of Taiwan's most popular politicians and he retains a following from citizens, which are primarily pan-blue.

Personal background

Ma was born in Hong Kong (Kwong Wah Hospital in Kowloon), then a British colony, to Hunanese parents. When he was a year old, his family, supporters of the Kuomintang (KMT), moved to Taiwan. Ma himself has claimed that his parents had already been in Taiwan before he was born, and his father was on assignment to Hong Kong when he was born there; it is not clear what assignment Ma was referring to. He is therefore part of the so-called "Mainlander" category of the populace of Taiwan. He earned a law degree from National Taiwan University in 1972. With a scholarship from the KMT, he first acquired a masters degree in law from New York University and then proceeded to earn a S.J.D. degree from Harvard University in the United States. Later, after he became a politician, Ma was accused by some Pan Green politicians of having spied on fellow students from Taiwan on behalf of the KMT regime during this period, a charge he denies. He returned to Taiwan in 1981 to teach law.

Rise in politics

With the personal connections of his father, Ma Ho-ling (馬鶴凌), who since his son was young has hoped he could become president, he started working in the presidential palace under Chiang Ching-kuo within a half year after he acquired his S.J.D. Later he became the personal translator for Chiang Ching-kuo. Ma was promoted to the chair of the Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission under Executive Yuan at the age of 38 and became the youngest cabinet member of the ROC.

He was deputy secretary-general of the KMT from 1984 to 1988, for some time also serving as deputy of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), a cabinet-level body in charge of cross-straits relations. President Lee Teng-hui appointed him Justice Minister in 1993. Ma opposed deletion of Article 100 concerning criminal law, which was used by the ROC government to incriminate dissidents before martial law was lifted in 1987. He also opposed constitutional reforms that would have the ROC president elected directly by popular vote. He was relieved of his post in 1996, his supporters claiming reputedly because he proved too effective at fighting black gold political corruption within his own party. After a short stint as a minister without portfolio, Ma returned to academia, and most people at the time believed his political career to have ended.

Mayorship

However, in 1998 the KMT, faced with no other credible candidates, did field him to challenge the then-incumbent Taipei mayor, Chen Shui-bian of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who was seeking re-election. His perceived honest and good-looks (and baby face appearance), as well as his Mainlander Chinese background in a city with an unsually high percentage of Mainlanders (that reliably vote pan-Blue) helped him win over Chen. In the 2000 Presidential Election, Ma remained loyal to the Kuomintang and supported its candidate Lien Chan over James Soong who had bolted from the party. The competition between Lien and Soong split the pan-blue votes and allowed his former rival Chen to win the presidential election with votes below 50% of the popular votes. This, combined with Soong's good showing and Lien's poor showing, incited a great deal of anger against Ma when he tried to dissuade discontented Lien and Soong supporters from rioting by appealing to them as city mayor and a high-ranking KMT member. It was evidenced by one famous moment, in which he was pelted with eggs from Lien and Soong's supporters.

Ma was able to repair this damage and, in December 2002, became the superstar of the KMT by easily winning reelection with the support of 64% of Taipei voters, while his DPP challenger, a novice politician Lee Ying-yuan, received only 36 percent. His solid victory, especially in light of opposition from both President Chen Shui-bian and former President and former KMT Chairman Lee Teng-hui, led many to speculate about his chances as the KMT candidate for the 2004 presidential elections, although nothing came of it.

Ma again assumed the role of dissuading angry pan-blue supporters from violence following the very close re-election victory of President Chen in 2004 after a controversial assassination attempt, apparently aimed at either Chen or Vice President Annette Lu. Unlike some KMT members, Ma chose not to join in vocal calls to challenge or contest the election. Ma also avoided associating himself with claims that the assassination was staged.

Ma suffered some political damage as a result of the SARS epidemic in early 2003 and was criticized for not mobilizing the Taipei city government quickly enough. Flooding in metropolitan Taipei in 2004 also led to public questioning of his leadership and caused slides in Ma's approval rating.

During his administration years, Ma had many conflicts with the central government over such matters as health insurance rates and control of the water supply during the drought. Ma also was implicated in a scandal of Taipei Bank stock releases in 2003; however, the case was dismissed by the Taipei prosecutor after an investigation. He was strongly criticized by the opposing party for not allowing the ROC national flag to be flown along with a PRC flag during a cross-strait soccer match held in Taipei. Ma responded that he was merely following Olympic protocol, which only officially recognizes the Chinese Taipei Olympic Flag, and forbids ROC national flags from being shown in an Olympic Game Stadium.

His initiatives in administering the city of Taipei include changing the transliterations of street names and the Taipei Rapid Transit System's line and station names into Hanyu Pinyin, the spelling compatible with mainland China, as opposed to the Taiwanese-developed Tongyong Pinyin. Ma has expressed mild support for Chinese reunification and opposition to Taiwan independence. He opposed the 2004 referendum, which had been widely criticized by the U.S. and PRC. Nevertheless, his opposition to the Anti-Secession Law of the People's Republic of China (while other leaders of his party remained silent on the issue) led him to be banned from visiting Hong Kong to make a public speaking tour in 2005. He also criticized the PRC for the Tian'anmen crackdown.

Ma's cross-political following has led some to note him as a rare example of relative civility in the notoriously rough and tumble world of Taiwanese politics. Ma has generally avoided being accused of using the vitriolic and sometimes offensive rhetoric common in Taiwanese political debate. His academic background and bearing have helped cultivate the image of Ma as an honest, dispassionate, wonkish technocrat. Despite this reputation, and his wooden speaking style and shy demeanor, Ma is also considered a charismatic figure because his babyface good looks make him popular among women and youth. On the other hand, Ma's critics claim that Ma, overeager to appear unbiased and/or neutral, is overly indecisive and lacks bold vision. Ma is often accused of avoiding being out in front on some of the more vigorous or controversial criticisms of President Chen or opposing parties, or involving himself in intra-party disputes. Among these critics, Ma has been referred to as a "non-stick pan" or "Teflon-man."

In recent years, Ma has increasingly employed Taiwanese (Hoklo) in public speaking, perhaps to avoid backlash for his parents' mainland origin, and he has called himself a "child of Bangka (Wanhua)," identifying himself with the historic district of Taipei where he grew up. Others claim that Ma's mainland Chinese ancestry will further alienate members of the KMT who are "light-blue" vs. the pro-unification "dark-blue." However, Ma seems less polarizing in this sense than Lien Chan or other older KMT figures who did not grow up in Taiwan and are regarded by some as elitist about their ancestry.

Election to KMT Chairmanship

Ma's prestige increased after the loss by Lien Chan in 2004 ROC Presidential Election as he is widely seen as the natural successor of Lien Chan. His handling of the post-election demonstrations of the Pan-Blue Coalition, in which he at one point sent riot police to control the demonstrations of his pan-blue party supporters, was generally seen as impartial. In 2005, Ma and Wang Jin-pyng were candidates in the first competitive election for KMT chairmanship. On 5 April 2005, in an exclusive interview with CTV talk show host Sisy Chen, Ma said he wished to lead the opposition Kuomintang with Wang, if he were elected its chairman, as their support bases are complementary. On July 16, 2005, Ma defeated Wang by a 72% to 28% margin, a margin larger than anticipated by either camp or news sources, despite Wang's receiving a last-minute endorsement by People First Party (PFP) chairman James Soong, who had retained significant following within the KMT. Some, particularly the supporters of Wang Jin-pyng, accuse Ma of unfairly implying that Wang is involved in "black gold" and criticized Ma's aides for being rude to Wang during the campaign. After the election, Ma has stated repeatedly that he wishes Wang to remain as first-ranked deputy chairman. Wang, however, has so far rebuffed the gesture, instead stating that he wishes to serve as "permanent volunteer." Wang has, indeed, accepted a party post that is incompatible with vice chairmanship, effectively ending the possibility that he would be vice chairman, although after meeting with Wang, Ma has stated that he would "leave the position open" for Wang. Ma has also repeatedly stated that he has no plans to resign from the Taipei mayorship, even after he formally took over the chairmanship from incumbent Lien Chan during the 17th Party Congress of the KMT in August 2005. Immediately after Ma won the chairmanship election, he starts selling several KMT assets, despite numerous complaints from pan-green politicians.

Three-in-one election, Dec 3 2005

Led by Ma Ying-jeou, the Kuomintang made a resounding win in the three-in-one election held on Dec 3, 2005. KMT gained 6 more seats in the mayoral/magistratical race, from 8 seats in the last election, to a total of 14 seats. Before the election, Ma swore that he would quit chairmanship if KMT could not win over half of the seats, first ever from the mouth of a KMT chairman. It was a decisive win for KMT since Ma Ying-jeou took over the party chairmanship only 110 days before. KMT won back the counties of Taipei and Yilan, and the city of Chiayi, which were Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)'s strongholds for over twenty years. It is the first time in many years that KMT regained popularity as far south as Cho-Shui River (Zhuo-Shui River). Quoting again his famous quote, Ma said, "we should only be excited about it for one evening." (Then we should go back to work).

View on Taiwan Independence

In February 2006, while visiting Europe, Ma said that although he and the KMT favor eventual reunification, the KMT respects the opinions of Taiwanese people, and independence is a choice for some citizens in Taiwan. This caused widespread criticism within the party and from the mainland. In a December 2005 Newsweek International interview when asked about unification, Ma stated that "for our party, the eventual goal is reunification, but we don't have a timetable."[1] Perhaps to deflect heavy criticism from the Pan-Green Coalition the KMT later made an advertisement in a major newspaper Liberty Times recognizing that independence is an option for the Taiwanese people. Wang Jin-pyng praised Ma for the policy shift since Wang himself made similar statement during the 2004 election, but James Soong said he was "shocked" and Lien Chan said he was never consulted. This event actually won some welcome voices from Southern Taiwan where voters customarily favor Pan-Green Coalition. One top KMT official said "we might as well let the measles out now so that we will be immune to it when election year comes close, because reunification or independence can be a hot topic by then."

Ma clarified later that the current policy of KMT to remain status quo has not changed and has reiterated this position several times; further he also has reiterated his party's support of the one-China policy.

Personal

Ma is married with two daughters. He is an avid runner for more than thirty years, a swimmer for six, and a triathlete for three. Dr. Ma also enjoys music and literature; he has mentioned on numerous occasions that he is a fan of asian diva Faye Wong. He is a committed donor of blood (166 times) and alms (around NT$50 million, or US$1.5 million), and a volunteer for a dozen or so charitable organizations, such as United Way Taiwan. Dr. Ma is fluent in Mandarin Chinese his English is good enough that he has been able to give speeches and be interviewed in English; he also speaks Taiwanese, though with a thick accent and haltingly, and a little French.

External links

• CityMayors article
• Newsweek, "Conditions Aren't Ripe"

See also

• Politics of Taiwan