Following the script even when the consequences are known

Either the Ma administration is too confident or too arrogant.

Otherwise, it would not have completely ignored the public furor over the wider opening of U.S. beef to Taiwan.

Last year, the same scenario was played out in South Korea, plunging President Lee Myung-bak into a serious political crisis.

The Ma administration obviously did not learn anything from it and had not prepared for the impact of its decision.

It is hard to believe that the government, while negotiating with the U.S. on beef imports, seriously thought about what had happened in South Korea and hence prepared for a responsible and comprehensive position paper to try to convince the people.

Such insensitivity or numbness to public feelings has not only been shown in the opening of U.S. beef. In fact, it has been manifested in the formation of almost all major policies over the past year.

The government should have explained to the public the possible effects and consequences of its policy long before putting it into effect to enhance public understanding and mitigate the resistance in implementing it, let alone to make it a target for attack by the opposition party.

LIBERTY TIMES:

Peace dividends or the collapse of Taiwan values

President Ma Ying-jeou has again asked Lien Chan, chairman of the nonprofit National Policy Foundation, to be his envoy to attend the 2009 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum scheduled for Nov. 12-14 in Singapore.

Both the Ma administration and Chinese media have avoided naming Lien as the former vice president, which has the connotation of national sovereignty.

If we let China to systematically denigrate Taiwan's status on international occasions, then the more Taiwan participates in international activities, the more the world will mistake Taiwan as having admitted itself that it is part of China.

Lien and Hu Jintao first met in 2005 and reached an agreement to resume cross-strait talks under the so-called '92 consensus.

Lien was the head of an opposition party then, and his agreement with the Chinese leader was not related to Taiwan's people. But later, when Ma took over as KMT chairman, he advocated to list the agreement as part of its party platform.

After the KMT regained political power last year, Ma said further that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait could start talks based on the premise of the Lien-Hu agreement.

Over the past year, Ma's "diplomatic truce" is actually a realization of that agreement.

Ma has prided himself on easing cross-strait tensions, hoping to numb the public with such peace dividend rhetoric. We should not be led to such euphoria, but instead guard against the loss of Taiwan's sovereignty and the collapse of Taiwan's values.

APPLE DAILY:

(A) Bandit government The Taipei County government on Tuesday invited representatives from eateries, fast-food outlets, and hypermarts to co-sign its advocacy of "no sell, no buy, and no eat" policies, but McDonald's, Costco and RT-Mart were not present.

Unhappy over their absence, Taipei County Magistrate Chou Hsi-wei said he would rigorously examine the three companies.

From a legal point of view, the three did not have to endorse the signature campaign and the county government could not intimidate them to do so. Moreover, because Taiwan and the U.S. signed a protocol to open the local market wider to U.S. beef, the businesses will not violate the law to sell or buy the beef.

It is inappropriate for Chou to threaten a tougher examination.

Intimidating others into toeing one's line is the practice of such countries as China or North Korea, and the abusive practice of a bandit government. It is by no means the way of democratic nations.

(B) Kuang Li-cheng phenomenon

Taitung County Magistrate Kuang Li-cheng was impeached by the Control Yuan for negligence in performing official duties. The ruling Kuomintang felt it was not suitable to nominate her for the year-end election but then it nominated her to run for legislator in a by-election.

Her situation is one that the Ma administration is said to want to reform the most. If one's election is invalidated, then relatives -- spouses or children -- are name to run in place of the disgraced person.

When the election and recall law is revised, the legislators should include provisions that those who have been impeached by the Control Yuan should not be eligible to run in elections.

This will give the Control Yuan some face. Otherwise, if those who are impeached go on to be elected as legislator or president, then it will become a big joke.

UNITED DAILY NEWS:

An off-key note sung by Tax Reform Committee The Tax Reform Committee was formed in July 1, 2008 and will bow out this December.

But instead of stepping up its review of various tax reform proposals, the committee seems headed toward a poor end, especially because the convener has often been absent from its meetings due to a busy official schedule.

Reasons for this abound. The most recent example was the energy tax. Although the tax was one of the election campaign promises of President Ma Ying-jeou, the Executive Yuan has been unwilling to endorse it, which in a way reflects the flaws in the structure and the agenda of the committee.

All tax reforms over the past few months have undergone the same process -- much ado, but in the end, nothing. We believe that this is because those who are in charge lack an academic perspective and a comprehensive strategy.

When the committee tried to promote its proposals, it tended to offer them one at a time, so that whenever a proposal was made, it encountered steep resistance from vested interest groups. The Executive Yuan would then buckle under pressure.

The committee was formed to re-tune the twisted tax structure and lay a solid and wholesome financial foundation for the nation's development.

But the committee, after its 16 months of meetings, has not only lowered the tax rate, has also contributed to the nation's rapidly climbing debt ratio.

The past two committees had at least creditable performances, but this time, as the curtain is about to fall, we reflect on it under a somber moon. We don't have the heart to hear the committee singing its auld lang syne with off-key notes.

(By Lilian Wu)