Ma Ying-jeou

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Ma Ying-jeou (Traditional Chinese: 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 (ROC) in 1998 and re-elected in 2002. He was also elected chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) by party members on July 16, 2005. Ma is ineligible to run for mayor a third time in 2006 due to term limits, but is frequently mentioned to be a potential presidential candidate in 2008.

During his tenure as Minister of Justice, Ma was seen as cracking down on "black gold", especially in his own party and the ROC government. His personal charisma has made him one of Taiwan's most popular politicians, and he retains a following from citizens, particularly those who identify themselves as the Pan-Blue Coalition. On November 14th, 2006, one of his direct reports and Ma himself were questioned for possible embezzlement of government fund.

Personal background

Ma was born in Hong Kong (Kwong Wah Hospital in Kowloon), then a British colony, to parents from Hunan. When he was a year old, his family, KMT supporters, moved to Taiwan. Ma himself has claimed that his parents had already been in Taiwan before he was born and that his father was on assignment to Hong Kong when he was born there, though it is unclear to what assignment Ma was referring. Consequently, despite this assertion, he is generally designated as part of the so-called "Mainlander" category of Taiwan's populace. He earned a law degree from National Taiwan University in 1972 but did not pass the national bar exam. With a scholarship from the KMT, he completed additional studies in the United States, first earning an LL.M. from New York University and then an S.J.D. degree from Harvard University.

After receiving his S.J.D., Ma 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 had long harbored presidential aspirations for his son, Ma Ying-jeou started working in Taiwan's presidential palace under President Chiang Ching-kuo within a half year after earning his S.J.D., eventually becoming one of Chiang's personal translators. Ma was later promoted to the chair of the Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission under the Executive Yuan at the age of 38, becoming the youngest cabinet member of the ROC government.

Ma was deputy secretary-general of the KMT from 1984 to 1988, also serving for a period 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. While serving as Justice Minister, Ma opposed the deletion of Article 100 concerning criminal law, a provision that was used by the ROC government to incriminate dissidents before martial law was lifted in 1987. He also opposed constitutional reforms allowing the ROC president to be elected directly by popular vote. Ma was relieved of his post in 1996 because, his supporters claim, he proved too effective at fighting black gold political corruption within the KMT. 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 effectively ended.

Mayorship

Ma Ying-jeou, the mayor of Taipei City, also is chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT)

In 1998, the KMT, faced with no other credible candidates, fielded Ma to challenge the then-incumbent Taipei mayor Chen Shui-bian of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who was seeking reelection. Ma's perceived honesty and good looks, including his baby-face appearance, as well as his "Mainlander" appellation in a city with an unsually high percentage of Mainlanders who traditionally vote Pan-Blue, helped him defeat Chen. In the 2000 Presidential Election, Ma remained loyal to the KMT and supported its candidate, Lien Chan, over James Soong, who had bolted from the party and was running as an independent. The competition between Lien and Soong split the Pan-Blue vote and allowed his former rival Chen to win the presidential election with less than 50% of the popular vote. The election result, 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 in his dual capacities as Taipei City mayor and high-ranking KMT member. The supporters' resentment was evidenced by one famous moment in which they pelted him with eggs.

Ma was able to repair the political damage and, in December 2002, became a superstar of the KMT by easily winning reelection with the support of 64% of Taipei voters, while DPP challenger Lee Ying-yuan, a novice politician, received only 36%. His solid victory, especially in light of opposition from both President Chen 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. (The assassination attempt has come to be referred to as the 3-19 shooting incident or 三一九槍擊事件). 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, although he referred to Lien Chan as "President Lien" in a Hardtalk interview on BBC on February 21, 2006. (transcript) (However, it is unclear whether this was a slip of the tongue, because subsequently Ma referred to him as "Mr. Lien.")

Taipei City Hall, the workplace of Taipei's mayor.

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." Recently there has also been some criticism of his stumping for election candidates suspected of and later indicted for corruption charges. Many in the Pan-Green Coalition expressed opinions that Ma misled voters by lending his clean charismatic image to unscrupulous candidates in his own party.

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.

KMT Chairmanship

Election

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. Though Ma claims that the party finances are in a poor state, he has not perceptibly limited the large subsidies the KMT gives to its members running for office. KMT finances were also used to pay for the costs of an anti-Chen demonstration, held in March 2006. His recent trips abroad are being financed with a combination of Taipei city money and KMT money.

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 the 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 a 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 the 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, seen here waving to supporters during a visit to UC Berkeley in March 2006, proposed "Five Do's" on dealing with the PRC.

Ma clarified later that the current KMT policy of retaining the 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. Ma has defined the status quo as the "Five No's." During a visit to the United States in March 2006, he proposed a "proactive" approach to cross-strait relations which he called the "Five Do's."

Scandals

While often nicknamed as “nonstick pot” for his extreme preservation of personal image, Ma was nonetheless got caught in some political controversies despite the preferential treatment he enjoys with the local press. A series of mishaps during his tenure as the Mayor of Taipei, including the Typhoon Nari (納莉風災), the Shutdown of Hoping Hospital(和平封院事件), the Phosgene Incident(捷運光氣事件), the Scalping Incident(捷運扯頭皮事件)and the Human Ball Scandal(邱小妹人球事件), seriously impaired Ma’s reputation as a competent magistrate. However, Ma maneuvered through these incidents relatively unscathed by showing his usual “indignity” and passing the blames either upwards or downwards.

In addition to those incidents that give rise to public doubt on his competency, Ma has also been criticized for his involvement in several alleged scandals. His filings for the compulsory financial disclosure shows that his household net worth increased by more than NT$43 million (US$1.3 million)between 1993 and 2004, at a rate irreconcilable with his living standards, his two daughters in Ivy League schools and his identified income sources. Ma dismissed the criticism with a quotable line: “I spend less than US$10 a day and I only have an old patched suit.” His Shark Fin Scandal(富邦魚翅事件) is another spotlight case, in which he was caught showing up in the reclusive private club of the Tsai Family, who owns Fubon Financial Holding Co. that just acquired the city-owned TaipeiBank at that time. Ma denied the charges from Liao Zheng-jing, a member of Kuomintang and the ex-chairman of TaipeiBank, for mis-pricing the divestiture in Fubon’s favor. However, Ma kept giving out inconsistent answers regarding his deal with the Tsai Family, even in such things as how many times he had been invited to the private club for a luxury shark fin dinner. Some critics put it as the “most expensive shark fin meals ever”.

One of his latest case is the Beitou Cable Car Link. According to Taiwan Laws, Taipei Municipal Government is the sole sponsor of this disputed BOT. However, the local press kept closing up on the detention of Yen Wan-chin, the allegedly bribed deputy Minister of Interior who staged a hunger strike for his innocence, for a few days, and played it down as independent critics began to put up their findings about wrongdoings of Taipei Municipal Government and question Ma’s responsibility as the Mayor. While the muted press wants to serve as the ablative coating again, some web-based critics never give up and continue to dig into Ma’s potential misdoings.

On November 14, 2006, Ma had been questioned by prosecutors over his alleged misuse of "special expenses" as Taipei mayor.[2] At the same time, it is rumoured that party former chairman Lien Chen would run for the presidential election in 2008. The incident may have badly affected the "clean-image" of Ma and his political future. On the next day, Ma admitted one of his aides forged receipts to claim Ma's expenses as Taipei mayor, and apologized for the latest political scandal to rock the island, but he refused to resign.[3]

Personal

Ma is married with two daughters. He has been an avid runner for more than thirty years, a swimmer for six, and a triathlete for three. He also enjoys music and literature; and has mentioned on numerous occasions that he is a fan of Asian diva Faye Wong. He is a committed blood donor (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. Ma is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and speaks reasonably good English. Ma also speaks Taiwanese and French.

See also

• Kuomintang
• Politics of the Republic of China
• Elections in the Republic of China
• History of the Republic of China
• Political divisions of the Republic of China
• Political status of Taiwan
• Taipei

External links

• Ma Ying-jeou Official Website(Traditional Chinese)
• CityMayors article
• Taipei City Government Official Website
• Newsweek, "Conditions Aren't Ripe"
• Kuomintang Official Website

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