WikiPortalus: Ma Ying-jeou

Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九

President of the Republic of China
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 May 2008
Premier	Liu Chao-shiuan
Vice President	Vincent Siew
Preceded by	Chen Shui-bian
Mayor of Taipei
In office 25 December 1998 – 25 December 2006
Preceded by	Chen Shui-bian
Succeeded by	Hau Lung-pin
Chairman of the Kuomintang
In office 16 July 2005 – 13 February 2007
Preceded by	Lien Chan
Succeeded by	Wu Po-hsiung

Born	13 July 1950 (1950-07-13) (age 57) Hong Kong
Political party	Kuomintang
Spouse	Christine Chow Ma
Alma mater	National Taiwan University New York University Harvard University
Occupation	Politician
Website	www.president.gov.tw

Ma was elected Mayor of Taipei in 1998 and re-elected in 2002. He was elected Chairman of the Kuomintang by party members on July 16, 2005. He announced his resignation on February 13, 2007 after being indicted by the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office on charges of misuse of mayoral funds during his tenure as the mayor of Taipei - he was found not guilty in the first and second trials and the subsequent final appeal to the Supreme Court, thereby completely clearing him of any graft charges. Ma subsequently won the presidency in the ROC presidential election of 2008.^[1]^[2] He was sworn into office on 20 May 2008.

Personal background

After receiving his LL.M., Ma briefly worked as an associate on Wall Street in New York.^[3] Ma returned to Taiwan in 1981 to teach law.

Ma is married to Christine Chow with two daughters. Lesley (Ma Wei-chung, 馬唯中; born in 1981 in New York) was born when Ma was studying in the US; she is currently a graduate student at New York University, having completed her undergraduate work at Harvard University.^[4]^[5] Ma's younger daughter, Kelly (Ma Yuan-chung, 馬元中), was born in Taiwan and is currently pursuing her undergraduate studies at Brown University.^[6]^[4]

Rise in politics

Ma Ying-jeou started working for President Chiang Ching-kuo of the KMT after earning his S.J.D. first as an English translator and assistant. 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 in 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 ROC Justice Minister in 1993. Ma was relieved of his post in 1996. His supporters claim that firing was caused by his efforts at fighting corruption and has contributed to his clean image. Despite his efforts at anti-corruption, he remained a supporter of the Kuomintang rather than supporting the New Party which was formed by KMT supporters who campaigned on an anti-corruption platform. 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.

Mayoralty, 1998 – 2006

In 1998, the KMT fielded Ma to challenge the then-incumbent Taipei mayor Chen Shui-bian of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) who was seeking re-election. Despite Chen's public approval rating of over 80%, Chen was defeated. 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 other factors, incited a great deal of anger against Ma when he tried to dissuade discontented Lien and Soong supporters from protesting by appealing to them in his dual capacities as Taipei City mayor and high-ranking KMT member.

Ma was able to repair the political damage and in December 2002, he became the leading figure in the KMT by easily winning reelection as mayor of Taipei with the support of 64% of Taipei voters while DPP challenger Lee Ying-yuan received 36%. His solid victory, especially in light of opposition from both President Chen and former President and 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 dissuaded angry Pan-Blue supporters from protesting following the very close re-election victory of President Chen in 2004 after 3-19 shooting incident. Ma chose not to join in 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, and for keeping Chiu Shu-ti, the public health director, who was previously criticized for her lack of concern for the outbreak. Flooding in metropolitan Taipei in 2004 also led to public questioning of his leadership and caused Ma's approval rating to slide.

During his time as Taipei's mayor, Ma had many conflicts with the central government over matters such 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 after an investigation by the Taipei prosecutor. He was strongly criticized by the DPP 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.

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 technocrat. Despite this reputation, and his wooden speaking style and shy demeanor, Ma is also considered a charismatic figure and is 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 "deep-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, 2005 – 2007

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 had 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 had stated that he would "leave the position open" for Wang. Ma has also repeatedly stated that he had 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.

2005 elections

Led by Ma Ying-jeou, the Kuomintang made a resounding win in the three-in-one election held on December 3, 2005. The 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 the chairmanship if his party could not win over half of the seats, which was a first for a KMT chairman. It was a decisive win for Ma Ying-jeou as well, since he took over the party chairmanship only 110 days before. In the election, the KMT won back the counties of Taipei and Yilan, and the city of Chiayi, which had been the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)'s strongholds for over twenty years. It was the first time in many years that the 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."

Presidency, 2008 –

On the same day he resigned as chairman of the KMT, Ma also announced his intention to run in the 2008 presidential elections. He was the official nominee of the Kuomintang for the 2008 Presidential Elections.

Ma led a visit to India and Singapore in June 2007 to increase bilateral exchanges as well as to gain legitimacy and experience for his 2008 presidential bid.

Ma's vice-presidential running mate was former premier Vincent Siew. Siew was also Lien Chan's running mate in the 2000 elections.^[8]

Ma officially won on March 22, 2008 with 58% of the vote, ending 8 years of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rule. Ma won with 7,659,014 votes against Hsieh's 5,444,949 votes. Ma's overwhelming victory in the presidential election gave him political mandate to make changes in Taiwan.^[9]

Party	Candidate	Votes	Percentage
President	Vice president
	Kuomintang	Ma Ying-Jeou	Vincent Siew	7,659,014	58.45%
	Democratic Progressive Party	Frank Hsieh	Su Tseng-Chang	5,444,949	41.55%
Total	13,103,963	100.00%

According to a June 2008 poll from a Taiwanese mainstream media TVBS, president Ma won approval from 41% of people surveyed in his first month of presidency and 37% of people surveyed responded negatively to Ma's performance thus far. His predecessor, Chen Shui Bian, had 77% approval rating at the end of his first month of presidency 8 years ago and only 7% of people responded negatively that time. 66% of the people surveyed believe Ma Yin Jeou and his cabinet is not prepared to take over the executive power and 42% of the people surveyed believe Ma Administration performs worse than expected. ^[11]

Political positions

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 the people of 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," explaining that he meant it was a choice for Taiwan but a choice for the Chinese KMT. ^[12] 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 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."

Position on cross-strait relations

Ma Ying-jeou told March 23, 2008, one day after his success in Taiwan's presidential election, 2008, he had no immediate plans to visit mainland China and would work to fulfill his campaign pledge to improve relations with the mainland, starting direct flights, allowing more mainland tourists to visit and helping the island's financial industry go to the mainland.^[14] Since then, Ma Ying-jeou has repeatedly mentioned the "1992 Consensus" as the existing basis for constructive dialogue and exchange between the Mainland and Taiwan. On 12th April 2008, then Vice-President-elect Vincent Siew formally met with Hu Jintao at the Boao Forum in Hainan, China.

Position on Diaoyu Islands

Ma Ying-jeou wrote his Ph.D. thesis on the legal basis of Taiwan's sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands. Throughout his political career, Ma has made several statements criticizing the failure by the central government to assert sovereignty over the islands, and that he would have no reservations or qualms for war over the islands (不惜一戰).

Scandals and criticism

Mayoral scandals

While often nicknamed as “Teflon pot” for his extreme preservation of personal image, Ma was nonetheless caught in some political controversies. A series of mishaps during his tenure as the Mayor of Taipei, including the administration problems that enlarged the extent of the Typhoon Nari (納莉風災),^[15] the Shutdown of Hoping Hospital (和平封院事件),^[16] 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),^[17] impaired Ma’s reputation. However, Ma maneuvered through these incidents relatively unscathed.

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.^{citation needed}

One of Ma's most satisfactory mayoral construction was the Maokong Gondola. However, the frequent breakdown of the gondola caused the residents' distaste of the new transportation system. Only 14% of the Taipei City residents were satisfied with it.^[18] It even led to protests.^[19] The Taiwan Environmental Information Center (台灣環境資訊協會) states that the choice to use the gondola used in the temperate zone in the tropical zone shows the failure of the Taipei City government led by Ma.^[20]

Special Expenses scandal

On November 14, 2006, Ma was questioned by prosecutors over his alleged misuse of a special expenses account as Taipei mayor. This occurred after Chen Shui-Bian was being investigated for corruption, and many KMT supporters believed that this prosecution was politically motivated.

At the same time, rumors surfaced that former party chairman Lien Chen would run in the presidential election of 2008. The incident may have 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.^[21] However, Ma argued that he, like most other government officials, regarded the special expense account as a supplement to salary to pay for personal expenses undertaken in the course of official duties, and that his use of this account was not illegal.

On February 13, 2007, Ma was indicted by the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office on charges of allegedly embezzling approximately NT$11 million (US$339,000), regarding the issue of "special expenses" while he was mayor of Taipei.^[22] The prosecutor's office said that Ma had allegedly used government funds for personal use, such as paying for one of his daughter's living expenses while studying abroad and paying for his household utilities. Before that, Ma had admitted personal usage and claims that the special funds were simply a part of his salary^[23] but had used all funds for public use or public benefit (charity donations).^[24]

Shortly after the indictment, he submitted his resignation as chairman of the Kuomintang in accordance with party rules which prohibit an indicted person from serving as KMT chairman^[25] The resignation was initially rejected but then accepted by the party's Central Standing Committee before amending a clause that barred members from running for office if charged with a crime.^[26] Shortly after the resignation, however, Ma announced his presidential candidacy.

On August 14, 2007, the Taipei District Count found Ma not guilty of corruption, and cleared his name of all charges^[27] stating that "Special Expenses" is essentially "Special allowance" which was originally designed to compensate for mayor's "social spending" without actually raising salary.^[28] On December 28, 2007, the Taiwan High Court again found Ma not guilty of graft charges.

On April 24, 2008, The Supreme Court cleared Ma of corruption charges, delivering a final ruling in this matter before his inauguration on May 20, 2008. The island's highest court said Ma had neither collected illegal income nor tried to break the law.^[29]

U.S. green card issue

Democratic Progressive Party candidate Frank Hsieh questioned Ma for his possession of a United States Permanent Resident Card. Ma denied having one and publicly expressed that no members of his family had one.^[5] However, the fact that Ma and his wife had applied for green cards and that his sisters and his older daughter Lesley Ma are United States citizens caused controversy as the DPP continued to question Ma's loyalty to the country.^[30] In response to the DPP attack on the US citizenship of his sisters, Ma commented that having a US passport or green card did not mean that someone was not loyal to Taiwan.^[30]

A week before the presidential election, incumbent President Chen Shui-bian vowed to quit if Ma could provide legal documents of the invalidation of his green card. The DPP presidential candidate also said that he was willing to withdraw from the race if Ma could prove that his green card was invalidated twenty years ago.^[31] Ma responded the next day to the president that he should work on improving Taiwan's economy instead of caring about the election so much; earlier, Ma also provided copies of US non-immigrant visas issued to him during the 1980s and 1990s, claiming the card was invalid as such visas are not issued to green card holders. However, the DPP campaign continued to allege that the green card was valid.^[32]

Environmental criticism

Ma has been criticized by many environmental groups. His mayoral construction of the Maokong Gondola was criticized by the Taiwan Environmental Information Center.^[20] The construction of the Taipei Arena also drew negative reactions from these groups. The Society of Wilderness (SOW; 荒野保護協會) pointed out that of the three hundred and eighty-four trees that were moved for the construction, more than a hundred already died.^[33] The city government said that the ages of the trees are unknown, therefore they are not protected by law. The SOW then responded that according to pictures taken by the United States Air Force in 1947 and 1948, these trees were present already during the Japanese rule era.^[33]

During his presidential campaign, Ma participated in one of the debates that discussed many topics, including environmental protection. The Taiwan Academy of Ecology evaluated the policies of both candidates Hsieh and Ma, and the secretary of its workstation in Taipei said that both candidates failed their expectations, but Hsieh has more hope than Ma because Ma's environmental concepts lack considerations of the reality.^[34] In February 2008, several environmental groups created a list of commitments for the two candidates to sign. DPP candidate Frank Hsieh agreed on all the items on the list and signed it in March. Ma did not, and emailed the group instead. The Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) criticized Ma for ignoring the important issue and not having guts to sign the commitments.^[35]

After Ma was elected president on March 22, 2008, the Green Party Taiwan expressed its fear that president-elect Ma focuses too much on improving the economy, that he has ignored many critical environmental issues. The head of the Environmental Quality Protection Foundation also emphasized the importance of environmental protection as one of the factors of economic development.^[36]

Works

Government offices
Preceded by Lu Youwen	Minister of Justice of the Republic of China 1993 – 1996	Succeeded by Liao Zhenghao
Preceded by Chen Shui-bian	Mayor of Taipei 1998 – 2006	Succeeded by Hau Lung-pin
Preceded by Chen Shui-bian	President of the Republic of China 2008 – present	Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Lien Chan	Chairman of the Kuomintang 2005 – 2007	Succeeded by Wu Po-hsiung

Ma Ying-jeou

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