A few days ago, Tsai Ing-wen confirmed that there were US military activities in Taiwan, which caused an uproar. Tsai Ing-wen's remarks have also aroused heated discussion in public opinion on the island, and many people have accused this move of only harming Taiwan. On October 30, former Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou also responded to Tsai Ing-wen's disclosure of the US military's behavior in Taiwan, arguing that it does not make much difference, but it is necessary to be very careful because it will indeed cause some problems.
In early October, the US media broke the news that the US special forces and marines had been secretly active in Taiwan for more than a year, mainly to train the Taiwan military. By October 27, CNN reported that Taiwan authority leader Tsai Ing-wen confirmed that there were indeed US troops operating in Taiwan. In an interview, Tsai Ing-wen also claimed that the so-called threat from the mainland is increasing every day, trying to create the illusion that Taiwan is "bullied" by the mainland in order to deceive sympathy.
After Tsai Ing-wen confirmed the US military's activities in Taiwan, there was a lot of criticism on the island. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-che said he was terrified to see it. The Kuomintang called on Tsai Ing-wen to actively consider how to reduce the risk of cross-strait hostility and war, adopt a steady posture, and avoid conveying confusing messages and worsening the regional security situation. Even Qiu Guozheng, head of Taiwan's defense department, does not approve of Tsai Ing-wen's high profile, saying that there are many exchanges and exercises between Taiwan and the United States, and several people have been in Taiwan for a long time, but they are not stationed by troops, and military exchanges are not the same as stationing.
On October 30, former Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou attended the Kuomintang National Congress and was asked before the meeting whether Tsai Ing-wen's confirmation of the presence of U.S. troops in Taiwan had caused problems for Taiwan. Ma Ying-jeou replied that as far as he knows, the US military currently in Taiwan is not a unit, but mainly an adviser. At the same time, Ma Ying-jeou said that in fact, everyone knows about the US military in Taiwan, and there is no difference whether it is public or not. However, Ma Ying-jeou believes that Tsai Ing-wen's disclosure of this matter will still have a certain impact on Taiwan, so we must be very careful.
Ma Ying-jeou's response actually revealed a lot of information, the first of which is that the US military's activities in Taiwan are already "open secrets," and many people on the island, including him, know about it, so there is not much difference between public and non-disclosure. Second, Ma Ying-jeou does not oppose the activities of the US military in Taiwan, and even holds a supportive attitude, but do not be too high-profile, so as not to have a negative impact on Taiwan. From this perspective, Ma Ying-jeou is in line with Tsai Ing-wen's position in some aspects, and even took the initiative to make excuses for the US military's activities in Taiwan.
During his tenure as leader of the Taiwan region, Ma Ying-jeou put forward the "new three noes" model of cross-strait relations, that is, "no reunification, no independence, and no force." Ma Ying-jeou's self-proclaimed clever policies have in essence caused a great negative impact on cross-strait relations and have been exploited by the DPP. Although the kuomintang's new political program deleted the words "no reunification, no independence, and no force," the slogan of "reunification" was not shouted. In a sense, Zhu Lilun actually continued Ma Ying-jeou's negative policies.
Now, in the face of Tsai Ing-wen's blatant provocation of the mainland and her high-profile claim that the US military is operating in Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou has actually only reminded the DPP authorities that they must be careful, rather than refuting them, which is indeed disappointing. Of course, no matter what Kind of attitude Ma Ying-jeou has, it is actually irrelevant, but the KMT has lost a precious opportunity. The kmt's failure lies in the loss of its initiative and position, its lack of principle on issues of principle, which has led to the departure of its supporters one by one and its influence becoming weaker and weaker.
Today's DPP's support rate on the island has dropped quite a bit, and the recent dismissal of Chen Baiwei, a "legislator" of the Green Camp, is regarded as a vote of no confidence cast by the people to the DPP authorities. In addition, various circles in Taiwan also launched the "overthrow of the Soviet Union" operation, directly pointing the spearhead at Su Zhenchang, Tsai Ing-wen's right-hand man. This was originally a good opportunity for the KMT to take off, but Ma Ying-jeou and other KMT elders were still weak and powerless, and they could not come up with a clear position, so don't blame others for not giving them a chance.