INTERVIEW: Former envoy to US warns on Ma policies

The Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration is proceeding carelessly in its cross-strait policies, is unreceptive to criticism and appears to be focusing on its relations with Beijing at the expense of the nation’s ties with long-standing allies, former representative to Washington and Mainland Affairs Council chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said in an interview with the Taipei Times last week.

In its efforts to develop ties with China, Wu said, the Ma administration seemed to have decided on the political end-state before conducting the proper security/strategic assessments to determine the wisest course of action.

“On the higher national security level, there has been no grand assessment on Taiwan’s standing with China and all other important countries, and no report on Taiwan’s priority list with other countries, including China,” said Wu, who is now a research fellow at National Chengchi University’s Institute of International Relations.

Since Ma came into office, old allies like the US, the EU and Japan have been ignored, he said, adding that the only country that seemed to matter to Ma was China.

He also said some prominent US academics had begun to worry that China has gained more influence and leverage over Taiwan than the US.

The full text of my interview with Joseph Wu, pusblished today in the Taipei Times, is available here.