By Jerome A. Cohen
President Tsai Ing-wen’s inaugural speech yesterday was a solid, substantive, serious and comprehensive overview, frank without being provocative, and open to improvement in cross-strait relations without appearing undignified or intimidated. What a vivid contrast to Trump’s nauseating flights of self-congratulations.
Although there was a quick reference to common destiny in her speech, it was domestic in focus, and President Tsai refrained from unrealistic dreaming, Xi Jinping-style, even while charting an inspiring, realistic course.
A few points seem worth noting. She never fully explained her statement that “Cross-strait relations have reached a historical turning point.” To me, they always seem to be. And there was the interesting reference to “the leader on the other side of the Strait” rather than the Party General Secretary or the PRC President or Mr. Xi Jinping.
Most worrisome perhaps to Beijing will be the establishment of a constitutional amendment committee in the Legislature, Although the only specific constitutional reform mentioned relates to lowering the voting age and is not controversial, she left the door open to some possible greater assertion of Taiwan’s independent status, thus throwing a tacit bone to the Taiwan independence wing of the DPP.
While recognizing the need for further judicial reform and mentioning the unresolved struggle over what kind of lay judge system should finally be chosen to enlarge popular participation, Ms. Tsai refrained from specific reforms of governmental institutions except with respect to establishment of the long-awaited National Human Rights Commission. Whether keeping it “under the Control Yuan”, the nominally independent branch of government responsible for scrutinizing the other branches, will allow sufficient protection of political and civil rights remains to be seen.
Finally, I did not note any mention of Hong Kong’s monumental, losing struggle for its promised “high degree of autonomy”. That might have been deemed too provocative.
The speech contained no word of thanks to the departing vice president, the distinguished epidemiologist who has garnered such a good press during the Covid-19 crisis, but that reportedly was accomplished in an earlier, less-publicized ceremony.