(The Weekly interview) with Michael Danielsen:  Signing FTA with other countries can defend Taiwan’s sovereignty better

Taiwan Corner in  Copenhagen, Denmark is a friend of Taiwan and a non-governmental organization. The Chairman, Michael Danielsen, is a friend who has been concerned about the Taiwan issues for many years and expressed his opinions. He says that the Ma government’s cross-strait policies have gone too fast, too far and lacks transparency. Especially, he points out that the negotiation process totally lacks the involvement of the opposition party’s view and this is worrying.

He says that Taiwan has to sign FTA with other countries as this will help Taiwan’s economic independence. At the same time, it can defend Taiwan’s sovereignty. ECFA’s future should be decided by a referendum such that it can get a strong backing.

Q: All 3 seats of the legislator by-election on the 9th of January was taken by DPP, as a friend who has been concerned about the Taiwan issues for years, what do you think of the result?

Michael: I think the election result is encouraging, and that it is indicating that the Taiwanese want more balance.. Taiwanese people have already gradually become mature and they have recognized that democracy requires the power of checks and balance. A powerful opposition party is a very important key to Taiwan’s democracy.

Around 75% seats of the parliament are controlled by one party. This is not a healthy sign for democracy no matter if it is  KMT or DPP. DPP has now obtained more than 25% of the seats and it can therefore do more in the parliament in the future.

I know that it is the first time Taiwan uses the single-district with two-vote system, but such a system is not able to reflect public opinion completely accurate. Personally, I think that many of Europe’s multi-election systems are more idealistic. A political party will gain a certain percentage of seats in the parliament according to how many percentages of the votes that it received in the election. I don’t think that a two party system is an ideal. I prefer multi-party politics. In Denmark, we have 8 parties in the parliament and more parties  during the election.

 

Q: What have you observed about the changes of the relationship between Taiwan and China after Ma government has taken over the power?

Michael: From my point of view, there are two important things. First, the cross-strait policies has gone too fast and too far. Second, the policies are lacking  transparency, and I am worried about this. Especially, that the negotiation process totally lacks the involvement of the opposition party’s view and this is the core of the point of contention.

A cross strait agreement tend to  be broad in scope , and it is not simply  a commercial process. Although it is impossible to clarify everything in advance, the government should at least tell the Taiwanese people about “What are the main themes?” “How is the progress?” To let Taiwanese people feel secure. During the negotiation process, it should not only  contain the views of the government party, but the opposite party should be allowed to participate, such that the agreement can be able to adopt the views of all the people. The current approach is obviously too hasty, and I really question how is has been possible to complete so many issues in 19 months (referring to those agreements were signed in Jiang-Chen meetings), which is too fast.

For Taiwan, all agreements must be agreed by all the Taiwanese people and this is essential. As far as I know, EFCA will be signed within the next 6 months, and I really don’t understand why such an important contract shall be completed so quickly? Maybe there should we allowed more time for EFCA to be discussed in details in the parliament and  a referendum on this subject should be allowed. Because through a referendum, the people can give support and a strong backing. In addition, through continuous democratic discussions we can reduce the mysteries in the agreement and make  policies more transparent. However, the content of EFCA is not just about internal political matters, it also involves external issues which are important.

I believe that maintaining Taiwan’s sovereignty is a very important matter. I hope that all the negotiations between Taiwan and China can be conducted with respect for Taiwan's sovereignty. From an outsider’s point of view, I am of course pleased to see SEF and ARATS, these two semi-official entities will carry out more negotiations; however, it appears that there were and are more interactions and dialogues between KMT and CPP privately before the two entities actually meet. This is not transparency.

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