Chairperson of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Tsai Ing-wen has criticized President Ma Ying-jeou for misinterpreting her words. At a meeting of the ruling Kuomintang on Wednesday, President Ma Ying-jeou cited a speech Tsai made last year to demonstrate that both parties are in agreement over the government’s program of setting up the free economic pilot zones.
In the speech, Tsai said that Taiwan must become a “free island” espousing an open economy, cultural diversity, and democracy. In a Facebook post Thursday, Tsai said that Ma had only mentioned economic liberalization while ignoring cultural diversity and democracy.
Tsai wrote that Taiwan must have all three in order to win international respect. Tsai also wrote that her vision of a “free island” is completely different from Ma’s proposal for an “island with a free economy”.
Tsai wrote that her proposal included opening up Taiwan to investment from all parts of the world, not just China. She also wrote that Taiwan’s priority must be to move away from over-reliance on contract manufacturing.
Tsai closed by asking President Ma not to take her words out of context, and not to use her words to mask issues surrounding the government’s free economic pilot zones.