Bipartisan: The One Word Taiwan Most Desperately Needs

Bipartisan: The One Word Taiwan Most Desperately Needs
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
March 14, 2012

Summary: Bipartisanship is essential on major policy issues. Without it, Taiwan will remain forever divided, forever at loggerheads, forever spinning its wheels. President Ma has extended an invitation to the DPP, TSU, and PFP, inviting them to participate in a ruling and opposition party leader summit. We hope the opposition parties will participate. We hope they will reach a consensus on US beef imports, a free economic zone, TIFA, TPP, and other major issues. We hope they will achieve bipartisanship. That is the one thing Taiwan most desperately needs.

Full Text below:

The two major parties disagree on U.S. beef imports. The KMT advocates "conditional opening." The DPP leadership insists it has "never wavered in its opposition to clenbuterol and ractopamine."

The two parties are at loggerheads. The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) has linked U.S. beef imports to TIFA. It has said the Ma administration "never made any promises" to the United States regarding beef imports. Just the opposite. It made clear that the DPP under Chen Shui-bian was the administration that made promises to the US regarding beef imports, that wrote the World Trade Organization (WTO) promising to allow beef imports and establish standards for clenbuterol and ractopamine content in US pork and beef products.

It was a situation rife with irony. The United States longs to market beef to consumers on Taiwan. But the target of its pressure is not the Ma administration. It is the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). It paradoxically defends the Ma administration, saying that it "never made any promises."

The AIT wants to know why the DPP agreed to beef imports when it was in office, but rejects them now that it is in the opposition. The AIT is essentially backing the DPP leadership into a corner. It is forcing the DPP to lie, espouse anti-Americanism, and oppose TIFA. It has already left the DPP without a leg to stand on. What the AIT has not said, is that when the KMT was in the opposition, it too opposed the importation of meats treated with clenbuterol and ractopamine. The KMT performed an about face and conditionally agreed to permit US beef imports only because it is now the ruling party. What this shows is that when it comes to clenbuterol and ractopamine, the DPP and the KMT are textbook cases of Miles' Law, which says "Where you stand depends on where you sit." It is also a living, breathing example of why bipartisanship is so difficult to achieve on Taiwan.

The term "bipartisan" is found in such terms as "bipartisan agreement," "bipartisanship," and "bipartisan support." The concept of bipartisanship evolved from party politics in the United States. Partisan political wrangling became "opposition for the sake of opposition" and tore the nation apart. This led to the gradual realization that regarding important matters such as foreign policy, political parties require consistency. Hence the birth of bipartisanship. Hence the appearance of such phenomenon as a congressional "bipartisan committee" passing a "bipartisan resolution," a "bipartisan deficit reduction committee," a "bipartisan Katrina Hurricane Investigation Committee," or a private sector think tank such as the "Bipartisan Policy Center."

Bipartisanship is virtually non-existent in party politics on Taiwan. Between the two parties, one finds only "opposition for the sake of opposition." The lack of bipartisanship begins with allegiance to the nation and to its constitution. On this, there is no bipartisanship. One party operates under the framework of the Constitution of the Republic of China. The other party is determined to "de-Sinicize." Cross-strait policy is no exception, One-party supports the 1992 Consensus. The other party refuses to recognize the 1992 Consensus. One party promoted ECFA. The other party insists that ECFA "panders to [Mainland] China and sells out Taiwan." Such confrontation seldom represents principled dissent. Instead it often represents partisan political maneuvering. For example, when Chen Shui-bian was in the opposition, he advocated Taiwan independence. When he came into office, he advocated the "Five Noes." When he found himself in a crisis of governance he advocated the "rectification of names." When he once again found himself out of power, he reverted to "one nation on each side." As newly appointed Party Chairman, Tsai Ing-wen denounced ECFA as "humiliating." But when she became a presidential candidate, she said she would "accept it unconditionally."

Such policy flip-flopping fails more than the test for bipartisanship. It fails even the test for partisan consistency and individual consistency. Such examples abound. Take the two major parties' policy on the Number Four Nuclear Power Plant. The two parties disagreed with each other. But the two parties have also flip-flopped, repeatedly. The same is true of subsidies for elderly farmers. Has the situation ever been otherwise? Needless to say, there is no bipartisanship on U.S. beef imports. Even worse, both parties are faithful adherents to Miles' Law." Where they stand depends on where they sit.

The AIT pulled no punches. It underscored the lack of bipartisanship on the US beef imports issue. U.S. beef is not a trivial issue, It is vital to national health. It is a trade issue that affects TIFA, FTAs, and Taipei/Washington relations. It could even undermine Taipei's chances of joining the TPP. Can we really oppose something merely for the sake of opposing it on such issues? Shouldn't we establish bipartisanship?

The DPP has flip-flopped on clenbuterol and ractopamine. The rival political parties must seek common ground on national and constitutional allegiance, cross-Strait policy, industrial policy, nuclear energy policy, agricultural policy, tax policy, and other major policies. They must establish a bipartisanship policy framework, beginning with clenbuterol and ractopamine.

Bipartisanship is essential on major policy issues. Without it, Taiwan will remain forever divided, forever at loggerheads, forever spinning its wheels. President Ma has extended an invitation to the DPP, TSU, and PFP, inviting them to participate in a ruling and opposition party leader summit. We hope the opposition parties will participate. We hope they will reach a consensus on US beef imports, a free economic zone, TIFA, TPP, and other major issues. We hope they will achieve bipartisanship. That is the one thing Taiwan most desperately needs.
Bipartisan 台灣最需要的一個字
【聯合報╱社論】
2012.03.14 01:54 am

關於美牛進口問題，國民黨主張「有條件開放」，民進黨中央則稱「反瘦肉精立場絕不動搖」。

在兩黨相持不下之際，美國在台協會（ＡＩＴ）一方面將美牛與ＴＩＦＡ掛勾，另一方面更調轉槍口稱，馬政府對美牛「沒有做任何承諾」，反而是民進黨扁政府曾對美牛進口做出「承諾」，並曾致函世貿組織（ＷＴＯ）表態，謂將對豬肉牛肉的萊克多巴胺建立殘留量標準。

這真是一個充滿諷刺性的場景。美國要推銷牛肉，主要的施壓目標不在馬政府，卻是針對在野的民進黨而發，且反而為馬政府辯護稱「沒有做任何承諾」。

ＡＩＴ的質疑是：民進黨何以在執政時同意，卻於在野後就反對？ＡＩＴ不啻是將民進黨中央逼到了「失信」、「反美」與「反ＴＩＦＡ」的角落，已使民進黨陷於進退失據之境。不過，ＡＩＴ沒有說的是，國民黨在野時，也是持反對瘦肉精的立場，只是如今執政又轉過身來同意有條件開放。這幅圖像顯示：民進黨及國民黨在瘦肉精的議題上，皆陷於「麥爾斯法則」，即「位子決定立場／屁股決定腦袋」，這也正是台灣政治難以達成「兩黨一致路徑」（Bipartisan Approach）的鮮活寫照。

Bipartisan，可譯為「兩黨一致的」，也有譯為「兩黨連立的」，或逕譯為「兩黨支持的」。Bipartisan這個概念，演化自美國的政黨政治；由於政黨之間「為反對而反對」的制衡角力，演成了國家社會的撕裂；因此逐漸領悟到，各政黨須在有些重要政策（如外交政策）上，持一致立場，遂有Bipartisanship這個概念產生。於是，美國國會時有「兩黨委員會」（Bipartisan Committee），並通過「兩黨決議」（Bipartisan Resolution），如「兩黨刪減赤字委員會」，或「兩黨卡翠納颶風事件調查委員會」，另民間亦有智庫稱「兩黨政策中心」（Bipartisan Policy Center）。

台灣的政黨政治則幾乎沒有Bipartisanship的存在，兩黨之間只有「為反對而反對」。從國憲認同的源頭處，即無「兩黨一致」；一黨「在中華民國憲法架構下」，另一黨要「去中國化」。兩岸政策亦然，一黨支持九二共識，另一黨否定九二共識；一黨推倡ＥＣＦＡ，另一黨稱ＥＣＦＡ是傾中賣台。而且，這類的對立，其實往往不是在原則立場上的真實歧異，而是完全出自政黨鬥爭的權謀反覆而已。例如，陳水扁在野時主張「台獨建國」，執政初期則主張「四不一沒有」，至執政出現危機又操作「正名制憲」，失去政權又回到「一邊一國」；再如，初任黨主席的蔡英文指ＥＣＦＡ喪權辱國，至成為總統候選人又改口說要「概括承受」。

也就是說，這種政策立場的搖擺反覆，不但沒有「兩黨一致」，甚至在同一黨也前後反覆，在同一人也先後搖擺。諸如此類，不勝枚舉。例如，核四政策，兩黨不一致，同一黨也反覆搖擺；國光石化，亦是異曲同工；老農津貼，何嘗不然？當然，美牛事件又是一個沒有Bipartisanship、且兩黨皆演出「麥爾斯法則」的顯例。

由於ＡＩＴ說了重話，使得台灣在美牛問題的「沒有兩黨一致」顯得特別突出。其實，美牛議題不是一個小問題，這是一個攸關國民健康的議題，也是一個貿易問題，牽動到ＴＩＦＡ、ＦＴＡ，影響到台美外交，甚至可牽涉到台灣未來能否融入ＴＰＰ的問題；而這樣的議題，能不能「為反對而反對」？應不應建立一條「兩黨一致的路徑」？

因而，在民進黨出爾反爾的瘦肉精政策困境中，各政黨可共同思考，在國憲認同、兩岸政策、產業選題、核能問題、農業政策、租稅方案等重大國政上，力求共同建立Bipartisanship的政策架構，且就從瘦肉精做起！

在重大政策上沒有Bipartisanship這個概念，台灣將永遠陷於撕裂、反覆、內耗、空轉。馬總統正透過幕僚，邀請民進黨、台聯及親民黨參加朝野政黨領袖高峰會議；我們希望各在野黨能共襄盛舉，使此會能對美牛、自由經濟示範區、ＴＩＦＡ、ＴＰＰ等重大議題，獲致共識，為Bipartisanship建立里程碑，因為，台灣最需要這一個字。