Ma Ying-Jeou - Taiwan's New President

On May 20, 2008, the debonair, National Taiwan University/NYU/Harvard-educated (!), former KMT Chairman and former Taipei Mayor, Dr. Ma Ying-Jeou (馬英九) was sworn in as, essentially, the sixth President of the Republic of China (Taiwan). I say "essentially" because this list includes the first in the "modern" line, "Generalissimo" Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who is hard to categorize simply as a "President".

It is an extraordinary phenomenon that only two generations ago, Taiwan was led by a just-post-Qing Dynasty warlord. Equally fascinating is the fact that President Ma, even in largely ultramodern Taiwan, faces many issues that continue to carry forth from the warring period following the "Great Qing" and the struggles with the immediately-succeeding Chinese governments (Mao Zedong 毛澤東/毛泽东, etc.).

Taiwan was once a financial superpower. While it still in many respects dominates economically in its development of technologies, Taiwan's fiscal well-being has suffered greatly in recent years because of the ongoing tensions with the Chinese Mainland. President Ma will have to face these issues with fresh diplomacy and economic deftness.

I don't have a specific position on which of many complex "perspectives" is/are the "right" one(s) for today's Taiwan; other than to deeply respect the nationalism which has grown in most of the Taiwanese people that I've met. Their national identity comes from many years -- far older than modern Taiwan (which started with the post-WWII Chiang government) -- of unique, evolved culture and understandably related pride. I hope that President Ma will find the right balance between this critically important aspect of Taiwan's people and the actions that will, hopefully, contribute to reviving its economy--a.k.a. ties to the Chinese Mainland, as well as other world nations.

My very best wishes go to the new President and to Taiwan.