Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou on Wednesday formally announced his resignation as chairman of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party, which suffered heavy losses in local elections last week. Ma stepped down to take responsibility for the party's historic electoral defeat. However, it may be found later that he is not so incompetent.

Ma has not been lucky. His tenure was plagued by the global financial crisis and he is unable to move beyond the island's entangled party politics. Ma was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Taiwan. Returning to the island after graduate studies in the US, Ma spent a long time working for then-leader Chiang Ching-kuo. He has a sense of mission toward the island and a clean image. Ma has attempted to reform the KMT, trying to end hereditary politics. Unfortunately, he has been too ambitious while only having limited resources.

Advances in cross-Straits relations, which have been widely condemned by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), are perhaps the only substantive achievement Ma has made. New postal, transportation, and trade links with the Chinese mainland have been forged during Ma's leadership. There has been a breakthrough over mainlanders traveling to Taiwan. Ma prompted the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement and a cross-Straits trade pact. Although there were fierce protests against the signing of these two pacts, they are very likely to lay the foundation for future cross-Straits economic negotiations. In contrast, Ma's efforts in domestic affairs, such as pension and tax reforms, have not come to fruition.

It remains to be seen how Ma will deal with pressure from the public over the electoral failures. Ma's failure can be partly attributed to the constraints of the KMT, and partisan struggles spurred by the DPP also impeded Ma's governance.

Taiwan's crown as one of the Four Asian Tigers has faded. Some analysts hold that Ma's successors will confront more difficulties. This is not an exaggerated forecast. Promoting "Taiwan independence" is doomed to fail. Only by thoroughly opening up to the mainland can Taiwan hop onto the mainland economic juggernaut. However, in present-day Taiwanese society, which has been negatively affected by the Sunflower Student Movement, even if a tougher leader succeeds Ma, he or she is likely to make scant progress in overhauling society.

Ma gives the impression of being indecisive. It's hard to say whether he is confined by harsh reality or by his own personality. So, to what extent will the advances in cross-Straits relations that Ma promoted decide Taiwan's future? Only time will tell. 

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