Many in the business community assumed that they would rapidly achieve their cherished goal of direct travel and shipping between Taiwan and the mainland after Siew's assumption of the MAC chairmanship. But now they hear Siew intoning, "the guiding principle must be the nation's dignity and the well-being of our 21 million compatriots."
此外，企業界本來以為他上台後，會很快依照業界期望開始「三通」，但現在卻聽到蕭萬長口口聲聲「以國家尊嚴、兩千一百萬同胞福祉為最高指導原則」。