The controversy over President Chen Shui-bian's (
Chen's staff argued that the transit proposal suggested by the administration of US President George W. Bush was unacceptable because it failed to treat the democratically elected president of Taiwan with respect, and the delegation therefore preferred to search for an alternative arrangement.
The government, however, should refrain from engaging in political rhetoric with the US and should use diplomacy to straighten things out.
The statement released by Chen's staff that "Taiwan would become the son of the United States if we accepted the transit arrangement" was inappropriate and will not help in mending fences.
The timing and context of Chen's transit has become a litmus test of US-Taiwan relations, given that Chinese President Hu Jintao (
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the White House insisted on its original proposal, which restricted Chen's transit to outside the mainland US. The government considered this to be unfriendly and even humiliating. As such, the foreign ministry needed a contingency plan for Chen's transit stop. But both sides failed to minimize the impact of the issues that have politicized US-Taiwan relations.
Earlier this year, Chen's move to mothball the National Unification Council (NUC) and its guidelines angered Washington, because Taipei landed it with another "surprise."
Some predicted that the Bush administration might use the Chinese leader's visit to punish Chen. Taipei should recognize that Bush did not condemn the NUC decision during his meeting with Hu.
Relations between Taipei and Washington have gone through ups and downs recently, and there is room for better communication and understanding. Even Chen, when he met with the new director of the American Institute in Taiwan, Steven Young, emphasized several times that there would be no more "surprises."
Another concern of Washington's decision-makers is that as an open, transparent democracy, the US expects more from Taiwan. Washington supports Chen's administration because he is a democratically elected leader. But Beijing profoundly distrusts Chen.
While it is essential for leaders in Taipei and Washington to improve communication and mutual trust, and avoid adding unpredictability to the relationship, it is also important for Taiwan to earn more respect and fair treatment from the US, regardless of China's influence. Nevertheless, the effort on Taiwan's side has not been good enough.
The Bush administration also must avoid incorporating a double standard in its treatment of Taiwan in the course of engaging with Beijing. Bush should contemplate the degree to which his administration can keep a balance between safeguarding US interests and those of a democratic Taiwan, while at the same time engaging China and trying to mold it into a responsible stakeholder.
Looking ahead, Taipei should communicate more with Washington, while Washington should encourage Taiwan's efforts to establish good governance and political institutionalization.
Liu kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has caused havoc with his attempts to overturn the democratic and constitutional order in the legislature. If we look at this devolution from the context of a transition to democracy from authoritarianism in a culturally Chinese sense — that of zhonghua (中華) — then we are playing witness to a servile spirit from a millennia-old form of totalitarianism that is intent on damaging the nation’s hard-won democracy. This servile spirit is ingrained in Chinese culture. About a century ago, Chinese satirist and author Lu Xun (魯迅) saw through the servile nature of
In their New York Times bestseller How Democracies Die, Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt said that democracies today “may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders. Many government efforts to subvert democracy are ‘legal,’ in the sense that they are approved by the legislature or accepted by the courts. They may even be portrayed as efforts to improve democracy — making the judiciary more efficient, combating corruption, or cleaning up the electoral process.” Moreover, the two authors observe that those who denounce such legal threats to democracy are often “dismissed as exaggerating or
Monday was the 37th anniversary of former president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) death. Chiang — a son of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who had implemented party-state rule and martial law in Taiwan — has a complicated legacy. Whether one looks at his time in power in a positive or negative light depends very much on who they are, and what their relationship with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is. Although toward the end of his life Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law and steered Taiwan onto the path of democratization, these changes were forced upon him by internal and external pressures,
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
RSS