The joint statement issued by Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and US President Barack Obama on Nov. 17 was cause for concern. Taiwan was further marginalized in the triangle of relations between Taiwan, the US and China and is now in an unprecedented predicament. Taiwan must amend the Referendum Act (公民投票法) to state that “cross-strait agreements shall be decided by public referendum.”
That is the only way for a united Taiwan to deal with the enormous pressure for political talks this nation can now expect from Hu.
The joint statement did not mention the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) — which governs Washington’s Taiwan policy — but did mention the three Sino-US joint communiques.
territorial integrity
The statement also treated China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as the core of the three communiques and changed Washington’s “one China policy” into a “one China principle.”
Obama even publicly supported Hu’s request for Taiwan to start cross-strait political talks soon.
The US’ promises to Taiwan weakened and Washington violated its 1982 “six assurances” to Taiwan by endorsing cross-strait political talks.
With Obama’s endorsement, Hu is expected to pile on the pressure to achieve his dream of creating an irreversible framework for unification before he steps down in 2012.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his government have said Taiwan will sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China in March, even though its contents remain unclear.
COMING SOON?
Hu said recently that Taiwan cannot avoid political negotiations with China, meaning that such talks are likely to be on the table soon after an ECFA is inked.
Judging from his sophistication and deviousness, Hu will ask that Taiwan make a commitment during the signing process to pave the way for political talks and an agenda for a possible Ma-Hu meeting in 2011.
Just a week before the Hu-Obama meeting, China sent a large delegation of academics to Taiwan.
Their tough stance on unification indicates that Beijing was aware of Washington’s support for cross-strait political talks in advance. In the face of both the former’s oppression and the latter’s push, Taipei is facing a crisis: Political talks seem inevitable.
The situation today is even more critical than it was in 1979, when the US established diplomatic ties with the People’s Republic of China.
The US and China are now cooperating to lead Taiwan to the slaughter.
The only solution is to strengthen the nation’s democratic mechanisms as soon as possible and give the public substantial power to decide its future.
PIVOTAL POINT
This is a pivotal moment. Taiwan must amend the Referendum Act and build a consensus on the need for cross-strait decisions to be made by the public through plebiscites.
Referendums on this would endow the public with a right that reaches beyond the blue-green divide to have their say on the nation’s future.
They would also be an effective tool to unite the public and build a domestic consensus on crucial matters.
If Taiwan does not amend the Referendum Act and put cross-strait agreements to referendums, it will find itself squeezed between China and the US into a difficult and irreversible situation.
Lai I-chung is an executive member of Taiwan Thinktank.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
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