A blue-ribbon US government panel has recommended that Washington reconsider its "one China" policy and other fundamental US policies toward Taiwan.
The recommendation is the most dramatic of a series of suggestions made by the high-powered US-China Economic and Security Commission, a group set up by Congress in 2000 to assess US policies on US-China relations.
"Recent developments across the Strait are putting increasing stress on the United States' `one China' policy, demonstrating the need for a new assessment of [that] policy that takes into consideration current realities," said the report, released yesterday morning in Washington.
"Congress and the administration should conduct a fresh assessment of the `one China' policy, given the changing realities in China and Taiwan, including the policy's successes, failures and continued viability," the report said.
It also called for a reassessment of "whether changes may be needed in the way the United States government coordinates its defense assistance to Taiwan; and how US policy can better support Taiwan's breaking out of the international economic isolation that the PRC seeks to impose on it."
The recommendations, if accepted by the Bush administration and the administration that wins the November presidential election, could represent the most dramatic change in US cross-strait policy since the administration of Jimmy Carter recognized Beijing diplomatically in 1978.
The recommendation fits with a low-key, but ardent, effort by conservative thinkers in Washington to change the "one China" policy, an effort that many conservatives feel goes as high as House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who has hinted at his preference for a change in recent years.
The commission was created as part of a defense spending bill four years ago. Its earlier findings and recommendations have been given weight in Washington because of the expertise of its members and the bipartisan nature of its suggestions.
On cross-strait relations, the commission said recent actions by China warrant a re-examination of policy.
"China's recent actions toward Taiwan and Hong Kong call into question its commitments to a peaceful approach toward Taiwan and to preserving Hong Kong's autonomy and self-government. These developments merit a fresh look at US policies in these areas by the Congress and the executive branch," the report says.
At the same time, the commission urges measures to bring about a resumption of cross-strait dialogue to avoid armed conflict between China and Taiwan.
"Congress should consult with the administration on developing appropriate ways for the United States to facilitate actively cross-strait dialogue that could promote the long-term, peaceful resolution of differences between the two sides and could lead to direct trade and transport links and/or other cross-strait confidence-building measures," the report says.
It urges the administration to report to Congress on the status of such talks, the obstacles to them and US efforts to promote dialogue.
Echoing a recent report by the Pentagon on China's military situation, the commission pointed out Beijing's increasing military threat to Taiwan.
"China's quantitative and qualitative military advancements have resulted in a dramatic shift in the cross-strait military balance toward China, with serious implications for Taiwan, for the United States, and for cross-strait relations," the commission report says.
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
RSS