Amid suggestions that Australia might not support the US in the event of cross-strait military conflict, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) criticized Australian foreign affairs officials yesterday for blaming cross-strait tension on Taiwan during their recent visit to Beijing.
"When the Australian foreign minister [Alexander Downer] went to China, he told them that he hoped that Taiwan would refrain from provoking cross-strait tensions. I was not present, but if I were, I would tell him that he was not thinking clearly," Chen said yesterday in Taitung.
"They [China] have 500 missiles aimed at Taiwan -- but then [Downer] visits China and is afraid to say anything. The US has a bit of courage at least and is willing to tell China to its face that the `Taiwan issue' needs to be resolved peacefully and that China should not use military force," Chen said.
"But then [Downer] visits China and states that Taiwan should not provoke the situation. He does not even mention the fact that as a large nation, China cannot use military force and attack Taiwan without causing regional instability," he said.
Adamant
Becoming more adamant, Chen continued to speak on the issue even as his aides tried to push reporters away.
"This kind of behavior makes one unfit to be called a courageous politician," Chen said.
"Tension across the Taiwan Strait is not our fault. The ball is in their court. How they choose to pass this ball to us is their responsibility, not ours. It is not Taiwan that causes cross-strait tension but the `large country' that has the ability to attack us," Chen said.
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister John Howard yesterday played down suggestions that Australia would not back the US if it was drawn into a war between China and Taiwan as the issue became the unlikely focus of pre-election campaigning.
The opposition Labor Party accused Downer of a major diplomatic blunder for telling reporters in Beijing that Canberra would not automatically help the US defend Taiwan.
Under a US-Australian defense treaty, the two countries will assist each other in the event of an attack or conflict with a third country.
But as Australia begins talks with Beijing over a possible free trade deal, Downer's remarks highlight the difficulty Australia faces should it be forced to choose between its growing economic interests in China and its long-standing military allegiance with the US.
China is Australia's fastest-growing trading partner and fourth-largest export market. Trade between the two nations totaled A$23 billion (US$16.4 billion) in 2002.
Dilemma
Howard dismissed the issue as "hypothetical," but highlighted the dilemma Canberra faces.
"America has no more reliable ally than Australia and I am not ashamed to say that," he told radio station 3AW. "But we have interests in Asia. We have a separate, strong growing relationship with China, and it is not in Australia's interests for there to be conflict between America and China."
Vice Foreign Minister Michael Kau (
Meanwhile, the Labor Party sought to make political mileage from the debate ahead of federal elections due by year's end. Labor foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd, a former Beijing-based diplomat, accused Downer of a serious diplomatic gaffe.
"The Taiwan Straits [sic] is one of the most diplomatically and strategically explosive crisis points within our region," Rudd said in a statement. "We cannot afford a foreign minister who blunders into such a diplomatic minefield, and lets drop a new Australian strategic doctrine on the run. In diplomacy, words are bullets."
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by