Since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) initiated a referendum on joining the UN using the name "Taiwan," Washington has strongly voiced its opposition to the plan.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week criticized the DPP government's UN referendum as a "provocative policy" that "unnecessarily raises tensions in the Taiwan Strait and ... promises no real benefits for the people of Taiwan on the international stage."
She was the highest ranking US official to express disapproval.
Lin Cheng-yi (林正義), a research fellow at Academia Sinica's Institute of European and American Studies, said he expected to see overall Taiwan-US relations return to normal next year after the country chooses a new leader.
He did not think the US opposition would deliver a significant blow to the DPP, unless the KMT uses it as a political tool and encourages its supporters to sink the proposal.
He said he also did not think the DPP would take advantage of US opposition to stir up public resentment against Washington because the DPP is well aware that most Taiwanese are not anti-American and it is relatively easier to whip up anti-China sentiment than anti-American feeling.
"Beijing is smart enough to realize that they do not need to be vocal about Taiwan's UN referendum because they can hide behind Washington's back and use them to oppose the campaign," he said.
Lin said Washington's disapproval has come at Beijing's request, but he also pointed out that while voicing opposition to Taiwan's UN referendum, Rice reiterated the US position that they do not want to see Beijing unilaterally change the "status quo" in the Taiwan Strait or use any non-peaceful means against Taiwan.
It is significant that the people of Taiwan send out a strong message to the world that they want to participate in the international community, he said, adding that the best-case scenario would be that both referendum proposals pass, because that would only strengthen the message and be in the best interests of the country.
Former presidential adviser Wu Li-pei (
One thing that seems apparent, however.
"It seems the shortest distance between Beijing and Taiwan is through Washington," Wu said.
While Beijing has kept relatively quiet on the referendum proposal, Wu said Washington was vociferous about it mainly because they did not want to see tensions rise in the Taiwan Strait and they wanted to placate China, who firmly believes that the referendum is a step toward Taiwan's de jure independence.
"If the US fails to stop Taiwan from holding the referendum, I suspect China will jump into the driver's seat and take matters into its own hands," he said. "It remains to be seen what impact that will have on Taiwan."
Wu said that it is wishful thinking to believe that the US would support Taiwan at this time because US interests in China are much greater than its interests in Taiwan.
"There is only interest in a diplomatic community," he said. "There is no such thing as right or wrong."
To break Taiwan's isolation in the international community, Wu proposed an appeal to the American public, including connecting with grassroots organizations and diverting diplomatic funding for the country's diplomatic allies to the US in a bid to secure broader understanding across the US of the situation here.
Jerome Keating, a Taiwan-based commentator, said he believed the US State Department was indulging in overkill and that its response to the UN referendum was excessive in the context of a bona fide plebiscite.
"They have made a commitment [to China] to hold back Taiwan without making it public," he said.
Keating said the US has consistently been misinformed on events on the ground in Taiwan.
"They are reaping the results of what they have sown by purposely keeping the position on Taiwan vague for over 50 years," he said.
To describe Rice's statement as "unfair" may not be the right word, Keating said, but rather "inappropriate" or "embarrassing."
"Here is the Secretary of State caught having to defend the indefensible. This all happens when at the same time the US is backing the independence of Kosovo against Russian influence," he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at