Taipei Times: Some people have accused the administration of being “naive” in believing that Beijing will exercise goodwill toward Taiwan based on the so-called “diplomatic truce.” What’s your response? Also, can you define just exactly what a “diplomatic truce” is?
Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊): In fact, a “diplomatic truce” was a concept that I proposed many years ago. For a long time, Taiwan’s diplomacy focused on maintaining relations with our existing allies and fostering warmer ties with important non-allies such as the US, Japan and the EU. However, we have consistently ignored China, refusing to enter into a dialog with Beijing. We cannot keep blindfolding ourselves by pretending China does not exist.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The world trend now is to replace conflict with reconciliation. You will only reap more trouble if you insist on antagonizing [Beijing].
To reach cross-strait reconciliation, the most significant layer would of course be on the diplomatic front. Cross-strait harmony would be impossible unless both sides can reconcile over diplomatic issues.
Yes, many people have said that it seems like Taiwan is retreating and that Taiwan is “begging” China, but that is absolutely incorrect.
To say Taiwan is “begging” China would be to say that Taiwan has a case of “unrequited love” (一廂情願) hoping Beijing would extend its goodwill, which is not at all the case.
A diplomatic truce can only take place when both sides offer goodwill. I think a truce in the Strait is highly possible because a continuing antagonism would be damaging to them and to us.
Truth be told, many underhanded tactics are used in the diplomatic scuffle. It is not only a monumental waste of money, but also creates animosity from the international community about creating instability in a certain region. For example, Australia has been publicly offended about the China-Taiwan tug-of-war in the South Pacific.
On the contrary, positive cross-strait interaction would erase the negative images of both countries and create a win-win situation for both sides. Therefore we should avoid any factors that might discourage a positive interaction. A diplomatic conflict should be the first obstacle removed from preventing improved cross-strait relations.
Also, many Chinese leaders have stressed that to resolve the Taiwan Strait issue, [Beijing] must first win the hearts of the Taiwanese people. Thus a conflict with Taiwan would not serve its national interests.
On Taiwan’s participation in international organizations: In an era of globalization, world-wide collaboration has become more crucial than ever.
Taiwan’s long-standing alienation not only infringes on our rights, the world also suffers from not benefiting from what Taiwan can contribute. Therefore, to the international community, Taiwan’s participation is absolutely necessary.
China’s oppression is the only reason why Taiwan is alienated. In recent years, we have gained more sympathy and support from other nations, such as in the case of the WHO. We need to be pragmatic and recognize the crux of the issue.
No matter whether you approach it from a pragmatic or a flexible perspective, Taiwan must engage China to solve the dilemma. So it is evident that whether it’s bilateral relations or multilateral relations, Taiwan needs to have a dialog with Beijing.
TT: From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ perspective, what kind of goodwill has China extended toward Taiwan since May 20?
Ou: At the moment, all cross-strait discussions have been focused on economic issues. We have a tacit understanding with Beijing that the harder issues, meaning political issues, will come later.
It is quite clear that the Beijing government has heard Taiwan’s concerns. [Chinese President] Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) on several occasions said the issue of Taiwan’s international space can be discussed. We can say that is the direction that China is heading.
Since we have not launched an official discussion, we can now only try to interpret their intentions which are still unclear to us because sometimes their officials are courteous at international settings, but sometimes not.
I think it is because China has not made an internal decision on its future attitude toward Taiwan, but they are very clear over Taiwan’s intentions. However, I am quite sure they also favor the direction of reconciliation.
TT: What would Taiwan consider as examples of China’s goodwill?
Ou: Paraguay is a good example of China’s goodwill. During the election, the Paraguayan president-elect said he would sever relations with Taiwan once he won the seat. But so far we have not heard any more about it. Moreover, he has invited us to attend his presidential inauguration.
So far we can say it is all stable, but it does not mean we can relax because, who knows, maybe one day Paraguay will go back on its word.
Our diplomatic strategy in the future will not be too different from the past, except that in the past we concentrated too much on gaining new friends but ignored our existing allies. And this is why we lost nine allies but only gained three in the last eight years.
Now we will focus our energy on cementing ties with our allies. As part of Taiwan’s goodwill toward China, we will also not approach its allies.
TT: Critics have said that Beijing is becoming the one dictating Taiwan’s diplomatic affairs and that Taiwan is retreating.
Ou: Absolutely not. Taiwan is definitely not retreating, but concentrating on strengthening ties with our existing allies. We want to maintain the current status where Taiwan will not try to lure away Beijing’s allies and Beijing agrees to leave our friends alone.
But if Beijing refuses to call a truce, then we will have no choice but to return to the previous ugly fighting, which would be a huge disservice to both sides, as has been proven in the past.
TT: Is there a concern that some of Taiwan’s allies might become more interested in establishing ties with Beijing since Taiwan itself has also become more China-friendly?
Ou: It is a fact that many countries want to lean toward China, but there are also countries that are leaning toward Taiwan. That is the ugliness of a diplomatic scuffle. Therefore to avoid such contention, both sides must uphold goodwill by not moving away from the current status.
To me it would be heartbreaking to see the ugliness continue, because it would just be a waste of the taxpayer’s money.
TT: President Ma has repeatedly stressed the importance of repairing mutual trust between Taipei and Washington. In your view, how badly was the relationship damaged and how does Taiwan propose to fix it?
Ou: Because of what happened in the past, the US is still skeptical about whether the new administration is trustworthy or not. US-Taiwan relations deteriorated to the level that there were doubts about Taiwan’s credibility and whether it would honor or default on its promises.
In the future, we will consult with the US on major policies to ensure a “surprise-free” relationship that the president has strongly stressed.
This is the main reason why we have emphasized that the president’s stopovers in the US will simply be transits on the way to our destinations. No fanfares and no activities, as promised.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
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
RSS