Since there are still serious “conceptual” differences between Taiwan and China, and Taiwanese are not ready to explore cross-strait engagements in areas beyond the economy and trade, Beijing should not push Taipei to hold talks on political and security issues, former American Institute in Taiwan chairman Richard Bush said in Taipei yesterday.
Bush said he was “rather pessimistic” that cross-strait negotiations would move beyond the relatively easy economic issues into political and security matters during President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) remaining time in office, which overlaps significantly with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) term.
Some in China would like to see this turning point in the development of cross-strait ties happen during Ma’s second term, but Bush said he did not expect this would occur for two reasons.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“One is that it is clear to me that the Taiwanese public is not ready for that turning point. Second, I think that there are still important conceptual gaps between the two sides,” he said.
At the center of the conceptual disagreements between the two countries is the issue of whether China is willing to accept the existence of the Republic of China (ROC), Bush said.
“I hope that Beijing is not pushing [Taipei] on this. Some of its policymakers are very patient on this [matter] and I hope that their patience continues,” he said.
Bush, who is the director of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies in Washington, is in Taipei to launch the Chinese edition of his book Uncharted Strait: The Future of China-Taiwan Relations, the third in his trilogy about Taiwan.
At the book launch, Bush praised cross-strait rapprochement in the five years since Ma took office and attributed the progress to both Ma and former Chinese president Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), whom he said had taken “certain risks” to reduce the level of “mutual fear” trapping both sides over the past 10 to 15 years.
China’s recent push for bilateral talks on issues involving eventual unification, as stated in Hu’s work report to the Chinese Communist Party’s 18th National Congress, has brought political issues to the forefront of cross-strait negotiations, exerting pressure on Ma to deal with the sensitive topics.
Bush said he did not think a reversal in cross-strait ties was likely because there is a still much work to be done in economic areas and perhaps also in the cultural sector.
“Maybe a little bit more likely is that since the momentum will slow down, it’s possible that some mistrust could develop because of that,” he said.
“But I hope that won’t happen,” Bush said. “I think there is still a lot to do in the economic area and particularly important is that the two sides implement well the agreements that have already been reached [in the past five years], and so feel confident that it’s worth moving forward to other types of agreements.”
Bush said that Beijing could eventually change its approach toward Taiwan from a “paradigm of mutual persuasion,” under which each side needs to communicate clearly what it needs in their interactions, to a “paradigm of power asymmetry” to seek its ultimate goal of unification through pressure and intimidation.
Bush said he did not think this would happen in the next few years, but it might happen if the Democratic Progressive Party returns to power, or if Beijing for some reason loses patience with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government.
Asked about Taiwan’s military investment, Bush said it is important for the nation to develop a defense and security strategy that reflects the threats facing it.
He added that it is appropriate for military authorities to look into the local production of advanced fighter aircraft and submarines in light of the current threats the country has to deal with and its budgetary situation.
Asked about his views on a cross-strait peace accord, Bush said it was “fairly unlikely” that such a pact would be signed in the near future.
“To sign a peace accord, you will probably have to have a precise definition of ‘one China,’ something more explicit than the [so-called] ‘1992 consensus.’ That gets you again to the issue of the ROC, which is very difficult,” Bush said.
It is not clear how much Taiwan’s security would be improved if it inked a peace accord with China if the pact only covers intentions — such as Taiwan pledges not to declare independence and China renounces the use of force against Taiwan — and ignores that China continues to build up its military capabilities, Bush said.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test
RSS