US President George W. Bush has enough headaches in taking care of the US. The war in Iraq is not over. The nuclear disarmament with North Korea is much more complicated. The war against terrorism never seems to end. Therefore, Bush was in a disturbed mood when he announced that he did not want Taiwan to hold a referendum during its March presidential election to address the future of Taiwan. His announcement was an attempt to please Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (
Taiwan is a democratic country. People there are as free as the people in the US. As a matter of fact, Taiwan is ranked the No. 1 free country in Asia.
China is a dictatorship. Bei-jing's policy is set by only a handful of people who are not chosen by the citizens. It currently has 496 missiles aimed at Taiwan. China will invade Taiwan by force if Taiwan declares independence through a referendum chosen by the Taiwanese people.
The US threatened the war against Cuba when Havana obtained missiles from Russia, which were aimed at the US during the Kennedy era. Eventually Russia dismantled the missiles and ended the crisis.
The Taiwanese in Taiwan want -- through the referendum -- China to dismantle those missiles. This is simply an exercise of democracy and an expression by the people to defend their own country.
Bush does not have to be nervous or uneasy about this situation. I believe on this issue his reaction was unexpected and a complete surprise. Rather, we expect that he will support free people to exercise their own will without intimidation.
Moreover, we expect Bush, peace-loving Americans and all other rational people on Earth will join the effort to denounce China for its terrorist act to have missiles aimed at a neighboring country. After all, the value of democracy, peace and human rights will connect everyone together and the dictatorship will be outlawed.
Cheng Tien-chu is a member of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission.
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and
As former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrapped up his visit to the People’s Republic of China, he received his share of attention. Certainly, the trip must be seen within the full context of Ma’s life, that is, his eight-year presidency, the Sunflower movement and his failed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, as well as his eight years as Taipei mayor with its posturing, accusations of money laundering, and ups and downs. Through all that, basic questions stand out: “What drives Ma? What is his end game?” Having observed and commented on Ma for decades, it is all ironically reminiscent of former US president Harry