In the wake of President Chen Shui-bian's (
Future historians will probably agree that Taiwan's greatest problem in the last two decades has been its absolute inability to come up with a rational policy to deal with China. The reason why no such policy was ever forthcoming has a lot to do with the ambivalence of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which governed for the vast majority of this period, toward Taiwan.
Much of this ambivalence was the result of the divide in the KMT between an old guard which loathed Taiwan independence as "anti-Chinese" and an affront to their dreams of a powerful China seeking its place in the world, and the Taiwan-firsters like former president and KMT chairman Lee Teng-hui (
But there has also been miscalculation. Originally, investment in China was allowed simply because it was happening anyway and nobody had the nerve to start prosecuting businessmen for investing there. Once China had tasted the fruits of this investment, so the thinking went, it would be willing to make concessions for such things as direct links. Such thinking, however, was wrong.
What happened is that Taiwan's economy has become a virtual hostage to China. Lee tried to stop this rot in 1996 with his "no haste, be patient" policy. But as the economy weakened after the 2000 election, a panicky Chen actually abandoned Lee's policy, putting the concerns of a heavily China-invested business elite over national security and the electorate's economic well-being. Chen has continued to make concessions to China and has just as continuously been rebuffed in everything he has done, while Taiwan's position has weakened with each passing month.
How can this rot be stopped? Only the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) seems to be asking this question. This week it released a legislative election campaign manifesto which contained some good ideas. Plugging the drain of capital outflow to China is of course vital, as is beefing up the military. A wholesale shift in the values of the education system toward the promotion of Taiwanese consciousness is also needed.
But what really impresses is that while everyone complains about Taiwan being bullied, the TSU has given thought to what to do about it. The suggestion that all Chinese visiting Taiwan should have to take an oath recognizing that Taiwan is not part of China is exactly the kind of niggling irritant that is needed to show that two can play China's game.
It is not that Taiwan wants to promote conflict. It is quite willing to work with Beijing if Beijing is reasonable. But when Beijing shows no signs of changing its attitude, it is perhaps time to replace the kid gloves and the outstretched hand with a mailed fist.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under