Although he was expected to take over the chairmanship of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), Donald Keyser, a former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, has suddenly been charged with secretly flying to Taiwan and passing documents to Taiwanese intelligence agents.
Since the case itself is extremely complex and the outside world knows little about it, local media have begun to sensationalize the personal relationship between Keyser and Isabella Cheng (
Cheng's husband is a journalist and Washington correspondent for The China Post. Ironically, he himself has now attracted the spotlight of the sensationalist reports from his unprofessional colleagues.
Meanwhile, some of the pro-China media have seized the chance and labelled Keyser as pro-Taiwan by citing anonymous sources. They even reported that during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's (
This eye witness-style report strongly suggests that Keyser is a spy for Taiwan. Suspicious reporting of this kind also tells us that Bush -- the leader of the world's most powerful country -- deals with important documents such as drafts from the State Department by simply throwing them away. If this story is true, then the spies that the US really has to watch out for are those working as White House janitors.
There is still much that remains unknown about this whole incident, but based on the testimony of his colleagues, Keyser has been a steadfast moderate on the Taiwan issue, favoring neither the [pro-China] red team nor the [pro-Taiwan] blue team in the US. As such, we find it hard to believe that Keyser would slip up at a time when his career is at its peak and he is looking forward to retirement. Further, there is no information available that proves Keyser has passed any secret documents to intelligence agents here.
From a pro-Taiwan perspective, we naturally think that the more supportive of Taiwan US officials are, the better. Taiwan and the US do not have formal diplomatic relations, but have a deep and substantive friendship. Both countries follow the rule of law, and the exchanges between their respective officials should also be confined by the law.
But since the relationship between officials from both countries relies heavily on mutual understanding and empathy, the line between legal and illegal practices is often vague. Difficulties are inevitable between Taiwan and the US -- two allies that maintain a relationship without official relations.
The Keyser case underlines the confused nature of the boundaries of the relationship between the US and Taiwan, which is often so unclear that even the most experienced diplomat can occasionally transgress them.
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment on Friday last week to add four national holidays and make Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors — a move referred to as “four plus one.” The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who used their combined legislative majority to push the bill through its third reading, claim the holidays were chosen based on their inherent significance and social relevance. However, in passing the amendment, they have stuck to the traditional mindset of taking a holiday just for the sake of it, failing to make good use of
RSS