After several days of speculation and comment on Lien Chan's (
The idea of confederation been around for some time and debated on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Eighteen months ago a Beijing group, the Association for China Development, suggested that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait set up a loose confederation as two political entities on an equal footing. The group even lobbied the Beijing leadership to have the topic raised during the meetings between Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) and Wang Daohan (汪道涵) in October 1998.
Here in Taiwan, Formosa Plastics Group Chairman Wang Yung-ching (
And in 1996 in the US, Ralph Cossa, executive director of the Pacific Forum CSIS, a Honolulu-based policy research institute, also showed some warmth for the idea, saying a confederation would satisfy Beijing's primary concern -- preserving the "one China" principle -- while satisfying Taipei's fully justified quest for increased international respect and recognition. Cossa suggested the establishment of a loose confederation now with each side maintaining separate foreign and domestic policies. Then at a designated point in the future, Taiwan residents could vote for full incorporation with China or continuation of the confederation.
Another US foreign policy maven that has embraced the same idea is Robert Scalapino, professor of government emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley, who last September suggested that Taiwan might consider a confederation proposal were Beijing to offer one, but that such a move would have political costs that Beijing's leaders were probably unwilling to pay.
It's strange that Lien should nevertheless take so much trouble to deny that he is an advocate of confederation since, after all, that seems to be exactly what Lee Teng-hui (
All such talk, says Lin Chong-pin of the Mainland Affairs Council, is pie-in-the-sky unless Beijing creates a democratic, free and prosperous society to lay the groundwork for reunification.
Actually, there is something more fundamental that all these advocates of federation, confederation, "one country, two systems" or any other formula for reunification must stress, and it is intellectually dishonest for them to make it anything lower than first on the list of conditions that must be fulfilled before such a thing can even be discussed. This is, of course, that Beijing renounce the use of force.
It is ridiculous to imagine that discussing reunification formulas would ever make sense while people in Taiwan have a gun pointed at their heads while being told to sign on the dotted line.
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