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For Beijing, love can't be trusted

On May 31, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and a British trade organization jointly hosted an international aid conference in New York, at which the Taiwan Chamber of Commerce rented a booth. A sign with the English message "Love From Taiwan"was hung in the booth, in view of the recent pressure China has been putting on Taiwan.

The sign lacked any reference to nationalism or sovereignty. If any implicit political message did exist, it could only have been the tiny ROC flag located on the booth's counter. Still, after the exhibition opened, the Chinese government complained that the booth was promulgating "two Chinas" and "one China, one Taiwan" propaganda.

The sponsors confiscated the sign and the flag. Some informational booklets from the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu-Chi Foundation (慈濟公德會) were also seized, as well as the namecards of business associations the booth was providing to visitors. The "confiscators" had a terrible attitude and even called in security personnel to forcibly remove news photographers from the scene.

If the removal of the material was open and above board, then why weren't reporters allowed to take pictures?

After mediation by the director of the Taiwan Chamber of Commerce, Wang Yi-hsing (王義興), the sponsors returned some of the confiscated booklets the next day, the last day of the conference. However, they refused to return the sign.

These events conveyed the following message:

1. China's accusation that the booth was pushing "two Chinas" and "one China, one Taiwan" views was drummed up. Moreover, the sponsors were blackmailed into taking action; otherwise they wouldn't have removed all the booth's disaster relief and trade-related materials in such a desperate and frenzied manner, and wouldn't have denied permission to hang the sign.

2. A recent incident where a Chinese sea captain was fatally shot by personnel on a Philippine ship, supposedly in China' s territorial waters, didn't warrant an objection from Beijing. There-fore, by objecting so fervently about Taiwan at the aid convention, it is obvious the Beijing government still has the subservient attitude of "kiss the foreigner, spit on your own."

3. Why would China have UN workers forcibly remove even the Tzu-Chi Foundation's booklets? It would appear that they don't want Tzu-Chi to assist with overseas relief efforts. There is an old saying that goes: "Don't let precious water flow into others' fields." It appears Beijing believes that disaster relief efforts are best limited to China -- not only would this save money and free up spending for the military, but would also provide corrupt officials with great opportunities.

4. Why was it necessary to confiscate the sign? Because as Mao Zedong (毛澤東) once said: "Communist philosophy is the philosophy of struggle." For this reason "love" cannot be used. Mao said "there is no innocent love in the world." Thus, beneath "Love From Taiwan" lies a hidden agenda, designed to deceive foreigners; perhaps "Hate From Taiwan" would have been more acceptable to China.

5. These events clearly show that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) still imbues relief aid and trade with politics, and proves that all the pressure applied to Taiwan during the 921 earthquake rescue efforts was not coincidental, but rather was a product of China's heartless, violent nature.

6. Following A-bian's (阿扁) inaugural speech, Beijing reportedly expressed some goodwill towards Taiwan, even to the point where it was said that "one China" didn't need to mean either the PRC or the ROC. But it looks as if everyone should probably just give up on this issue -- if "Taiwan" isn't allowed to appear in a title, how can the notion of a country possibly work?

7. Beijing recently hinted that the the "one China" concept can be divided into "inside" and "outside." "Inside," both sides of the Strait are equal and Taiwan comprises a part of China as does the mainland. Only to the "outside" would Taiwan be considered part of the PRC. This just means that "equal status" would be used to appease Taiwan; unaware foreigners would end up being used by China to achieve its ends.

8. With the ROC flag outlawed for allegedly representing "two Chinas," and a sign reading "Love From Taiwan" accused of promulgating "one China, one Taiwan," all that is left for Taiwan to use is the name "Formosa."

9. The UN has already lost the spirit of its founding principles and abandoned its international human rights charter -- blind to the fact that China tramples on and violently threatens the self-respect of Taiwan's 23 million citizens. Some UN officials are already piously following the CCP's every word. For example, on a recent visit to Beijing, UN General Secretary Kofi Annan spoke about the Falun Gong. After his visit, however, he turned around and started chastising the group in accordance with the official CCP line. China must possess some kind of paranormal power that allows it to rope in all these people.

10. It is extraordinarily difficult for Taiwan to expand the scope of its foreign relations. It must be very flexible, persistent and unafraid to take risks. Foreign relations affect all the people of Taiwan. In domestic politics, parties can say what they want and browbeat each other. But in foreign relations, a spirit of unity can hopefully be maintained, similarities stressed, differences downplayed and feuding avoided.

Paul Lin is a political commentator based in New York.
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