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
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
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.
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