Editorial: Sticks and stones won't hurt us

Beijing has always blamed Taiwan for the cross-strait stalemate, calling it a "troublemaker." A clear case of the pot calling the kettle black, as a few solid examples will show.

China has been bent on coercing Taiwan to accept the "one China" principle, refusing to deal with Taipei unless it bows to one China. Beijing tries to block everything Taiwan does -- from participation in international organizations to foreign aid programs to disaster relief donations -- unless it wears the one China dunce's hat. Many countries find such behavior repulsive, but most of them are willing to compromise with Beijing for fear of ruffling its feathers. But the US House of Representative's International Relations Committee unanimously passed a resolution yesterday, requiring Secretary of State Colin Powell to"initiate a United States plan to endorse and obtain observer status for Taiwan" at the annual summit of the World Health Organization in May. Taiwan could have long been a WHO member if not for China's blocking its entry. Shutting a country out of a non-political organization like the WHO is a flagrant violation of human rights. Exactly who is politicizing issues and making trouble here is very clear.

Taiwan is a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. But China has been trying to apply political pressure to block Taiwan's leaders from attending the APEC leaders' summit in Shanghai in October. If the chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) can attend the summit, why can't Taiwan's president have the same rights as other heads of state? On its English-language APEC Web site, Beijing calls Taiwan an "island province," proclaiming that "since 1949, the government of the People's Republic of China has claimed jurisdiction over Chinese Taipei." Beijing is using its host status to make statements that violate APEC rules. Who exactly is the troublemaker?

Cross-strait visits by officials from the two sides have become quite common. While visiting China, Taiwan officials have never fussed about seeing China's flag or Mao Zedong's (毛澤東) portraits at the places they visit. They have also been wary about making controversial statements. But when He Shizhong (何世忠), director of the economic bureau at China's Taiwan Affairs Office, visited recently he babbled incessantly about one China, fulminated against the Taiwan government and demanded that no matter where he went, he did not want to see the ROC flag or the portrait of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). His behavior prompted a strong reaction from the Taiwan media, while Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took the unprecedented step of issuing a statement warning him to behave politely as a guest should.

Hong Kong rolled out the red carpet for Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) during his recent visit, but waited almost a year before issuing a visa to Chang Liang-jen (張良任), Taiwan's de facto representative in Hong Kong. Chang can only enter the territory as general manager of the Chung Hwa Travel Service (中華旅行社) -- not under any official title. Recently Minister of Finance Yen Ching-chang (顏慶章) and Council of Economic Planning and Development Chairman Chen Po-chih (陳博志) threatened to cancel their visits to Hong Kong because they were asked to sign statements vowing not to "engage in activities that humiliate the SAR government" and not to "represent Taiwan's sovereignty." Only after Taiwan threatened to take retaliatory measures did the Hong Kong government give up.