Editorial: Time for common sense to prevail

Recently the chorus in Taiwan baying for capitulation to China's demands regarding acceptance of the "one China" principle as a precondition for talks has become deafening. Last week Formosa Plastics boss Wang Yung-ching (王永慶) made the obeisance to the formula required by Beijing, in return for which he appears to have been given an extra 2,000 hectares for his petrochemical project in Ningpo, Zhejiang Province. John F. Kennedy once said that whenever you appeal to a businessman's sense of patriotism he always behaves like a son of a bitch. An unfairly broad generalization perhaps but certainly true of Wang, who joins an undistinguished company of the politically halt, lame, blind and just plain crooked, including the incompetent Lien Chan (連戰), the pathetic Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), the back-stabbing Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and James "Chung Hsing Bills" Soong (宋楚瑜).

If proverbially one can tell a lot about a man from the company he keeps, you can also tell a lot about an idea from those who hold it. One look at the ugly mixture of has-beens, wannabes and the nakedly ambitious that make up the "one China" chorus and those with common sense should reject the idea out of hand.

Of course, common sense is rarely to be found in Taiwan's political opposition. But it does seem to be gaining ground in Washington. Not only has the administration of George W. Bush taken a far more robust line on arms sales and defense to Taiwan than his predecessor would ever have done, but senior officials involved in Asian affairs are also beginning to see sense about China-Taiwan negotiations. This is partly a result of the Bush team being more realistic about relations with China.

The price for China letting Bill Clinton in 1997 appear to have a foreign policy success with the announcement of a "strategic partnership" was a shocking abandonment of US principles toward Taiwan, in particular Clinton's switch from the previous US position that it "acknowledged" ie, understood Beijing's "one China" position to "embraced," ie, agreed with this position. On top of this, Clinton was outspoken in his refusal to acknowledge the right of the people of Taiwan to self-determination. What made Clinton's position doubly odious was that the US was at the time trying to pressure Taiwan and China into resuming talks while, in acquiescing to Beijing's denial of equality between the two governments, weakening Taiwan's negotiating position to that of a conquered foe. That Taiwan refused to behave as the Clintonites wished did it no favors and the nation only gained it the reputation of being a "troublemaker."

How refreshing it is therefore to see a cross-strait policy emerge which pays some attention to realities. Beijing's preconditions for restarting talks with Taiwan are absurd and US officials are beginning to say so.

For example Torkel Patterson, the White House's chief Asia expert, said last week that there should be no preconditions for talks. This comes on top of Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly saying that talks should be resumed and that while the US did not intend to play a role, it had an "abiding interest" in the peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences. All this on top of the arms sales and Bush's statement about defending Taiwan in case of a Chinese attack should be sending a clear message to Beijing. That is that it should talk to Taiwan, that its current conditions for doing so are preposterous and should be dropped, that the US will not abide any attempt to militarily intimidate Taiwan, and that it will maintain Taiwan's military capabilities at parity with the PRC to ensure that this does not happen.