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Well aware of the weasel's tricks

China has once again come up with new tricks after shutting Taiwan out of the World Health Assembly (WHA) on May 19. In a letter sent to the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) on May 23, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) expressed its willingness to help Taiwan fight the SARS epidemic by donating 100,000 N95 masks, 200,000 pieces of protective clothing and four ambulances.

It is impossible for a crude trick for unification such as this one to convince the Taiwanese of China's good will, because Chinese officials' repulsive looks at the WHA had already disappointed the people.

Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi (吳儀) told a mouthful of lies and used abusive language at the WHA about her "fellow countrymen" in Taiwan. She wanted Taiwan to shut up and said Beijing has always helped Taiwan in fighting the epidemic. Therefore, she said, it was not necessary for Taiwan to join the World Health Organization (WHO). She also said that Beijing would permit WHO experts to come to Taiwan and help with epidemic investigation.

We don't know if China is afraid of being criticized by others or is trying to expiate its guilt or stage a show. To our surprise, ARATS, which has had no dealings with the SEF for many years, took the initiative to send a letter. It tried to curry favor with the Taiwanese by offering masks and protective clothing as a way of showing that China has provided Taiwan with ample help.

Well, "a weasel offering New Year's greetings to a hen has ulterior motives," as the old saying goes. If China is sincere about helping Taiwan fight SARS, it should speak in support of Taiwan's immediate entry into the WHO and should not hold Taiwan back. Instead, China has gotten worse as it threatens to change our nation's title in the WTO and make Taiwan a province.

Beijing almost seems to have forgotten that the SARS virus came from Guangdong, where there is a liking for eating wild game. Beijing has not properly reviewed the fact that its health departments concealed the epidemic -- a move tantamount to bureaucratic homicide. Nor has Beijing expressed its regrets to the international community for being so irresponsible as to let SARS spread to neighboring countries.

The fact that SARS killed many people cannot be excused by providing a few masks and protective clothing. And the fact that the WHO needed no approval from China to send experts to Taiwan poked a hole in Wu's bragging at the WHA.

With regard to this mask incident, people with discerning eyes know the Chinese authorities are paying lip service to us. Beijing is clearly up to its usual tricks. China will do anything it can to hit Taiwan.

We have never had the luck to benefit from Beijing's assistance and good will. But, we must also question the Mainland Affairs Council for not declining at once ARATS' offer of medical supplies. The SARS crisis clearly shows that we have not made proper judgment and planning for countermeasures to China's possible moves against us.

By only focusing on epidemic prevention at home, government agencies have overlooked cross-strait and foreign relations factors in their crisis management.

After Taiwan has come through the SARS storm, each agency and ministry should communicate with one another and plan how to revitalize the economy and persuade other countries to strengthen their exchanges with us. For effective epidemic prevention, the Executive Yuan's agencies must strengthen communications and implement crisis management.

SARS is a crisis as well as a turning point. Our government and political parties have long been inured to China's political tactics and tricks against us. However, the pro-unification media and political figures have appeared unusually indifferent during this period. They even showed sympathy for China's grievances and our rejection of ARATS' goodwill. They even went further to spread rumors and shift attention to our first family's household affairs.

The pan-blue parties attacked the president but ignored the wrongdoings by the other side of the Taiwan Strait. They even cheered and encouraged the government to speed up direct links. Such a mentality of distorting truth and making trouble is utterly condemnable.

Parris Chang is a DPP legislator.

Translated by Grace Shaw
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