US must stick to principles
Contrary to what Trung Latieule suggests (Letters, Dec. 16, page 8), the US does not have a tough decision to make regarding Taiwan. It only has to follow US principles on Taiwan, principles that have been spelled out long before US President George W. Bush and that will live long after Bush.
These principles are: the peaceful resolution of differences and the fact that any change in status must have the consent of the Taiwanese people.
What Bush does not need is to leave a legacy of altering these principles. So far he has not, and I believe he will not.
As to the military power balance shifting toward China, if that is true, then the reason is obviously Taiwan's internal politics.
The national identity has a split personality, and this is particularly true with military and research establishments.
However, with Taiwan's economic power and high-tech talents, how hard could it be to build enough missiles to deter a possible Chinese missile attack?
The sooner China admits it is facing an ideology it cannot defeat, accepts that and starts behaving accordingly, the better it will be for all concerned, including China itself. As for the US, staying the course, with or without dual agendas, this can only lead to success.
Chen Ming-chung
Chicago, Illinois
Conspiratorial pan-blue camp
The pan-blue camp's resolution that asks China to dismantle its missiles ("Legislature condemns missile threat," Dec. 17, page 1) is a conspiratorial act, for three reasons.
First, their resolution states that "the ROC is an independent sovereign state and the status quo should not be altered by any foreign force." Based on their belief in the "one China" principle, they may argue that the PRC is not a "foreign force." In this case, they will accept it if the status quo were to be altered by the PRC.
Second, they call Taiwan the ROC in their resolution, and the PRC they call the "China Mainland Official." Someday, the PRC may collaborate with them and voluntarily drop "People's" from its name and become the ROC. Watch out, or Taiwan will be merged "peacefully" with China.
Last, they refuse to include the clause "the ROC is not subordinate to the PRC" in their resolution. The obvious reason is that they still dream that they will recover the mainland so that the name "ROC" can be used there again.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
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