One of the greatest contradictions in Washington's policy toward Taiwan is that it has interfered in elections consistently to the benefit of the pan-blue camp, despite its strategic interests lying unequivocally with the pan-green camp. US President George W. Bush's condemnation of Chen Shui-bian (
It appears that Washington strategists decided that its criticism came too early, so in December they waited until the last minute to play their spoiler. This time, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli condemned Chen's plans to change the name of Taiwan's offices abroad, a proposal which had been a highlight of the last week of Chen's election campaign.
On this occasion Washington was more successful: The pan-greens failed to win a predicted majority of seats in the legislature. Given that the principal concern of the Bush administration is, and has been for some time, that Taiwan pass the NT$480 billion (US$15.13 billion) special arms budget, which the pan-blue camp has resolutely opposed, Washington clearly scored a spectacular own goal.
There is little glee in finger-pointing. The concern now is to undo the damage that has been done to the interests of both Taiwan and the US. But how?
Purely domestic solutions have been tried and so far have failed. The so-called agreement between Chen and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
It had been hoped that the sheer outrageousness of Beijing's "Anti-Secession" Law last month would shame the pan-blue camp into giving the arms budget the nod. Instead, they have refused to let the budget bill advance to the committee stage in the legislature on three occasions.
Meanwhile, the KMT continues to court Beijing. KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
As usual, some in the US have been blaming Chen for not "pushing" the issue far enough. This is plainly ridiculous: Putting the budget to the legislature three times in one month can hardly be called dilatory. The truth is that the government has done all it can and is at the point of recognizing that there can be no movement on this issue while Lien remains KMT chairman, which means no movement until August at the earliest.
Domestic solutions have failed. It is now up to Washington to exert pressure from afar. As to how this can be done, let us remind our American friends that the interests of the pan-blue leaders and legislators in the US are extensive, and comings and goings across the Pacific frequent. The obvious solution is to deny entry to the US to those who would frustrate US policy -- until they see the error of their ways. A refused visa here, a refused entry there -- it can be subtle yet pointed, and it will definitely hurt. And in a post-Sept. 11 security climate, no explanation need be given.
The arms budget has to pass. It's time to apply the thumbscrews.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under