Hot on the heels of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (
This is intended to help him in his campaign to become the next KMT leader, by demonstrating his loyalty to Lien and his willingness to pursue the already flagging "China fever." Nevertheless, given the results of the National Assembly elections, and Lien's decision not to stand for another term as party chairman, it is already quite apparent what the public thinks of his idea of "ruling Taiwan through co-operating with China."
The most important aspect of the constitutional amendments passed in the National Assembly is the inclusion of public referendums which, while far from being ideal, shows at the very least that Beijing's bottom line on the issue, following on from their fierce opposition to referendums in Taiwan just one year ago, is not set in stone.
This shows us what public solidarity in Taiwan can achieve, and affords us another way of looking at the possibility of talks between Chinese President Hu Jintao (
The international community is keen to see negotiations conducted across the Taiwan Strait, and reluctant to see war break out between China and Taiwan. The calls for Hu-Chen talks are therefore perfectly understandable. Pro-China politicians in Taiwan would also like to see these talks come to pass, if only to give legality to their investments in China. This reasoning has even tempted members of the ruling party.
Taiwan, to show its sincerity, has asked the US to intervene and facilitate cross-strait talks, but they politely declined the invitation. This is no doubt because the lessons have been learnt from their efforts at military arbitration some 60 years ago, which not only ultimately failed, but left both sides on non-speaking terms.
China is the party that most wants the Hu-Chen talks, but they have insisted on the acceptance of the "one China" principle as a prerequisite to any such dialogue. Taiwan has maintained its opposition to this, with Chen believing that any talks should not result in Taiwan's sovereignty being compromised.
As far as Taiwan is concerned, equal status is the key to protecting its sovereignty. The problem comes in how exactly we understand what "equal status" means.
For a start, the concept of "one China, with each side having their own interpretation" should not be regarded as implying equality. First, the media in Taiwan is at liberty to talk of the People's Republic of China (PRC), but their counterparts in China are not permitted to refer to the Republic of China (ROC).
Second, China is free to use the name PRC anywhere in the world, whereas Taiwan is subject to considerable limitations in using its name in the UN and in other international forums, basically because of pressure from China. For these two reasons alone, we cannot talk of equal status at this time.
China will eventually resort to feigning its abandonment of the "one China" principle just to get negotiations started, before turning around and insisting on it again. It is, after all, easy to fall into a trap, but something else entirely to get out again. The international community's lack of understanding of China and the pressure that this can impose on Taiwan means that it is absolutely necessary that Taiwan can present an explanation of what is happening and is in a position to impose its own conditions.
First, Taiwan must demand that China reform its media to permit greater press freedom. An example of their shameless practices can be seen in the instance when China's media uniformly quoted Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) using the term "homeland" in reference to China. Wu protested the reports, but of course the media refused to admit any wrongdoing, for their actions were directed by government policy.
With a press that lends itself to such government manipulation, it would hardly be surprising if the Chinese media reported a Chen-Hu meeting in terms of the former's supplication to the latter. Taiwan's pro-unification media would assist the Chinese government in creating chaos, so it would be difficult for Chen to make his message clear.
China has not hesitated to misrepresent statements made by US President George W. Bush and edit statements by former secretary of state Colin Powell made during interviews in Beijing. The US has been unable to do anything about these actions. Taiwan would be at an even greater disadvantage. China's ability to misdirect public opinion could cause talks between Chen and Hu to have more pitfalls than benefits.
Moreover, China's government has never referred to Chen by his title of president. As they refuse to accept the legitimacy of Taiwan's government and its officials, what is there to talk about?
So when will it be the right time for a meeting between Chen and Hu? Perhaps only when a legitimate opposition party from China has visited Taiwan, and its media is able to refer to Chen as "President Chen Shui-bian."
Paul Lin is a freelance writer based in New York.
Translated by Paul Cooper and Ian Bartholomew
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