To set a clear agenda and operational guidelines on matters related to the national security, the National Security Council -- under the direct order of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) -- is drafting a National Security Strategy Report (NSSR).
After a series of internal discussions, the NSSR will encompass five main areas, including economics and finance, humanistic society and the environment, national defense, cross-strait affairs and foreign affairs.
Given both domestic and external constraints, Chen and his national security team must put the emphasis on how they will realistically and pragmatically meet the challenges of world affairs, and outline the best national security strategies for Taiwan in the coming decades.
The NSSR must first define the gravest danger Taiwan faces and clarify strategies and tactics to defend our nation against enemies. The People's Republic of China (PRC) has incorporated military, diplomatic and economic means to threaten Taiwan. No doubt this constitutes the main threat to Taiwan's national security.
Under Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Nevertheless, the mainstream thinking in the international community -- led by the US -- remains preoccupied with a policy of "con-gagement," a combination of containment and engagement, to develop relations with the PRC.
Taiwan must honestly recognize the reality that most countries are preoccupied with a policy of "con-gagement." What Taiwan needs most is to prioritize its national security policies and work to achieve a balance of power that supports Taiwan's democracy and cross-strait peace.
One way to differentiate Taiwan from China is to resort to the values of democracy that distinguish "democratic Taiwan" from "authoritarian China." Taiwan can also highlight Beijing's unilateral sabotage of regional peace and stability by reaffirming the desire to play a more constructive role in forging peace across the Taiwan Strait and in the Asia-Pacific region.
To broaden its global presence and influence, Taiwan can also redirect attention and resources into a "Pacific Islands diplomacy," based primarily on oceanic or marine ties with countries in the Pacific Ocean.
After the two state visits by Chen to five of Taiwan's diplomatic allies in the South Pacific earlier this year and the successful transit stop in the Republic of Fiji, over half of the countries of the South Pacific showed support for Taiwan's bid for observer status in the World Health Assembly.
The application of the maritime-oriented South Pacific model to Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa would require a tremendous rethinking of the ingrained "continental" mentality of Taiwan's foreign ministry and other concerned agencies inherited from the "greater China" mentality of the former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime.
Such rethinking is long overdue and increasingly urgent, especially as Taiwan's ties in Central America, which have long been the center of Taiwan's diplomatic competition with the PRC, are being eroded by Beijing's use of economic incentives.
A detailed review of the domestic politics of Taiwan's allies in the region is of the utmost importance.
In addition, Taiwan must intensify its efforts to participate in regional organizations.
Those are the central issues that must be realistically and pragmatically addressed in the final version of the NSSR.
Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
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