US should trust Taiwan

It remains unclear as to the exact motive behind Chinese President Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤) latest appeal to US President George W. Bush, when he said: "I hope the US will join the Chinese side in safeguarding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and opposing so-called independence."

Oddly, this statement sounds as if Hu was openly inviting the US to "interfere" in China's "internal affairs," a violation of Article 3 of China's earlier enacted "Anti-Secession" law.

It's doubtful that Hu is signaling Beijing's readiness to rescind the Law or admitting that Beijing is having difficulty ironing out differences directly with Taiwan's legally elected officials.

Equally implausible is the notion that China may be hinting at its willingness to engage in a multilateral meeting of the minds.

Far more likely, Beijing is simply trying to placate the US so that it can continue its unencumbered backdoor maneuvering to steal Taiwan with the collaboration of pan-blue camp leaders.

This is in spite of the fact that, as a part of the pan-blue leadership's treachery, the passage of Taiwan's special arms procurement bill has been blocked repeatedly -- a major frustration to US defense officials.

Reportedly, the long-suffering frustration culminated in a highly critical speech delivered on behalf of the Pentagon by Edward Ross, a top official at Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

Ross, during a Taiwan-US Business Council defense industry conference held in San Diego, California recently, said that the US needed to take the matter of the arms procurement impasse to the Taiwanese people.

However, the Taiwanese people -- often the target of international scorn for their reluctance to guard their own homeland -- are the most misunderstood.

For one thing, these are the people who are supposed to defend a country that's not even formally recognized by most of the global community, including the nation's closest allies, the US and Japan.

The Taiwanese people have been asked to maintain a "status quo" which is increasingly in flux and untenable owing in no small measure to the collaboration of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) with Beijing.

Moreover, it has been very difficult for the average Taiwanese to comprehend the US' rationale.

The US has been saying that the future of Taiwan should to be determined by the Taiwanese people, but the US is against Taiwan setting up realistic mechanisms to make full self-determination possible.

And to further confuse the Taiwanese people, the US has successfully thwarted any drive by President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administration in the last five years toward establishing a normal, sovereign state.

Still, it's not too late for the US to reverse the deterioration in cross-strait relations and help restore confidence to the Taiwanese people.

For instance, the US can reiterate that the promise to aid in Taiwan's defense against aggression -- which is mandated by the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) -- will remain valid even if Taiwan declares formal independence.

The US can further declare that the existence of the TRA is inexorably linked to the Taiwan's undetermined status.

Any concern that Chen will then become reckless in pursuing Taiwan's formal independence issue would then be unfounded.

Instead, such a declaration by the US would place the burden of avoiding stepping over Beijing's "red line," and thus touching off a war, squarely on his shoulders.

It would make his administration more conservative yet more creative on this issue. Taiwan would then have the confidence and obligation to find the most peaceful way of becoming a broadly recognized sovereign state.

On the other hand, this affirmation of Taiwan's future by the US will immeasurably boost the Taiwanese people's morale.

And, in turn, it will stiffen Taiwan's resolve to defend itself and address US frustration about Taiwan's reluctance to arm itself adequately.

Nevertheless, it might be unrealistic to hope that Bush will take advantage of the rare opportunity offered by Hu's afore-mentioned invitation to meddle in China's "internal affairs."

And unrealistic as well to expect him to give Beijing the following rejoinder: "Yes, the US will join the Chinese side in safeguarding long-term peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and supporting a peacefully evolving Taiwan independence."

Huang Jei-hsuan
California