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Editorial: Mr Wu goes to Washington

With just a year left until he leaves office, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has finally decided to appoint a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member to be the nation's top representative to the US. By selecting Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Chen has fit the last piece into the DPP's diplomatic puzzle. US-Taiwan relations are crucial to the nation's diplomatic, security and cross-strait interests, so the appointment of Wu was a very good decision.

Wu's predecessors, Chen Chien-jen (程建人) and David Lee (李大維), both did satisfactory jobs, and their reassignments were not a reflection on their abilities or performance.

Since he became president, Chen has sent a number of DPP members to learn the diplomatic ropes as deputy representatives to the US, but has demonstrated his respect for the professionalism required by the job by retaining more qualified Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members in the top post. However, to train its own members in diplomacy and North American affairs, the DPP has finally sent one of its own. If it hadn't, it would have squandered an opportunity to make its mark on US-Taiwan relations.

When problems arose between Taiwan and the US, there was some mutual distrust between Taipei and the representative office in Washington due to differing political backgrounds. Both Taipei and Washington wondered if their messages were getting through, or whether they were being distorted through the prism of domestic politics. As a result, the Presidential Office often bypassed regular diplomatic channels to contact the Bush administration, leaving the official representative office in charge of administrative affairs only. But as Wu has Chen's trust, he should be able to put an end to the confusion and redundancies.

Although Taiwan-US relations are fundamentally diplomatic affairs, Washington has always been a main battleground during exchanges between China and Taiwan. Since Beijing began enlisting the US' help in restraining Taiwan from changing the "status quo," Washington has become the most direct and effective shortcut for each to exert pressure on the other.

This has been especially true since former US deputy secretary of state Robert Zoellick began encouraging China to become a "responsible stakeholder." For example, during a visit to the US in 2005, Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) said the US and China should "jointly manage the Taiwan Strait." Last week Chen said that Taiwan, the US and China should work together to manage cross-strait peace, security and stability. Clearly all three countries have accepted that the US holds an important position in cross-strait relations.

Chen's appointment of a seasoned veteran in cross-strait affairs to represent Taiwan in Washington clearly demonstrates his view that cross-strait relations are an extension of Taiwan-US relations. In doing so, he has established a strategic triangle between the three countries.

Wu's appointment as Taiwan's most crucial diplomatic officer will be a heavy responsibility and test of his ability. As the first DPP representative to the US and one of Chen's most trusted allies, he will not only be the nation's envoy in Washington, but also a channel of communication and the architect of mutual trust between Taiwan and the US. He will also need to use the US' political leverage to maintain balance among the three players in the Taiwan Strait.
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