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Editorial: KMT lays its cards on the table

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Chiang's (蔣孝嚴) statement on Monday that he would advise KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) against spending large amounts of money on diplomacy if elected president was very revealing for a number of reasons.

Chiang said that the source of the nation's diplomatic predicament doesn't lie in Central and Southern America; it hinges on cross-strait relations.

He was implying that better relations with China would mean Beijing would put a halt to its all-out assault to steal Taiwan's allies. But in reality, he was saying that he would be willing to forgo relations with Taiwan's allies in return for better relations with China.

To make no bones about it, China's "blank check and blackmail" approach to eliminating Taiwan's diplomatic allies will not cease until the last ally has gone, regardless of the state of cross-strait relations.

China has shown on many occasions how little it cares about the feelings of the people of Taiwan. The blocking of international help after the 921 Earthquake and during the SARS crisis are just two of the most obvious examples.

That is the reality and, despite all the histrionics and accusations of "dollar diplomacy," the KMT is fully aware of this. After all, it was the KMT -- in its desperation to hold onto allies -- that began the bidding war with China. For want of a better option, the Democratic Progressive Party is just carrying on where the KMT left off.

As a former foreign minister and a representative of the party caucus -- as he purportedly was on Monday -- Chiang's views obviously reflect a KMT consensus, which means this policy would be implemented should Ma prove victorious in next March's election.

The effect would be a sharp decline in the number of countries willing to recognize Taiwan, further inhibiting the nation's already limited ability to have its voice heard around the globe.

Add this suicidal "surrender" approach to diplomacy to the Chinese "common market" economic plan recently proposed by KMT vice presidential candidate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) and you don't need a map to see where the KMT wants to lead Taiwan.

The KMT wants to take Taiwan firmly into China's bosom by increasing the nation's diplomatic and economic reliance on its giant neighbor. This would result in a slow strangulation of Taiwan's remaining international lifelines and help Beijing complete its unification master plan.

The KMT already has a cooperation agreement with the Chinese Communist Party, the biggest single threat to Taiwan's continued existence as a democracy, and it has used this partnership to undermine the government's authority on several occasions.

Yet the threat that a future KMT government poses to Taiwan's freedom doesn't tally with the amount of support the party consistently enjoys.

Polls have shown that around 80 percent of the population back the nation's UN bid, meaning they support Taiwan's independence either as the "Republic of China" or "Taiwan," and they definitely do not see Taiwan's future as a province of China.

People who support the nation's independence and yet support the KMT need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

They should ask themselves whether their hopes and aspirations for Taiwan's future are really congruent with a party that espouses severing links with the outside world for increased cross-strait exchanges -- not to mention its policy of unification.

They should also ask themselves about where Taiwan's future as an independent, democratic country lies under a future KMT government.

The answer is simple -- it doesn't have one.
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