Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) is now in Taiwan. Since the governments of Taiwan and China do not recognize each other, they rely on the semi-official ARATS and its Taiwanese counterpart, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), to handle communications between the two sides. Chen and SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) held talks in Beijing in June, but this is the first time the two have met on Taiwanese soil, and both governments have taken the event seriously.
Taiwan is a democracy and the normally camera-shy President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) felt compelled to grant a rare TV interview in an attempt to convince the public that the meeting between the SEF and ARATS chairmen would bring prosperity and peace to Taiwan.
China, in contrast, is an authoritarian regime, so the government does not need to address its people on the issue. Chen, therefore, can devote all his energies to “united front” work directed at Taiwanese. Aside from apologizing — under pressure — for the toxic milk affair, Chen followed the example of ARATS Vice Chairman Zhang Mingqing (張銘清) in trying to launch a tender offensive by sobbing in front of the camera.
They may be crocodile tears, but they will have the desired effect on some people. At the same time, Taiwanese businesspeople operating in China have voiced their support for the Chiang-Chen meeting.
The governments on both sides have done their utmost to generate a positive atmosphere for the talks, but they have encountered numerous obstacles.
For a start, Chen is not a welcome guest for many Taiwanese. After all, the country he represents has more than 1,300 missiles aimed at Taiwan, does all it can to restrict Taiwan’s participation in international organizations and activities and is endlessly plotting how to annex Taiwan, by force if necessary.
As if this were not enough, nasty diseases and toxic goods keep making their way from China to Taiwan.
In May, Ma, an advocate of “eventual unification,” moved into the Presidential Office, opening the way for Chen to visit Taiwan. Like an emissary of empire, Chen is receiving the full treatment given a head guest of state — except, perhaps, for the red carpet. Contrary to past practice for meetings between the SEF and ARATS, where the guest organization has always followed the arrangements of the host, this time everything has been fixed by China.
Ma’s government sought China’s prior approval for every detail, including which hotel Chen would stay at, where the talks would take place and even Chen’s itinerary during his five days in Taiwan.
And they agreed to keep the itinerary secret.
By bending to China’s will at every turn, Ma and his ministers downgraded Taiwan even before the talks began. Their foolishness is bound to put Taiwan at a disadvantage at the talks. On Oct. 25, just a week before the meeting, 600,000 people turned out for an opposition demonstration with the central demand that Taiwan’s sovereignty be safeguarded. As head of state, Ma could have ridden the tide of public opinion and used the crowd’s demands to push Taiwan’s interests in his dealings with China.
Instead, the government never misses a chance to lower Taiwan’s status relative to China. It has been leaning increasingly close to China, locking on to China’s market as the only solution to the country’s woes, and trying to conceal its own inability to handle the international financial crisis and domestic discontent.
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