Less than a month before the World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting on May 18, the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) reportedly held clandestine talks with its Chinese counterpart in which Beijing agreed that Taiwan could participate in the WHA meeting as an observer under the name “Chinese Taipei.”
The Ma administration’s decision-making process has not been transparent. The government continues to prevaricate on reports that it held secret talks with China. China appears to be offering an olive branch by giving Taiwan the green light to participate in the WHA meeting. However, the public does not know what conditions Taiwan had to accept and what price it will have to pay for all this.
The Ma administration decided not to submit an application to the WHA through the nation’s diplomatic allies or on its own. Instead, it pleaded with China — for peace and reached a clandestine agreement with Beijing on the WHA issue. Opposition legislators and independence activists see this as a underground deal made by the Ma administration at the expense of Taiwanese sovereignty.
However, if Taiwan does not insist on applying for WHO membership as a sovereign state, it will not be able to participate in any WHO-related meeting or event under its actual name. Even if the government were to attend the WHA meeting as an observer under the name “Chinese Taipei,” it would not mean that Taiwan would be able to continue to participate in the meeting next year. Taiwan would still have to obtain approval from China before it could participate in the international health body.
China has employed the carrot-and-stick approach in dealing with Taiwanese affairs. On the one hand, Beijing gave “Chinese Taipei” some international space to perfunctorily meet the Taiwanese public’s demand for international participation.
On the other hand, Beijing continues to restrict Taiwan’s participation in most international events as part of its efforts to gradually undermine its international status and gain ultimate control. As soon as it becomes an accepted international norm that Chinese approval is a prerequisite for Taiwan’s participation in any global organization, every country will naturally view China as Taiwan’s suzerain, posing a serious challenge to Taiwan’s status as an independent, sovereign state.
The Ma administration’s secret talks with China on Taiwan’s participation in the WHA can be seen as an act of self-denigration. This is not simply a technical negotiation but one involving the nation’s sovereignty and security. Preserving this sovereignty is crucial to Taiwan’s survival. Active supervision of the government is imperative, and the public should demand that the Ma administration disclose the contents of its talks with China to make the decision-making process transparent. Only then will we be able to say that Taiwanese sovereignty and interests have not been sold out.
Chen Lung-chu is president of the Taiwan New Century Foundation.
TRANSLATED BY TED YANG
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) were born under the sign of Gemini. Geminis are known for their intelligence, creativity, adaptability and flexibility. It is unlikely, then, that the trade conflict between the US and China would escalate into a catastrophic collision. It is more probable that both sides would seek a way to de-escalate, paving the way for a Trump-Xi summit that allows the global economy some breathing room. Practically speaking, China and the US have vulnerabilities, and a prolonged trade war would be damaging for both. In the US, the electoral system means that public opinion
In their recent op-ed “Trump Should Rein In Taiwan” in Foreign Policy magazine, Christopher Chivvis and Stephen Wertheim argued that the US should pressure President William Lai (賴清德) to “tone it down” to de-escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait — as if Taiwan’s words are more of a threat to peace than Beijing’s actions. It is an old argument dressed up in new concern: that Washington must rein in Taipei to avoid war. However, this narrative gets it backward. Taiwan is not the problem; China is. Calls for a so-called “grand bargain” with Beijing — where the US pressures Taiwan into concessions
The term “assassin’s mace” originates from Chinese folklore, describing a concealed weapon used by a weaker hero to defeat a stronger adversary with an unexpected strike. In more general military parlance, the concept refers to an asymmetric capability that targets a critical vulnerability of an adversary. China has found its modern equivalent of the assassin’s mace with its high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) weapons, which are nuclear warheads detonated at a high altitude, emitting intense electromagnetic radiation capable of disabling and destroying electronics. An assassin’s mace weapon possesses two essential characteristics: strategic surprise and the ability to neutralize a core dependency.
Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) said in a politburo speech late last month that his party must protect the “bottom line” to prevent systemic threats. The tone of his address was grave, revealing deep anxieties about China’s current state of affairs. Essentially, what he worries most about is systemic threats to China’s normal development as a country. The US-China trade war has turned white hot: China’s export orders have plummeted, Chinese firms and enterprises are shutting up shop, and local debt risks are mounting daily, causing China’s economy to flag externally and hemorrhage internally. China’s
RSS