Not long ago, the government announced that it would not issue visas to World Uyghur Congress leader Rebiya Kadeer and its secretary-general Dolkun Isa because the government claims Kadeer is closely connected with terrorists and because Isa was said to be a terrorist. Because the government feared a lawsuit, it has changed its tune and says the reason for not issuing visas is that it would jeopardize cross-strait relations.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said it would “make China feel uncomfortable.” The same reason is given for not letting Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi (李洪志) into the country. Who would have thought that Ma’s guiding principle was to make the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) feel comfortable and that he therefore must keep anyone the CCP doesn’t like out of Taiwan?
As Taiwan is leaning heavily toward the CCP, the US has finally seen Ma’s true colors. On Oct. 7, the Liberty Times, the Taipei Times’ sister publication, reported that sources in Washington revealed that the US administration has completed an internal Taiwan policy review and now intends to send US Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, a retired US Army four-star general, to visit Taiwan next spring to strengthen US-Taiwan relations. That would be the first such visit since before George W. Bush took office.
Such a move would be certain to make China, which wants to bring down US imperialism and “liberate” Taiwan, feel uncomfortable. It would also make Ma, who is cooperating with China to suppress Taiwanese independence, feel uncomfortable. The question is whether Ma will dare make the US feel uncomfortable by making China feel comfortable.
Paul Lin is a political commentator.
TRANSLATED BY PERRY SVENSSON
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