For the past three decades and up until his death on Nov. 12, James Lilley was one of the few people in US diplomatic circles that truly understood and cared for Taiwan’s interests.
Born in Qingdao, China, Lilley called himself a “Shandongese” and served as US ambassador to China and director of the American Institute in Taiwan, but his heart was still in Taiwan.
Lilley was a man of integrity and principle and he loved Taiwan. Because he was able to rationally look at the mutual interests of the US and Taiwan, as well as China’s shortcomings, he was not deceived by Beijing’s anti-imperialism or the view that the US was indebted to China.
Taiwan’s most important interests are its sovereignty and security. Since the Korean War, the US’ security interests in East Asia have included preventing Taiwan from being conquered by a hostile state. The US’ role in protecting Taiwan’s sovereignty and security is legally based on Taiwan’s undetermined status and politically on the fact that the people of Taiwan are not willing to be annexed by China.
Lilley contributed to the consolidation of common US and Taiwanese interests. Even though he failed to stop Washington from signing the three joint Sino-US communiques, he made possible the Six Assurances between the US and Taiwan, which reiterated that the US would not alter its position regarding sovereignty over Taiwan or set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan, nor would it exert pressure on Taiwan to enter into negotiations with China.
Although he failed to push through the sale of new US combat aircraft to Taiwan during former US president Ronald Reagan’s terms in office, Lilley persuaded former US president George H.W. Bush’s administration approve the sale of F-16A/B jet fighters to Taiwan.
In a speech at the Penn State University after he retired from politics, Lilley criticized the US government for confining itself to the three Sino-US communiques and said the Chinese concept of sovereignty was outdated.
He said the US should recognize Taiwan’s democratization and that US policies must reflect this new reality. He said Taiwan and China had evolved into separate entities.
Lilley witnessed the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing and the Chinese government’s suppression of dissent.
He once said that we couldn’t use our emotions to sympathize with Beijing because as soon as we identified with China, we would become blind to its defects and errors. Lilley understood China so well that he became an unwelcome figure in Beijing.
It is rare for US politicians and experts on Chinese affairs to be able to look at China as Lilley did. For the past 60 years, Taiwan has obtained US support for its anti-communist and democratic developments.
Now that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬’’) is leaning full-tilt toward China and abandoning both opposition to communism and the drive for democracy, it is not surprising to see that Americans are starting to wonder why they should support Taiwan.
James Wang is a media commentator.
TRANSLATED BY TED YANG
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