As Beijing marked the 65th anniversary of the victory over Japan, the “outstanding leadership” of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was mentioned, but not a word was said about the role of the nationalist army in yet another Chinese rejection of the Republic of China (ROC).
Apparently, there is no longer any room for the ROC in the CCP’s interpretation of “one China,” and this spells immeasurable uncertainty for cross-strait relations.
The Chinese leadership in Zhongnanhai has frequently been critical of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) lately, both openly and indirectly. This was probably the most severe instance of such criticism, with its complete disregard of the CCP-KMT forum. China simply will not allow Ma the opportunity to continue using his political rhetoric as they prod him on toward political negotiations and a substantive response to China’s demands for a mechanism for establishing mutual cross-strait military confidence-building mechanism and the signing of a peace agreement.
Zhongnanhai’s displeasure with Ma is nothing new. They will not let Ma use China’s promise to forgo benefits in connection with the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) as an excuse to avoid political talks, since that is not in line with the promises made at the KMT-CCP forum.
Early last month, Beijing sent Chinese Assistant Minister of the Taiwan Affairs Office Li Yafei (李亞飛) to Taiwan.
Li made it clear that the so-called “1992 consensus” means that “the two sides of the Taiwan Strait both adhere to the one China principle,” whereas Ma continued to insist that it means “one China with each side having its own interpretation” of what that China is.
He also said that “one China means the Republic of China. There is no two ways about it.”
At first, Beijing thought this was mere electoral rhetoric, but they later found that Ma can no longer control the forces that oppose him and favor Taiwan.
This is causing problems for Hu, who has to step down in 2012 and is coming under fire from Chinese hawks who say the current situation is tantamount to “peaceful secession.”
This could lead to changes in Zhongnanhai’s strategy.
On a recent visit to China, two high US officials, Larry Summers — director of the National Economic Council and former secretary of the treasury — and Deputy National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon, found that Beijing is being “pointedly cold” and said this implies an upcoming shift in Sino-US relations.
As for Taiwan, the US and Japan are indirectly critical of Ma’s pro-Chinese policies, in particular after a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) general struck right at the heart of US worries by saying that “these weapons will be ours sooner or later, since Taiwan will return to the Motherland sooner or later.”
In terms of military power, Taiwan is no longer an “unsinkable aircraft carrier” and Ma is distancing himself from the US and Japan in favor of China, thus also distancing himself from other democracies. Beijing is jumping at the opportunity to press Taiwan into cooperating with China to rebuild Taiping Island (太平島). Unless the US is able to stabilize the situation, Taiwan’s territorial demands in the area will soon be history.
When it comes down to it, Ma is weak, incapable and living in his own dream world — eventual unification — and in his naivete, he places excessive hope on the ECFA. This tells Beijing that it can take what it wants.
When Ma is saying there will be “no unification, no independence, no war” he is only talking to himself.
Lu I-ming is the former publisher and president of Taiwan’s Shin Sheng Daily News.
TRANSLATED BY PERRY SVENSSON
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under