Ever since coming into office, Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has followed a policy of rapprochement with China. His government inked the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) alongside 15 other agreements and Ma has taken great pride in the warming of cross-strait relations. Other nations, including the US, have also been seen to applaud this approach, as — on the surface — it reduces tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
So far, the perception of China is that it is comparable to the white swan from the recent movie Black Swan, dancing gracefully and elegantly in the ballet of the international political theater.
However, the black swan has already started to make the occasional appearance, indicating perhaps that the image of the white swan is fleeting. Beijing can only fake its white swan appearance briefly.
In spite of the cross-strait rapprochement, Beijing has continued its breakneck military buildup across the Taiwan Strait. Military spending in the People’s Republic of China will rise 12.6 percent this year, and — despite pronouncements to the contrary from People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Chief of Staff General Chen Bingde (陳炳德) during his recent visit to Washington, Beijing continues to aim at least 1,600 ballistic missiles at Taiwan.
China also continues to restrict Taiwan’s international space. The great “breakthrough” claimed by the Ma administration in 2009, when it was “allowed” to be an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA), the annual get-together of the WHO was revealed to be an empty position when an internal WHO memo showed explicit instructions that Taiwan be referred to as a “province of China.”
The memo, dated Sept. 14, 2010, also indicated that procedures used by the WHO to facilitate relations with Taiwan were subject to Chinese approval. The memo further stated that Taiwan, “as a province of China, cannot be party to the IHR [International Health Regulations].”
This memo showed a total disregard for Taiwan’s sovereignty and status as a free and democratic nation, providing instead an example of international kowtowing to the authoritarian regime in Beijing.
The WHO added insult to injury when it refused access to the WHA’s Geneva meeting to the WHO Membership for Taiwan Alliance, a coalition of Taiwanese civic groups that support Taiwan’s membership in the international organization.
Alliance members were previously always allowed to observe WHA proceedings. Suddenly, new “rules” were produced this year banning entry to anyone with a passport from Taiwan.
The Ma administration made a feeble attempt to respond to the leaked memo. On May 14, Department of Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) attended the WHA meeting and lodged a “strong protest” in a letter to the WHO.
Ironically, this “protest” letter itself became quite controversial when it was discovered that phrases concerning Taiwan’s sovereignty, which appeared in the Chinese----language version and which were clearly for domestic consumption, disappeared in the English version. Terms referring to “the nation” or “our country” in the Chinese text were mysteriously translated into English as “my,” “I” and “our.”
Both in Taiwan and internationally, we need to work harder to ensure the white swans gain the upper hand.
Jean Wu is a graduate in diplomacy and international relations from Seton Hall University in New Jersey. She works at the Formosan Association for Public Affairs in Washington.
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