All was cheerful and merry as President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday lauded former vice president Lien Chan’s (連戰) recent meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) on the sidelines of the APEC leaders’ summit in Vladivostok, Russia. Praising Lien’s trip as fruitful, Ma commended his APEC envoy for not only winning a promise from Hu to “seriously study” the possibility of “helping” Taiwan participate in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), but for striking an agreement with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to begin exploratory work for resumption of the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement talks.
Focusing on how Lien conveyed Ma’s appreciation to Hu for the “great contributions” he has made to cross-strait ties, and how Hu, for his part, said China would continue to promote peaceful development across the Taiwan Strait, it might appear to the public that China has reduced its hostility toward Taiwan.
If only everything were as rosy as pictured by the Ma government.
The truth is that the Ma administration has a long-term problem of telling only half-truths, for example creating the false impression that cross-strait relations are all clear sailing under Ma’s governance.
Rather than praising Lien for obtaining Hu’s “promise” to “help” Taiwan take part in the ICAO, why does Ma not condemn Beijing obstructing Taiwan’s joining the organization in the first place? Let us not forget that Hu actually said China would study the possibility of letting Taiwan participate in the ICAO in “an appropriate way.”
As Hu reiterated Beijing’s “one China” principle in his talk of expanding cross-strait ties and deepening the development of cross-strait peace, how proud can Taiwan really be if it only obtains ICAO observer status on the grounds that it is part of China?
As for Lien expressing appreciation to Hu for the “great contributions” he has made to cross-strait ties, did it even for a nanosecond occur to either Ma or Lien how ironic it was to be thanking Hu, when it is China’s blatant obstructionism that has prevented Ma (and his predecessors) from attending the APEC leaders’ summit as a leader duly elected by the people of Taiwan?
It certainly is a good thing for the government to share good news with its people, but it is totally despicable for a government to play down an oppressor’s ambition to annex the country. This show of goodwill toward Taiwan is nothing but a poisoned chalice.
According to the Ministry of National Defense’s China Military Power Report 2012 recently delivered to the legislature, the number of Chinese ballistic and cruise missiles aimed at Taiwan has increased from 1,400 last year to more than 1,600 this year.
If China were truly sincere in extending goodwill to the Taiwanese, then it should remove all its missiles targeting Taiwan and stop obstructing Taiwan’s participation in international organizations. Attaching the condition of the “one China” principle to its willingness to help Taiwan take part in international bodies is no goodwill at all.
All the whitewash in the world cannot help Ma and his government disguise China’s goals, no matter how much they praise its cross-strait contributions.
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment on Friday last week to add four national holidays and make Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors — a move referred to as “four plus one.” The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who used their combined legislative majority to push the bill through its third reading, claim the holidays were chosen based on their inherent significance and social relevance. However, in passing the amendment, they have stuck to the traditional mindset of taking a holiday just for the sake of it, failing to make good use of
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
RSS