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.
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