Twenty years ago, in September 1994, then-US president Bill Clinton’s administration announced the results of its Taiwan Policy Review. At the time, it had been 15 years since the ending of relations with Taiwan and the passage of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act. It was generally felt that the transition to democracy in the nation justified an upgrade in relations.
I served as ranking Republican on the East Asia and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee in the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the time and took a strong interest in this issue. I applauded the conducting of the policy review, but was disappointed in the results.
The review allowed a name change of the representative office of Taiwan in Washington, but imposed an anachronistic name that still did not give US citizens the idea that the office represented Taiwan.
The review also allowed visits by high-level officials from economic and technical agencies, but still did not allow key policymakers in defense and foreign affairs to meet.
I argued then that while Taiwan and the world were changing dramatically, US policies toward that free and democratic nation were still stuck in the 1970s. I welcomed the adjustments made by the Clinton administration, but said that we expected bolder, more substantive steps. I also said that instead of such a timid approach, the US should lead in creative diplomacy.
Two decades have passed and Taiwan has changed even further: It is now a vibrant democracy that has consolidated its early achievements. However, it faces immense challenges, in particular from across the Taiwan Strait. Beijing has become much more powerful — economically and militarily — and is aiming about 1,600 missiles at Taiwan, while conducting an economic offensive to draw Taiwan closer.
Taiwan must be brought back into the fold of the international community. In part, due to its “one China” policies, Taiwan has become more isolated. It deserves better: Taiwanese have worked hard to build it into a showcase of freedom, tolerance and democracy.
Some people say policymakers need to “maintain the ‘status quo.’” This is a misnomer, as Beijing is changing the “status quo” all the time with its aggressive expansion in the region, as witnessed in the South China and East China seas, where Chinese navy and coast guard ships push the envelope every day.
The recent Occupy Central pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong have cemented world attention on any democratization from China. Beijing now appears to be moving to control the 2017 Hong Kong chief executive election. The removal of crosses from some Christian churches in China is more evidence of a Putinesque intolerance.
To help Taiwanese decide their own future, free from outside interference, others need to support the nation’s democracy and enhance relations with Taiwan across a wide range of issues, from arms sales and inclusion in the Trans-Pacific Partnership to cultural, economic and environmental cooperation and official meetings at the highest levels.
Is it not peculiar to have regular meetings with leaders of a repressive authoritarian government in Beijing, but shun the democratically elected leaders in Taipei?
I therefore wholeheartedly applaud a new Taiwan Policy Review as suggested in a recent letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry by 29 members of the US Congress, led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce. Such a review should lead to substantive improvement of Taiwan-US relations.
Frank Murkowski is a former US senator and former governor of Alaska.
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
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
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