In a single syllable
Former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) was the last man with the power to deliver Taiwan to China at the stroke of a pen. As Washington sacrificed Taiwan, Liao Chengchi (廖承志) from China wrote a cordial letter to “little brother” Chiang proposing the two nations unite.
Foreign pressure was immense. The dreaded “Taiwan problem” was moments from resolution.
Chiang read the letter, paused perhaps, then said “No.”
That was it. One syllable did it all.
A People’s Republic of China observer told me a month ago in Beijing that Chiang was “the greatest Chinese political figure of the past century.”
Taiwanese friends, never forget this brave, idealistic and decisive action. We should honor Chiang if only because at the moment of greatest and deadly peril, he saved Taiwan with one word.
Now the saving is in your hands.
Arthur Waldron
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
KMT real estate on sale
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is selling party assets as it comes under pressure from the legislature that seeks transitional justice. Real estate, including land and buildings, are advertised in newspapers. Even Taipei’s Grand Hotel, a national landmark, is for sale.
The KMT did not remove any estates from China when it retreated to Taiwan after being defeated by the Chinese Communist Party in 1949.
The KMT, for the past 62 years, have illegally “owned” real estate that belonged to former Japanese colonists, public and private properties. Some private property were even taken by force during the White Terror era.
According to the KMT, its assets have dwindled from NT$91.8 billion (US$2.8 billion) in 2000 to NT$16.6 billion last year. These figures are not convincing, as real estate in Taiwan has appreciated greatly in the past 15 years.
In addition, the KMT runs “party-operated enterprises” competing with private companies and invests in stocks with high dividends using firsthand information.
The KMT assets have been sold, kept by top KMT officials, used in forming numerous subsidiaries, invested overseas and spent in elections in an effort to nullify them. For example, Lien Chan (連戰) spent NT$12 billion on his 2000 presidential campaign, but lost.
Even worse than selling real estate, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is trying to sell Taiwan. Ma and Chinese leaders shout, in unison: “1992 consensus.” Ma even said “under the ‘one China’ principle.” A survey showed that 81.5 percent of Taiwanese are against “one China.”
Ma visited Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) twice recently. He implied that China has owned Taiping Island since the 19th century. His trips have served China more than Taiwan.
China should respect Taiwan’s democracy and freedom. Hong Kong is a good lesson for China and Taiwan. China should take care of its political, environmental and financial problems, and should not become a chain around the necks of Taiwanese.
Taiwan helped China technologically and economically. If China isolates Taiwan diplomatically and economically, Taiwanese would be forced to “fight fire with fire” by declaring independence.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) trip to China provides a pertinent reminder of why Taiwanese protested so vociferously against attempts to force through the cross-strait service trade agreement in 2014 and why, since Ma’s presidential election win in 2012, they have not voted in another Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate. While the nation narrowly avoided tragedy — the treaty would have put Taiwan on the path toward the demobilization of its democracy, which Courtney Donovan Smith wrote about in the Taipei Times in “With the Sunflower movement Taiwan dodged a bullet” — Ma’s political swansong in China, which included fawning dithyrambs