The Bush administration is already conducting a secret review of its "one China" policy, although the review is fairly narrow and technical and will not necessarily result in a decision to support Taiwan's independence, a leading Washington Taiwan specialist says.
John Tkacik, an academic at the Heritage Foundation, told the Taipei Times that the review aims to debunk the myth that Taiwan is part of China and to clarify just what a "one China" policy means.
He was commenting on a report issued in Washington on Tuesday by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which recommended that the Bush administration and Congress "conduct a fresh assessment of the `one China' policy, given the changing realities in China and Taiwan."
"I think the State Department is already reviewing the `one China' policy," Tkacik said.
The review, he believes, began before Vice President Dick Cheney went to Beijing in April. Even before that trip, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesmen made it clear that Beijing would use the trip to push Washington to reassert its "one China" policy, as well as to reduce arms sales to Taiwan.
The review began when the department was briefing Cheney for the trip, and "they are still in the throes of trying to figure out where to go with [the policy]," Tkacik said.
The first indication of the review came on April 21 in various comments made by Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly as he testified before Congress on Taiwan policy in the wake of President Chen Shui-bian's (
Kelly's testimony reflected "a new boldness to address the `one China' issue, but in very vague terms," Tkacik said.
"I think it has finally hit home to them that it's not feasible to conduct a foreign policy based on this myth, and that the foreign policy has to be based on the values of the American people," namely, he said, "supporting democracy and opposing tyranny."
"The `one China' policy does not mean that Taiwan is part of China," said Tkacik, who is one of Washington's most ardent supporters of scrapping the policy. "It is simply a bumper sticker that we use to assuage China's sensibilities while at the same time cautioning them that we don't accept Taiwan as part of China."
US-China commission chairman Roger Robinson made it clear that his panel's recommendation stemmed in large part from China's military buildup across the Strait and from Beijing's recent hard-line opposition to further democracy in Hong Kong.
"We think that realities on the ground have changed in a material-enough way that warrant reassessing the `one China' policy," he said at a press conference unveiling the group's latest report to Congress.
Robinson said the panel was not trying to decide the outcome of the assessment.
"We do not have a specific goal," Robinson told reporters. However, the fact that "Taiwan is evolving in a direction of taking a new look at their destiny and future, Congress should be alert to the fact that we can't have a static attitude" toward the situation.
"It is not our job to prejudge how such an assessment should come out. This is a complicated and delicate matter, and there are lots of forces and factors that come into play," he said.
He is also concerned that a reassessment might trigger a Chinese attack on Taiwan.
"That's why we're not trying to take the next step and bias an outcome. Nobody's interested in precipitating a problem that doesn't exist today," he said.
Also see story:
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS