The US would be making a big mistake if it turns its back on Taiwan, newly appointed Representative to the US Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) said on Wednesday.
“If you say goodbye to Taiwan, you will regret it with tears the next day,” he said in a speech to a conference held by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
Shen told the “Taiwan Relations Act After 35 Years” conference that it was the 48th event he has attended in two weeks since arriving in the US from London.
Photo: CNA
He has filled his time with meetings, conferences and receptions because there are “misunderstandings and misconceptions” about the US-Taiwan relationship that need to be straightened out, he said.
“This is a very important moment,” Shen said.
The first problem is that some people claim Taiwan is moving closer to China and away from the US, he said.
“This is not true,” he said. “I am here to tell you that we need more of your support and understanding.”
“Just because we want to engage mainland China even more, and make the Taiwan Strait more peaceful — to change it from a flashpoint to one of the most peaceful areas in East Asia — we need more of your support; we need to stay even closer to you,” Shen said.
Taiwan growing closer to China is a “win, win, win” situation, he said, adding that “a peaceful Taiwan Strait is good for everybody — the US, Taiwan and mainland China.”
Acknowledging that Taiwan was a difficult issue, Shen said there were some in the US who saw the nation as a “stumbling block” and as “trouble” and who thought it would be better to say “goodbye” to Taiwan.
However, Taiwan is the US’ 12th-biggest trading partner, he said.
“Even though we are a small island, we want to compare ourselves with big countries such as Russia, Australia, Brazil,” he said.
“If you want to say goodbye to Taiwan, go ahead, but you will regret it. Don’t miss the bus,” Shen said.
Shen said that Taiwan is becoming one of the world’s largest offshore banking centers.
“That is how big Taiwan is, that shows how wrong it would be to say goodbye to Taiwan,” he said.
Shen said that Taiwan is the 20th-largest exporter in the world and 18th-largest market — bigger than Australia or Brazil — without providing data.
“We are no longer small, we are a big trading power with a booming economy and advanced democracy,” Shen said. “Taiwan deserves your backing, we deserve international space and we deserve support from the rest of the world.”
Meanwhile, former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) chairman Richard Bush said that the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) does not necessarily say what many think it does.
“The parts on arms sales and defense commitments are written very carefully,” said Bush, who is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
The act contains no requirement binding the US to sell arms to Taiwan nor come to its aid, he said.
“When it comes to security, the TRA expresses more a policy and political commitment and is not a self-enforcing mandate,” he said.
As a result, it is extremely important that the US’ commitment to Taiwan be renewed as new leaders take power and new circumstances emerge, Bush said.
“In the US government, the commitment [to Taiwan] must be applied in ways that are current and conveyed through policy and use of diplomatic and other resources, ensuring appropriate readiness to use those resources,” he said.
It also requires the presence of individuals in and outside the US government who are ready to articulate how that commitment is relevant to new situations, and to beat back assertions that Taiwan no longer matters, Bush said.
Taiwan can do its part by creating new reasons for the US to renew and make relevant the TRA’s political commitment, he said.
“Let us not treat the TRA as some kind of icon or sacred text that has continuing power,” Bush said.
However, he added that those calling on Washington to end its unofficial relationship with Taipei were not part of the mainstream and do not influence policymaking.
Answering questions from the floor, former AIT director Douglas Paal, who is now director of Carnegie’s Asia program, said that he did not want to discuss Taiwan’s internal politics, but that while in China, he had heard the Sunflower movement referred to as Taiwan’s “Red Guards.”
“That is not a positive statement,” he said.
Former acting AIT chairman William Brown said the prospect of “highly zealous, dedicated, university students” forcibly occupying a government building and sending messages out to the world was, from Beijing’s viewpoint, “a nightmare.”
Former AIT managing director Barbara Schrage was also present at the conference.
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A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
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