China's recently released white paper, "The One-China Principle and the Taiwan Issue," is an appeal to power rather than to reason, and will disappoint anyone in search of rationality in China's Taiwan policy. The white paper's twisting of the truth puts the White House to shame, and the timing of its release -- on Feb. 21 -- defies common sense.
But in the end, this white paper reveals a great deal about what kind of regional power China is becoming and intends to be. Perhaps it will finally teach leaders in Washington that power is the motivation, means and end of China's government policy. To such a government, all appeals to reason and interests fall on deaf ears.
The essence of the 11,000-word white paper can be summarized briefly. There is only one China in the world. Beijing is the sole legal government of all of China. Taiwan is a part of China. This is the truth, because we say so. Not only must everyone acknowledge this truth, they must proclaim it as their own policy.
Beijing is justified in using deadly force against any and all who dare question or challenge this eternal truth -- the one China principle. So says your master.
Of course, this message is not new. Since 1949 Beijing has claimed to be the sole arbiter of truth -- from military strategy to economic development to political organization. The message has taken the form of Mao's "little red book," central plans calling for market economics, and the vaunted one-China principle.
Internal contradictions are never a challenge. Delivery of the message always comes with a promise: peace and prosperity to those who accept our truth, woe unto those who question or reject it.
Experts may disagree on Beijing's ability to deliver on either side of this promise, but it remains Beijing's mode of operation.
Beijing clearly had several targets in mind in determining the timing of its white paper release. Beijing wanted to set down a marker prior to Taiwan's election, in an attempt to keep Taiwan's next president from continuing Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) policy of "special state-to-state relations." But Beijing was aiming at much more than Taiwan's next president. It took the opportunity to fire a warning shot at the US Congress and the Clinton administration -- targeting the latter's slowness in killing the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act, delivering permanent normal trade status and pushing Taiwan to the negotiating table.
This was a wake-up call to the Clinton administration to get busy with Beijing's work.
The interesting aspect of the white paper's timing is was it reveals in terms of Beijing's ignorance of Taiwan and Washington politics. One could argue that all trends were pointing in Beijing's direction prior to the paper release. Taiwan's leading presidential candidates all have adopted very moderate policies toward the mainland, and none has emphasized President Lee's special state-to-state formulation. In fact, the DPP has outdone the KMT in calling for a new engagement policy with the mainland. Beijing's paper will only provoke a defensive rather than accommodating response from the presidential candidates, and probably lock them into President Lee's current policies. One would assume this is not what Beijing wants.
In Washington, the Clinton administration and the business community had already started their full court press on Congress to extend China's normal trade relations (NTR)status on a permanent basis. They were also well on their way to convincing the Senate to leave the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act on ice. China's white paper at best complicates their efforts on Beijing's behalf, and more likely guarantees Senate consideration of the TSEA as a precondition for consideration of NTR. But more than this, the white paper comes at a time of intense competition for occupancy of the White House and control of the Congress. Just as in Taiwan, Beijing's provocative paper likely locks the next American government into a somewhat tougher China policy. Again, not likely what Beijing wants.
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