Taipei Times: You have warned Washington not to turn the US-China-Taiwan triangle into a zero-sum game. Have you detected such a course in US foreign policy?
Jonathan Clarke: Under [US President] George W. Bush, there is a greater willingness to reduce the ambiguity about the US defense commitment to Taiwan. Personally I believe Bush's statement that the US will do "whatever it takes" to defend Taiwan represents true US policy -- in the case of an unprovoked attack on Taiwan by the PRC. There is also a greater readiness to make Taiwan a sort of litmus test for the PRC's evolution into a full member of the international community that abides by the rules of non-aggression and the settlement of disputes by peaceful means. This means that Taiwan has a greater and more explicit significance in the US-PRC relationship than previously was the case. If the PRC is belligerent toward Taiwan, its relations with the US will suffer. This does not mean that we are yet at a zero-sum position and I think it would be unfavorable for all sides if that were the case. All sides have a greater interest in seeing their relationships in broader perspectives.
TT: Does that signify substantial change in US foreign policy toward China and Taiwan?
Clarke: The real change is that the Bush administration is more willing to call the PRC to account for not abiding by the rules (WTO, Olympic Games, etc.) and is generally more suspicious of the PRC and more willing to see the PRC as a potential military adversary. This does not mean that there will be substantial change. Over the EP-3 plane you saw an initial readiness to confront the PRC held in check by more moderate forces. These latter forces will continue to be influential.
TT: You have urged the White House to handle ties with China and Taiwan in line with the "two no's and one yes" framework. Would you elaborate on the concept?
Clarke: The framework -- no to Chinese use of force, no to Taiwanese independence, and yes to continued negotiation -- spells out very clearly the continuities in US policy. However often US policy toward the PRC and Taiwan is reviewed, the three principles stand out. To put it another way, the PRC must not attack Taiwan unprovoked and Taiwan must not declare independence unilaterally -- this is a very important principle, which is sometimes not well understood in Taiwan. The US' admiration of Taiwan's democratic and economic progress does not mean that the US will support a unilateral declaration of independence by Taiwan. And the US has continually encouraged negotiations [between Taipei and Beijing] even if they seem to be unproductive, as at present. In other words, the US wants all sides to keep talking or start talking again. No one should provoke a showdown.
TT: You support a common market across the Taiwan Strait as envisioned by former Taiwanese premier, Vincent Siew (
Clarke: The best way to do this is pragmatically, starting slowly with perhaps one industry such as computers. The European common market started with steel and coal. I think the US would be in favor -- it's like NAFTA [the North American Free Trade Agreement]. As for the PRC, give it a try. Talk to business leaders there.
RSS