The government should improve its communication channels with the US instead of leaving Washington in the dark about major announcements such as the making of a new constitution, US experts and diplomats have warned.
The message was relayed by Examination Yuan President Yao Chia-wen (
He said the issue of bad communication had been mentioned by former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) chairwoman Therese Shaheen last March when she was still on the job.
Yao said former AIT chairman Richard Bush told him last week that the communications between the two countries should be improved because there has been a few times Washington was not informed in advance of major policy announcements.
"Richard Bush offered the new constitution as an example. He said that when President Chen Shui-bian (
According to Yao, Bush said that the US was a good friend to Taiwan, and Taipei should really improve communications with it.
Yao and Bush met in Washington on Oct 12, during Yao's week-long visit to the US. John Tkacik, a research fellow in China policy at the Heritage Foundation, was also at the meeting.
"Actually Shaheen said the same thing on March 1 when we met. She said that while Taiwan would look for US help when in trouble or when in need of support for such things as WHO [World Health Organization] and WTO membership, but the US would not be informed in advanced of important policy decisions," Yao said.
"She said that the US was a good friend of Taiwan, and that this was not the way to treat a good friend," he said.
Yao and Bush also touched on the subject of the nation's name, with Bush saying it would be wise to keep the name of Republic of China for now.
"Bush told me that it was fine for Taiwan to assert that it is a sovereign state, and that it does not belong to PRC, but he said that keeping the name of Republic of China [ROC] brings great advantages and it would be wise not to tamper with the name too readily," Yao said.
"He said that it was because the name had been in use for over 50 years, many countries in the world recognized the name, and although China did not like the name, it could not deny the existence of ROC," Yao said.
He said Bush told him the US was fine with whatever shortened forms of the name, be it ROC or Taiwan, that Taipei preferred.
In addition, "Tkacik told me that if the arms-procurement budget did not pass, the US government and general public would considered the Taiwanese unwilling to protect themselves," Yao said.
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