The US made a mistake in the past by compromising with strong nations and sacrificing the interests of small states for the sake of maintaining the balance of power. This is best exemplified in the US' recognition of the PRC's "one China" policy, which has led to today's cross-strait impasse, national policy adviser Ruan Ming (阮銘) said in his book published yesterday.
Ruan, a former academic in the Chinese Communist Party School and who obtained Taiwanese citizenship in 2002, said that although US President George W. Bush had said the mistake of the Yalta Pact should not be repeated, it lives on in Asia.
"For fear of upsetting China, the US cannot face up to the existence of a democratic Taiwan. The US president can travel to democratic countries such as Japan and South Korea, but he simply will not come to Taiwan. This is most ridiculous," Ruan said in a press conference for the release of his book A History of No Return: On Taiwan, USA and China Relations.
The Yalta Pact of 1945 signified the US' compromise with Russia in ending World War II and subsequently led to the occupation of Eastern Europe by the communists.
Attendees at yesterday's event included Senior Presidential Adviser Koo Kuan-min (辜寬敏), who remarked that the recent scrapping of the National Unification Council and guidelines was a rare achievement by the Chen administration.
"It is very well done and, I think, for the first time in the five years of Chen's administration, he finally hit a home run," Koo said.
Koo said yesterday that he had told an important Bush administration official in Washington last October that "it would be the direction Taiwan will pursue in the future."
"I've told them that if you couldn't welcome such a proposal, please do not oppose it at least ... and they [Republican officials] com-pletely agreed with me," Koo said.
He said the "status quo" has been changed as the cross-strait balance is tilting towards China, a situation the officials in discussion with Koo said was undesirable.
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