Ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤) visit to Washington on April 20, former AIT chairwoman Theresa Shaheen told the Taipei Times that the US should pay more heed to high-ranking Taiwanese officials.
Shaheen resigned from the AIT in 2004, but still closely monitors the US-Taiwan relationship. As certain think tanks and media in China have been urging US officials, especially President George W. Bush, to publicly criticize Taiwan's leaders when Hu visits the White House, Shaheen called on the US government to respect the friendship and relationship with the Taiwanese public in an interview with the Taipei Times.
Shaheen said she was happy to learn that Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
The US government should also respect other elected Taiwanese leaders, including President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who speaks for the Taiwanese public, she added.
Shaheen said that if Hu wanted to talk about Taiwan during his visit to Washington, he should do so while showing due respect for the nation's citizens and duly elected leaders.
"How can people in Taiwan expect Chinese leaders to respect their will [in the event of] `unification' with China ... if [the Chinese leaders] refuse to respect Taiwanese leaders now?" asked Shaheen.
Shaheen also suggested that Taiwan should act with restraint in the face of Beijing's provocations and allow China to fall on its own sword.
Shaheen praised Taiwan's reaction after the passage of the "Anti-Secession" Law, saying it had acted with prudence and restraint. She also suggested that Taiwan make better use of its resources and work with the US to boost its international status.
US Representative Rob Simmons proposed last month that Taiwan should make an initial payment of US$225 million for the design of submarines to push a long-stalled arms deal forward.
Shaheen said that "the clock is ticking and it will take 12-15 years to complete the [arms purchase] and have the weapons ready for service, even in the event that the Taiwanese legislators approve the budget now."
She said that China had become more influential and this made it more difficult for the US to secure submarines for Taiwan.
She said that although it might have been true that in the past some figures in the US Navy were reluctant to sell diesel submarines to Taiwan, this had become a moot point. The submarine purchase was now at the mercy of the political process in Taiwan, she said.
Shaheen said that the arms deal was beginning to place a strain on the relationship between Taiwan and the US, and that some high-ranking US officials believed that it was time for Taiwan to focus on finding other ways to improve its defensive capabilities.
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