But what I am concerned about is that when the US is preoccupied with the six-party talks, Iran nuclearization, Iraq and so on, Washington might not be able to fully grasp the subtle changes that are taking place in East Asia.
For example, the Chinese side has pumped so much money into the Pacific area, to the island countries there, that the Chinese influence has increased tremendously.
In Southeast Asia, the level of Chinese influence has reached an unprecedented level. In the past few years, political leaders in Southeast Asia have adopted the view that associating with China is the surest way to guarantee economic and political success.
China has therefore been taking advantage of a situation where the US is caught with all kinds of crises on its hands to expand its influence on the global stage.
As Chinese influence has increased, Taiwan has been feeling the heat because it cannot compete with China economically or politically.
TT: So, it's basically the US' inability or inattention to countering this rising Chinese influence that accounts for the current state of US-Taiwan relations?
Wu: That's right. Sometimes I feel that the Chinese are very adroit in carrying out policies to support or create problems so that the US will continue to be distracted. If you look at North Korea, one of the prime reasons the regime in Pyongyang has continued to survive has been Chinese support. Where did the North Koreans get their missile technology? The answer is very obvious: China.
If you look at the Iranian nuclear or missile programs, China continues to provide it missile technology, and beginning in the 1990s, North Korea stated providing Iran with nuclear technology. If I am not mistaken, there is documentation that before 2001 there was cooperation between China and Iraq on some weapons programs.
So it would not be difficult for me to draw the conclusion that China is deliberately creating all this, or is trying to prevent all these problems from being resolved, so that the US will continue to be caught up with these crises and therefore allow China to continue to expand its political and economic influence.
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