From 1988 to 1992, then US vice president Dan Quayle brought the US people untold joy with his countless mishaps. The people also worried, however, that if something happened to thenpresident George Bush, their worst nightmarewould come true -- Quayle would become president.
Quayle recently visited Taiwan in his new capacity as a consultant to Cerberus Capital Management, an investment firm interested in setting up an asset management company here. There is an old Chinese saying: "Businessmen only care about business" (在商言商). What Quayle really cares about is the market for foreign asset management companies, which will soon be opened. As a consequence, it is inevitable that he will lobby on behalf of such interests during his visit. For this reason, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) did not assign any officials other than an interpreter to accompany him, in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
In contrast, Taiwanese officials accorded Quayle a royal recep-tion. He met Minister of Finance Yen Ching-chang (顏慶章) and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Chen expressed his appreciation for the Bush administration's sale of fighter jets to Taiwan and he also spent a lot of time discussing Taiwan-US relations. Since it was not an official visit, why were the empty official formalities necessary? Quayle, to put it bluntly, is just a businessman.
I am beginning to miss former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). When guests of Quayle's rank visited Taiwan, Lee would usually meet them on a golf course, not at the Presidential Office. In fact, Quayle might be more comfortable on a golf course since he was so pleased about having spent more time on one than in a library when he was young.
Yen was also confused about Quayle's status and repeatedly stressed that "Quayle is very influential in US political circles," and that "Taiwanese people should never suspect the friendliness of our foreign friends and their motivations for visiting Taiwan." Yen even consulted him on the US election, asking him how he thought the US government should recount the Florida votes. Perhaps Yen has forgotten that Quayle made a fool of himself in the past precisely because he was so bad at mathematics.
Ping Lu is a social critic and columnist.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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