Thu, Oct 11, 2001 page8

• Editorial: Not satisfactory, but acceptable

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  After a long test of wills with the other side of the Taiwan Strait, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has decided to send former vice president Li Yuan-zu (李元簇) as his envoy to the APEC leaders' summit in Shanghai later this month. For Taiwan, such an outcome can only be described as not satisfactory, but acceptable.

  Li is not the best candidate for attending the APEC summit; that of course would be Chen himself. Chen's attendance at APEC as the leader of the "separate customs territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" would be perfectly compatible with the spirit of equality among all APEC members. It would also bring the highest added value possible to the APEC summit because a handshake between the leaders of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait would give APEC the aura of a harbinger of peace. Such a scenario is what people on both sides of the Strait -- as well as the rest of the international community -- want to see. Unfortunately, Beijing's leadership still managed to miss this marvellous opportunity for cross-strait reconciliation.

  Li is Chen's best substitute. With his status as one of Chen's senior advisors, Li is by no means inferior to Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫), who has represented the president at APEC several times. In terms of political significance, Li's position as former vice president gives him an advantage over Koo. Li is a mainlander who came to Taiwan along with the defeated KMT government. But he has never come under suspicion of being either ardently pro-Beijing or pro-independence. Even at the peak of his political career, Li was always quiet and restrained. He is not known as an overly ambitious or self-interested politician, which is why he won the trust of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who praised him as "a man with no voice," as well as the respect of many in Taiwan's political circles.

  Li is also older than Chinese President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) -- an important point in Chinese interpersonal relationships. Nor is he too far apart in terms of seniority and credentials. His mainlander background and his neutrality on the independence-unification issue can also help calm Beijing's nerves -- a reason why Beijing agreed to Li's attendance at the summit. Li's experience from the many diplomatic tours he made while vice president will also enable him to avoid the clumsiness and tensions of Central Bank governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南), who represented Taiwan's president at last year's summit.

  The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the US has prompted the APEC summit to add a joint anti-terrorist declaration. This development is set to alter APEC's trade and commercial characteristics. As a former military judge and former minister of justice, Li is ideally suited to discuss anti-terrorism at the summit.

  Beijing's agreement to let a former vice president of Taiwan attend the APEC summit is both a goodwill gesture and a breakthrough. But this is not in itself enough to thaw the half-century-old ice in the Taiwan Strait. In his National Day speech yesterday, Chen made more goodwill gestures toward Beijing, saying Taiwan had readjusted its "no haste, be patient" policy to "active opening, effective management," and that plans were being drawn up to open direct links with China and allow Chinese tourists into Taiwan. If the Beijing leadership has any wisdom, they should know that only the sun, not the fierce north wind, can resolve the cross-strait deadlock.
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