In a speech at the US State Department on April 4, US Presi-dent George W. Bush called on the Senate to pass Trade Promo-tion Authority legislation. While praising the success of US efforts to facilitate China's and Taiwan's accessions to the WTO, he referred to China and Taiwan as "countries" and called Taiwan the "Republic of Taiwan."
Bush said: "We helped bring China and Taiwan into the World Trade Organization. And that's good, that's important to recognize and to welcome both countries, both the Republic of Tai-wan, and of course China, into the World Trade Organization. It's positive. It's a positive development for our country."
Bush's words have been the subject of a variety of interpretations, sheer guesswork and psychological analysis by experts and the media. Were they a Freudian slip, a written mistake, or a mental lapse? Was it a psychological projection of hostility toward China? Did it represent a new direction in US policy? Was it an attempt by the US to test how far it can push a new policy? Or was the US playing the Taiwan card in an attempt to control China?
When Beijing demanded an explanation, the US reply was that its "one China policy" remains unchanged. Meanwhile, the speech was published in its entirety on both the White House and the State Department Web sites, including the section referring to "the Republic of Taiwan."
Freudian slip, mental lapse, policy change, whatever, Bush's words highlight a long-existing reality: Taiwan and China are two countries, neither of which exercises any jurisdiction over the other. Although they amount to "justice delayed," Bush's words must not be forgotten. Only when the US president states that he considers China and Taiwan to be two different countries can we escape the constraints of the fictitious and outdated "one China" policy and establish policies that reflect the true situation.
Since Bush believes that Taiwan is a country, the term "Republic of Taiwan" is a most natural way for him to identify Taiwan. Since the establishment of US-PRC diplomatic relations on Jan. 1, 1979 and the passage of the Taiwan Relations Act in April that year, the US has always referred to Taiwan as "Taiwan" or "the Taiwanese people." Today "the Republic of China" has no official status anywhere in the international community. Rather, Taiwan is known simply as "Taiwan."
Taiwan is the mother of the Taiwanese people, our motherland. "Taiwanese" means anyone who recognizes Taiwan as his own country. "The Republic of Taiwan" is the appropriate name for sovereign Taiwan.
Bush has demonstrated the foresight to articulate what is in the hearts and minds of a majority of the Taiwanese people.
Chen Lung-chu is chairman of the Taiwan New Century Foundation.
Translated by Perry Svensson
As Taiwan’s domestic political crisis deepens, the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have proposed gutting the country’s national spending, with steep cuts to the critical foreign and defense ministries. While the blue-white coalition alleges that it is merely responding to voters’ concerns about corruption and mismanagement, of which there certainly has been plenty under Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and KMT-led governments, the rationales for their proposed spending cuts lay bare the incoherent foreign policy of the KMT-led coalition. Introduced on the eve of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the KMT’s proposed budget is a terrible opening
“I compare the Communist Party to my mother,” sings a student at a boarding school in a Tibetan region of China’s Qinghai province. “If faith has a color,” others at a different school sing, “it would surely be Chinese red.” In a major story for the New York Times this month, Chris Buckley wrote about the forced placement of hundreds of thousands of Tibetan children in boarding schools, where many suffer physical and psychological abuse. Separating these children from their families, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to substitute itself for their parents and for their religion. Buckley’s reporting is
Last week, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), together holding more than half of the legislative seats, cut about NT$94 billion (US$2.85 billion) from the yearly budget. The cuts include 60 percent of the government’s advertising budget, 10 percent of administrative expenses, 3 percent of the military budget, and 60 percent of the international travel, overseas education and training allowances. In addition, the two parties have proposed freezing the budgets of many ministries and departments, including NT$1.8 billion from the Ministry of National Defense’s Indigenous Defense Submarine program — 90 percent of the program’s proposed
US President Donald Trump on Monday gave his inauguration speech. Although mainly directed at US citizens, his words were subject to global scrutiny by leaders and others wanting to understand more about his intentions for his second term. The US has been Taiwan’s strongest ally since the end of World War II and Trump’s first term brought many welcome advances in Taiwan-US ties. Still, many Taiwanese are concerned about what Trump’s second term will mean for the nation, especially after comments he made concerning Taiwan’s national defense and semiconductor industry. During Monday’s address, Trump said that the US “will once again consider
RSS