Tue, Jul 23, 2002 page8

• Editorial: Beijing's undiplomatic insult

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  Beijing delivered a rather nasty gift to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on Sunday just as he was taking over as DPP chairman. The president of the Republic of Nauru, one of Taiwan's allies, signed a joint communique with Beijing announcing plans to establish diplomatic ties. It was a stab in the back for Chen, who had been constantly making goodwill gestures toward China. He had even suggested "party-to-party" contact between the DPP and the Chinese Communist Party and the possibility of sending a DPP delegation to China.

  The timing of the Beijing-Nauru deal was a deliberate slap in the face to Chen. Seeking US$130 million in aid, President Rene Harris went to Hong Kong without discussing the matter with his Cabinet and signed the communique with a deputy Chinese foreign minister. The announcement of the communique was timed to coincide with Chen's assumption of the DPP chairmanship. Beijing also made a point of inviting reporters from Taiwan to the press conference.

  Chen's condemnation of such tacky behavior was correct. However, the whole affair is a reminder that it is time that the government end its fixation about the number of allies. It is also time for Taiwan to stay aloof from a "price war" with Beijing over diplomatic ties. If friendship between countries is built on money and aid projects instead of shared values and sympathies, then even if the government manages to salvage ties by outbidding Beijing, it will still have lost. Such ties will be about as permanent as sand castles on a beach.

  Losing a diplomatic ally is embarrassing. But Nauru's defection is unlikely to trigger a domino effect. Since Taiwan has done nothing to hurt the friendship in the process of the Beijing-Nauru deal, neither the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the people of Taiwan need to blame themselves. After all, formal ties are not the only index for diplomacy. Trade and economic relations, interaction between peoples and cultural exchanges are all part of the multi-layered relationship between countries. It makes no sense to waste state resources competing for numbers.

  In his inaugural speech as DPP chairman on Sunday, Chen said Taiwan "should seriously think about going our own way, walking our own Taiwan path and working out Taiwan's own future if our goodwill receives no reciprocal response from China." Most people in Taiwan understand what he meant and agree with his position, especially in the face of China's malicious diplomatic activities. The only people who don't understand apparently are KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), who have demanded that Chen explain what he meant by "going our own way." Once again they have demonstrated how far removed they are from the majority of people in Taiwan.

  Nauru faces enormous financial and environmental difficulties. The central Pacific island nation is one of many that are particularly vulnerable to global warming. As its former president Kinza Clodumar so eloquently pointed at the 1997 UN conference on global warming, Nauru's rain forests and 80 percent of its land have been destroyed by phosphate mining and its people are confined to a narrow coastal fringe that is just 2m above sea level. While sympathetic to Nauru's plight, Taiwan simply can't provide more aid. However, the Nauru government should understand that its value to China is largely as a weapon to attack Taiwan and embarrass Chen. Now that this goal has been achieved, Beijing is quite likely to shelve Nauru and the promises of further financial aid may go down like a rock in the ocean. Abandoning a friendship of more than 20 years for a stash of cash may provide some short-term relief, but the long-term damages could be quite severe.
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