Taiwan's first lady Wu Shu-Chen (吳淑珍) was forced to undergo a security check at a Washington airport during her recent US visit. Her trip had initially been considered a major diplomatic breakthrough, but a cloud has now been cast on it by certain people in Taiwan who have deliberately sensationalized the matter without regard for the overall situation. Such actions are damaging to Taiwan-US relations.
Who is most intent on sowing discord between Taipei and Washington? China, of course. The Chinese government has softened its stance to curry favor with the US by every possible means, seeking to lure Washington to give up its support for Taiwan. This would make it easier for China to unify Taiwan by force in order to control and prey on the nation's resources.
But, certain Taiwanese politicians and media have used this incident -- which was quickly and appropriately resolved when it first happened -- to attack Taiwan's representative to the US, Chen Chien-jen (程建人), and other diplomats, disregarding their recent diplomatic achievements and threatening to protest against the US. Doesn't this just pander to China? Are they really fighting for the ROC's dignity or are they actually helping Beijing to obstruct Taipei?
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is facing the difficult challenges today. Few undertakings are ever accomplished perfectly. Besides, the US breach of protocol was understandable given the war against terror. Both Taiwan and the US did all they could to remedy the situation once the mistake had occurred and the nation's dignity was upheld.
If the matter is sensationalized, will Taiwan-US relations be improved or deliberately damaged? After the incident came to light, the government should have moved promptly to prevent it from causing further damage, so that people with ulterior motives would not succeed.
China is the main cause of Taiwan's diplomatic hardships. If Taiwan wants to remain safe and gain the international status that it deserves, US friendship is a necessity. If the US hadn't issued its swift apology from top-level officials and instead only issued a standard apology or even ignored the whole incident, what could Taiwan have done? The incident was the result of mistakes by US security personnel, not of official policy.
But when Taiwan is repeatedly humiliated by China in the international community, causing substantial damage to Tai-wan's sovereignty and dignity, as in the meeting between APEC foreign ministers, how many politicians and media organizations launch emotional attacks on China, much less demanded apologies?
The direct links issue is heating up once again. China wants to force Taiwan to establish direct links, concealing its view that such links would be "domestic" in nature by means of the euphemism "cross-strait transportation links," thus belittling Taiwan and harming its sovereignty. Chinese President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) didn't forget to put pressure on Taiwan by mentioning direct links in a short speech in Houston, saying that, "Just like us, the people of Taiwan harbor strong hopes for the implementation of direct links." Is Jiang really working for the good of Taiwan? This is, in fact, a clear case of trying to bring harm to Taiwan.
If Jiang cares so much for the "strong hopes" of the Taiwanese people, he should respect their wish to choose freely in a referendum. If Taiwan's politicians care so much for the nation's dignity, government and opposition should cooperate in laying down a response strategy instead of acquiescing in Chinese pressures on Taiwan to open up direct links, something which will simply amount to surrendering Taiwan's sovereign rights under humiliating terms.
Paul Lin is a political commentator based in New York.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG AND PERRY SVENSSON
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