Every time the US and China hold a summit meeting, all sorts of speculation is heard in Taiwan. The recent meeting between US President George W. Bush and Chinese President Jiang Zemin (
We continued to be very concerned about whether the US would issue a fourth joint communique with China, whether the US would yield on the issue of Beijing's "one-China" policy, or whether the US would do anything else detrimental to Taiwan's interests. These fears revealed the nation's simultaneously dependent and distrustful attitude toward the US. Because we suspect that Taiwan's value to the US has diminished, we worry Taiwan may be regarded as a pawn that can be sacrificed.
If potential US policy toward the two sides of the Taiwan Strait is evaluated solely from the perspectives of national strength and self interest, Taiwan should naturally feel apprehensive, but if the "soft power" of democratic values enters into our considerations, then perhaps the country need not be overly pessimistic.
We all agree that US policy toward Taiwan is based on US national interests, and those interests can be generally summed up as the country's important position in the US' East Asian strategy, Taiwan being an important trading partner and Taiwan having become a democratic country. All these factors help shape Washington's decision to support Taipei.
We are accustomed to looking at problems from a pragmatic perspective, believing that the US may sacrifice democratic values at any time out of consideration for its own self-interest. But if we carefully analyze the talk at the summit between Bush and Jiang and the content of Bush's national security report in September, as well as gain a deeper understanding of the thinking of the US political elite, then we will discover that the consideration of US support for democratic values is growing in relative importance among all the factors influencing Washington's support.
When I was a visiting scholar in Washington last summer, I held talks with over 20 people, including "blue team"academics, who are supportive of Taiwan, and so-called pro-China "red team" aca-demics. Many of these people mentioned that the US won't necessarily go to war for Taiwan independence and that it has no obligation to do so. However, they pointed out the US will struggle to preserve Taiwan's democratic political system.
Speaking at the joint press conference held after the US-China summit, Bush highlighted the importance the US places on human rights and democratic values. Human rights was the second issue he mentioned. Bush expressed his concerns about respect for religious beliefs, releasing political prisoners, preserving the rights of the people of Hong Kong, respecting human rights in Tibet and the possibility that China will suppress dissidents under the pretext of combating terrorism.
In the national security report released in September, Bush pointed out even more explicitly that the only route by which China can become a great power is via freedom and democracy, and not by a massive military buildup.
Many European nations share these values with the US. In recent years, a number of European countries and the European Parliament have passed resolutions supporting Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization and urging China to settle its conflict with Taiwan in a peaceful manner. Their recognition of Taiwan's democratic accomplishments is an important factor impelling them to support Taipei.
Faced with China's sudden rise, Taiwan's economic bargaining chips are already losing their effectiveness. Taiwan has already fallen behind China in the game of "dollar diplomacy." Thinking pragmatically, would-be allies are inclined to choose relations with the more powerful and politically more influential China.
However, China is still an authoritarian nation. Even after the fourth generation leadership team takes office, the Communist regime will continue to do everything in its power to preserve its system of authoritarian government. Thus, Taiwan should take advantage of its soft-power superiority by using freedom, democracy, and human rights as diplomatic tools to win empathy and support from the advanced democratic nations of Europe and North America.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recognized this trend and it is putting together a "Taiwan Democracy Foundation" in the hope of integrating the domestic forces of industry, officialdom and acade-mia with those of the ruling and opposition parties to strengthen interaction with the nations of Europe and North America and work together to promote the expansion and consolidation of democracy around the world. This is a wise policy given the circumstance that Taiwan can't match China's political or economic power. Both the ruling and opposition camps should support it.
However, the ruling and opposition camps should also strive to deepen and refine democracy at home. This includes building a stronger consensus between the parties, pushing cross-party diplomatic initiatives and reforming our democracy on the systemic level in order to make the nation's democracy operate in a more mature manner. At the same time, appropriate concern should be shown toward human rights in China and the development of democracy there.
Only by using democratic politics as a tool for diplomacy can Taiwan be as effective as possible in the international arena.
Lin Wen-cheng is director of the Institute of Mainland China Studies at National Sun Yat-sen University.
Translated by Ethan Harkness
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