Thu, Apr 27, 2006 page8

• China consistent on Taiwan policy

  • By Lin Cho-shui 林濁水
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  While Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) claimed that his recent tour of the US was a state visit, the US simply calls it an "official visit." It is strange that Beijing and Washington would have different interpretations of this issue.

  Although the meeting between President George W. Bush and Hu was held not long after President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) decision to mothball the National Unification Council (NUC), a move believed to have angered the Bush administration, neither Hu and Bush reached any surprising conclusions concerning Taiwan.

  The US would not casually alter an existing policy based on national interests. China is now learning to do the same in its attempts to become a "mature" nation. When Hu met with former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰) earlier this month, he emphasized that China's promises concerning Taiwan would not change as a result of temporary political changes. Thus, Hu's attitude toward the Taiwan issue is exactly the same as Bush's.

  China has not resorted to verbal attacks and saber rattling despite the Taiwanese government's wavering back and forth over the past year. On the contrary, it has never ceased to apply its tight and pragmatic "united front" strategy toward Taiwan or extending the "gifts" part of that strategy.

  Despite the blue camp's visit to ingratiate themselves with China, China has remained consistent in its "united front" strategy. All the pomp surrounding Lien and the Taiwanese business tycoons he brought with him to China was unprecedented and indeed gave the Chinese hosts a lot of face, but even though China offered 15 trade concessions following the Lien-Hu summit, it refused to give a definite answer regarding the two issues Taiwanese business circles care about the most -- a memorandum of understanding intended to help Taiwanese banks expand their businesses into the Chinese market and the opening up of the three direct links. It was as if Beijing did not really care whether Lien would feel embarrassed as a result.

  It was not the first time that Beijing has embarrassed the obsequious pan-blue camp. The pan-blue camp is pandering to Beijing to obtain the role as "general agent" for Taiwan, but Beijing often intentionally denies Lien that position. Examples of this abound. During his trip to China last year, Lien was enthusiastic about bringing back a pair of pandas to Taiwan. Beijing, however, insisted that the pandas were a gift to the people of Taiwan rather than to Lien.

  The same happened when China opened up its market to Taiwanese fruit imports: Beijing did not allow the Taiwan Farmers' Association to take full charge of the matter as the KMT wanted, but instead stressed that the Taiwan External Trade Development Council appointed by the pan-green government should be China's counterpart in dealing with the matter.

  Another example is how China bypassed the pan-blue camp by announcing that it had already inked a deal with representatives of the DPP government on cross-strait charter flights for the Lunar New Year period. The abrupt announcement made the KMT jealous of the DPP government's achievement.

  These examples show how Beijing does not reward the pan-blue camp although it is more thorough and enthusiastic than even China in its efforts to make it appear as if Taiwan has no government, even though that is China's major goal.

  The most rational explanation for this is that Beijing would rather give its favors to the Taiwanese people rather than to its "general agent." This makes the favors more direct, and it also allows Beijing to stay away from the political strife most Taiwanese are sick and tired of.

  Beijing believes that the further it can distance itself from Taiwan's inter-party squabbles, the more likely it is to win over the Taiwanese people and the more likely it is that it will be able to play the role of central government, thereby relegating Taiwan's pan-green and pan-blue camps to the status of local political factions at loggerheads with each other.

  Strangely, the more stable Beijing's "united front" strategy, the more it worries the ruling and opposition parties. The ruling party is worried that Beijing doesn't dote on them enough, while the opposition is worried that it is being left out in the cold. As their fighting intensifies, Beijing will be able comfort itself with perfect elan and composure and take the initiative. As a result, the cross-strait situation will calm down and the US will be happy. Taiwan, however, is in a shambles, and all its bargaining chips are disappearing. Over the past year, both the governing and the opposition parties have been unable to pull themselves out of this quagmire.

  However, a dramatic change has now occurred. Just as Chen was busy berating the KMT-CCP economic and trade forum, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) made a steep policy turn and said that if the forum reached conclusions beneficial to Taiwan, the government should not ignore those conclusions just because of who reached them, but rather implement them as long as we can maintain Taiwan's sovereignty.

  Although China's 15 trade concessions are only small gifts and still a far cry from what Taiwanese businessmen have hoped for, we should applaud Su for his insistence on Taiwan's sovereignty and his efforts to avoid taking a negative attitude toward the pan-blue camp.

  If the DPP government can adjust its policies and if opposition legislators can follow up on what Ma said in the US about Chen with a series of goodwill gestures, then both the governing and the opposition parties would probably be able to break fresh ground and enter a new phase of relations. Will this take place? Let's wait and see.

  Lin Cho-shui is a Democratic Progressive Party legislator.

  Translated by Daniel Cheng
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