Sun, May 07, 2006 page8

• Chen's humiliation is China's plan

  • By the Liberty Times
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  Due to deliberation over President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) request to make a stop-over in the US on his way to diplomatic allies in Central and Latin America, the President's departure was delayed by one day. In the end, the decision was made to bypass the US completely. The government is of course not satisfied by this outcome, and the general public is deeply disappointed.

  Some pan-blue politicians and media outlets, however, have rejoiced in this diplomatic failure and made sarcastic comments to humiliate Chen. These people care nothing for Taiwan's dignity or the feelings of the nation's 23 million citizens. Their cooperation with China in its attempts to suppress Taiwan internationally makes us wonder whether or not they have any conscience at all.

  The fact that Chen did not transit in the US must be seen as a step back for US-Taiwan relations. The nation's diplomats must take responsibility for their inability to negotiate and blunt the impact on Taiwan's diplomatic space. The US, however, needs China's cooperation in dealing with the Iran nuclear crisis, Sudan and North Korea, and thus does not want Taiwan to "rock the boat," possibly inciting a dispute between the Washington and Beijing at this critical juncture. Taiwan will have to forgive the US for the limits imposed on our friendship by international considerations.

  The decision to bypass the US, then, is simply a pragmatic and intelligent way to minimize problems for Taiwan's most important ally. We must, however, remind the US that although China likes to talk about a "peaceful rise," the country's saber rattling, expanding arsenal and despotic treatment of its own citizens is casting a shadow over world peace and stability.

  The US should deal with this by offering more support to Taiwan -- another democratic country -- and strengthening the US-Japan security alliance. This is the only way to maintain regional peace. Giving in too much to China's threats is the same as letting the fox into the henhouse, and it will lead to disaster.

  The main reason for Chen's humiliation is that China is doing its utmost to suppress Taiwan internationally. Every Taiwanese, regardless of their political views, should treat China as an enemy and condemn its brutish behavior. It is shameful to see how some pan-blue camp politicians and media outlets refuse to abandon their personal antipathy toward Chen when dealing with issues of national interest and dignity. Instead, they laugh at Chen's situation on the airwaves and in the Legislative Yuan and even demanding that he apologize to the public.

  These people forget that it is China's suppression of Taiwan that is responsible for the nation's weak international position, and that China is the aggressor and Taiwan the victim. What kind of logic is it that dictates that the victim should apologize after being violated by an aggressor? There is, in fact, nothing wrong with these people, it's just that they don't recognize or identify with Taiwan. They live in Taiwan but have no feelings for the place, and this is the reason for their strange behavior.

  Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) make pilgrimages to Beijing to wag their tails and ask Beijing to take pity on them. They praise Beijing and say that China will show its good intentions and stop suppressing Taiwan, even when reality shows that China is increasing its pressure on the nation and tries to block Taiwan's president from making transit stopovers in the US.

  Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) was recently forced to cancel a foreign visit, also because of underhanded Chinese maneuvering. During the SARS epidemic, China refused to invite Taiwanese experts and officials to Beijing to attend a meeting on disease prevention. The Chinese leadership considers Taiwan's 23 million people to be lower than dirt.

  In 1994, while still president, Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) once lamented "the tragedy of being born Taiwanese." The fact is that the tragedy of being Taiwanese originates with China: Taiwan's earlier lack of democracy was the result of oppression by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and Taiwan's independence and sovereignty is now being threatened by China. Taiwan's democratization process rid us of a dictator that came here from China, and it has allowed the Taiwanese people to live in a land of freedom and democracy.

  But, Taiwan's localization movement is still plagued by the nightmare of Chinese threats, and Chen's stopover in the US was clearly blocked because of China's underhanded dealings. Most people in Taiwan are, however, quite clear on the motives of those pan-blue politicians standing on the sidelines laughing, making irresponsible statements and agreeing with everything China says and does.

  Translated by Perry Svensson
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