Some supporters of Taiwan in Congress are voicing apprehension over the likely election of South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon as the next UN secretary-general, in view of the generally pro-China policy he has pursued in his current post.
In a "straw poll" last week, Ban received 14 of 15 votes from members of the Security Council, and is widely expected to be elected in a final vote on Sept. 28.
While the poll was secret, Japan is widely believed to have cast the single negative vote, in view of the increasingly strained relations between Tokyo and Seoul.
Alarm bells rang among Taiwan supporters here after Ban's ministry rejected a visa for the Dalai Lama in June to attend the 2006 Gwangju Summit of Nobel Laureates in Seoul at the invitation of the Kim Dae-jung Presidential Library. Ban rejected the visa after Beijing expressed its "displeasure" over the visit by the Dalai Lama, the 1989 Peace Prize winner.
In an interview with a Korean Internet news site, Ban admitted that he prevented the Dalai Lama's visit after Beijing asked him not to let the Tibetan leader in. He said any future visa decision would be made only after considering "the greater framework of Sino-Korean relations."
Some of Taiwan's Washington backers fear that Ban's action will presage a tough stance toward Taiwan if Ban accedes to the top UN office. This, they feel, could affect efforts by Taipei to gain participation in the UN and other international organizations such as the WHO and Taiwan's overall drive to break out of the diplomatic and economic isolation that Beijing has imposed on it.
concern
Some congressional concern may be vented next Wednesday, a day before the UN vote, when the House International Relations Committee holds a hearing on US-South Korean relations. At least one committee member, sources say, may ask administration officials questions about Ban and his attitudes toward China and Taiwan.
Some in Congress feel that Ban's policies will echo those of the late WHO Director-General and fellow Korean, Lee Jong-wook, who died in May. Lee consistently opposed Taiwan's bid to gain observer status in the annual World Health Assembly (WHA) held in Geneva in the spring.
Congressional sources recall a meeting in March 2004, as preparations for that year's WHA meeting were underway, in which a congressional staff delegation met with Lee in Geneva to present a letter from international relations committee chairman Henry Hyde and ranking Democrat Tom Lantos urging observer status for Taiwan.
At the meeting between Lee and the staffers, which came as the SARS epidemic was raging in Asia, the US group failed in its efforts to convince Lee to allow Taiwan to participate in the WHA. Two months later, Lee traveled to Beijing where he publicly announced that Taiwan would "never" take part in WHA activities, the sources recall.
The South Korean government has followed a strict one-China policy since establishing diplomatic relations in 1992 and scrapping its ties with Taipei. It has also moved closer to Beijing in recent years as ties with Japan have come under increasing strain over Prime Minister Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni shrine, and as rising sensitivity over issues related to Japan's occupation of Korea in World War II.
"Every time Koizumi visits the shrine, it drives South Korea into the arms of the Chinese," one congressional staffer familiar with East Asia issues, said.
That policy has also strained relations with the US.
For the past three years, Seoul has balked at a US plan that could allow US forces stationed in Korea to be sent, if need be, to the Taiwan Strait in case of a Chinese military attack on Taiwan and a consequent US-China conflict.
That policy, part of what the Pentagon calls "strategic flexibility," has been rejected by Seoul because the government is worried that it could lead to South Korea becoming unwittingly involved in a US-China war.
new agreement
Early this year, Ban and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a new agreement in Washington on overall bilateral ties, including a provision easing Seoul's objection to the US plan, but which would require the US to seek Korean permission before moving any US troops from the peninsula.
It provides that Seoul "shall not be involved in a regional conflict in Northeast Asia against the will of the Korean people."
Seoul's attitude contrasts with that of Japan toward a potential Taiwan Strait conflict. Last year, Tokyo altered its security policy to regard a cross-strait blow-up as a matter of mutual security concern with Washington, signaling a possible willingness to aid the US in countering China's attack.
If elected, Ban would be the first Asian UN secretary-general since Burma's U Thant retired in 1971.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to