It is perfectly appropriate that Taiwan ask for clarification on US policy with regard to Taiwan's participation in the international community, a former White House security affairs adviser said.
Stephen Yates, former deputy assistant for national security affairs to US Vice President Dick Cheney and now president of DC Asia Advisory, a Washington-based consultancy, told the Taipei Times last week during a visit to Taiwan that the government can ask for clarification on US policy on the following grounds.
On the one hand, US government officials say the long-standing policy of the US does not support Taiwan's membership in international organizations that require statehood, Yates said.
PHOTO: CNA
On the other, the Taiwan Relations Act explicitly states that normalization of relations with Beijing is not to be used as a pretext to exclude Taiwan from international organizations.
"So people can very reasonably ask for clarification for what exactly is US policy." he said. "And why it is in the US' interest to exclude Taiwan or not support Taiwan's membership."
SPACE
The other issue that Taiwan can reasonably ask for clarification on, Yates said, is for the US to give more specific information as to where there is remaining international organization space for Taiwan.
"Where are the organizations that do not require statehood? Where is the rest of the international space? And how does the United States propose working cooperatively with Taiwan to find its way into full participation in those areas?" he said.
While American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Stephen Young interpreted Chinese President Hu Jintao's (
OFFENSIVE
If Young's proposition is true, Yates said that such a notion would be offensive to President Chen Shui-bian (
"If the president of France wanted to open channels with the next US president, that might rub the current US president the wrong way," he said. "You're sort of counting their days, pretending they were no longer there."
If that was China's objective as Young's comments may have indicated, Yates said it was an unwise approach. And if China is interested in opening contacts with Taiwan, they will do it.
"But they can't do it," he said. "Taiwan doesn't have the doors closed. Taiwan is not putting any unreasonable preconditions in the way. If China is serious about having contacts and channels and communication, my impression is that multiple people in Taiwan are willing to receive them."
Yates said it might be true that there is greater opportunity for dialogue with a new leader in Taiwan, but that one would have to also ask why Beijing could not find opportunities for dialogue in the last eight years.
While Young has said that he believed the continued development of China's economy and civil society will lead eventually to political liberalization and democratization, Yates said there was hope of this but that no one has any evidence to say it will happen.
"We're making policy based on hope rather than evidence and experience and that might be risky," he said.
With US opposition to the referendum on joining the UN under the name "Taiwan," Chen said that such a move could trigger an emotional backlash and affect bilateral relations.
"I think the US has to be careful in recognizing a growing perception of how the US is using its influence in the political process of Taiwan," he said.
On Young's remark that Taiwan's "ceasing" of the functioning and application of the National Unification Council and Unification Guidelines damaged mutual trust in US-Taiwan relations, Yates dismissed this as "a value judgement" and "not terribly useful."
"President Chen -- regardless of what value judgment people attach to his presidency -- his presidency ends in May next year, so what good is there in trying to sort of brand his actions at this point?" he asked. "At this point, it should be focused on what can be accomplished in the remaining months of his presidency and then building an agenda that can carry forward into the next administration in Taiwan."
REFERENDUM
Yates said anyone can make a case why Taiwan would not be able to join the UN, but that in itself would not make the UN referendum unnecessary.
In the eyes of the US, it is not necessary for Taiwan to hold the referendum, but that's not why the referendum is on the ballot, he said.
It is taking place because a very large number of people think it is necessary, Yates said.
Because the signatures have already been gathered, it is a mistake to focus too much criticism on one person or one party, he said.
"This is a popular movement from the bottom up and so it's a bit more profound for us to think about than just the will of one leader," he said.
Yates said he did not think the referendum by itself can be isolated from the impact it is going to have on relations with the US and cross-strait relations.
It is part of a multi-part mix of factors, he said, and these would shape attitudes and relationships between Taipei and Beijing and between Taipei and Washington.
Yates encouraged Taiwan to communicate what it is trying to achieve to the US and the international community, but emphasized that communication does not just take place between governments.
FREE SOCIETY
Taiwan has the natural advantage of being a free society with a media that can get the message out, he said, adding that it is important for Taiwan to focus on connecting with the people of the US and the international community so that people have a broader understanding of the situation here.
If national leaders had more of their own constituents interested in the situation in Taiwan and in improving relations with Taiwan, then those leaders would be motivated to look at the cross-strait situation differently, he said.
Being in a diplomatic community, Yates said it is easier to be friendly with China while keeping Taiwan at arm's length.
"So if you are asking people to be closer to Taiwan and at more arm's length with China, there has to be a different motivation for that," he said. "The motivation usually has to be a domestic constituency that cares."
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