July 4, 2000 --- To: Tony Blair, Kofi A. Anna, Walter Schwimmer, Hans Christian Kruger, John Paul II

[ Up ]

Dear Mr. Prime Minister Tony Blair,
　　 Mr. Kofi A. Annan,
　　 Mr. Secretary General Walter Schwimmer,
　　 Mr. Deputy Secretary General Hans Christian Kruger,
　　 Mr. John Paul II,

Mainland China’s state-controlled Xinhua news agency on Sunday (June 25, 2000) demanded the Washington Times admit it was wrong in reporting that the agency purchased a building across the Pentagon for spying.

Xinhua reported that newspaper still sticks to the cold war mentality and often published reports that are politically biased against China and the Chinese people. It’s harmful to the development of PRC-US relationship.

We were surprised the government would allow the transaction as the building could be used to cavesdrop on the Pentagon military headquarters.

In my view; all Taiwanese people have very good gesture to US and lived with America’s style of democracy, despite isolated Taiwan situation in diplomacy always keep its vigorous struggle for island’s future.

A group of President Chen Shui-bian’s electoral supporters in southern Taiwan released a statement yesterday accusing Chen of betraying them by saying he would accept the “one China, separate interpretations” basis for reopening negotiations with mainland China.

The declaration, signed by more than 20 major supporters of Chen’s presidential campaign from the southern Taiwan counties of Kaohsiung and Tainan, charged that Chen has made too many concessions to mainland China since his inauguration on May 20.

Chen ad told visiting Asian Foundation Chairman William Fuller on Tuesday that he would embrace the “one China, separate interpretations” consensus agreed upon by the two sides in 1992 as a basis for reopening negotiations with mainland China.

According to the declaration, Chen’s concessions have deeply hurt the feelings of his long-time backers, represent a withdrawal from hard-won precedents set by former President Lee Teng-hui, and are a political betrayal of Chen’s pro-Taiwan independence allies.

Stressing that Taiwan and mainland China are independent sovereignties, the statement said that mainland China has no right to claim Taiwan as a part of it, and their is no need for Taiwan to concede political ground in the face of China’s military threats.

President Chen Shui-bian reiterated that his acceptance of a consensus on a definition of China reached by Beijing and the old Kuomintang (KMT) government in 1992 was not selling out his ideals, while one of his top cross-strait policy-making officials warned that Taipei’s gestures of goodwill to Beijing had almost reached “saturation point.”

Speaking with an 11 member delegation of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP), a U.S. think tank, Chen insisted that the tone of his recent comments where he accepted a 1992 consensus that each side of the Taiwan Strait could agree to disagree on the meaning of “one China” was consistent with the intent of his May 20 inauguration speech.

“My statements … have always been consistent in spirit and content,” Chen said.

Speaking with the delegation led by NCAPF chairman William Flynn, Chen said his comments had been consistent with his inauguration speech where he said the two sides could jointly work on a future “one China,” and with his June 20 comments that he hoped the two sides of the Taiwan Strait could have an ice-breaking summit similar to the two Koreas.

Chen added he felt positive about “Track Two dialogue” --- unofficial channels for communication between Taipei, Beijing and Washington --- saying that he welcomed any means of improving cross-strait relations and contributing to regional peace and stability.

Dr. Donald Zagoria, a delegation member, asked Chen to elaborate on what Chen understood the 1992 consensus to mean.

Chen replied that Taipei, as a democratic and pluralistic society, has various different views on the handling, interpretation and future direction of cross-strait relations, which is why he asked Nobel laureate Lee Yuan-tsen to head a cross-strait task force to develop a national consensus on the issue.

He added that no one in Taiwan could accept Taiwan was part of the PRC. The delegation arrived Wednesday and will leave Saturday after meeting with high-ranking officials.

He added he was not clear if the 1992 consensus was the new government’s bottom line.

Beijing insists returning to the 1992 consensus is tantamount to accepting its cherished “one China” principle --- which Taipei rejects as it say s it means it will be have to be part of the PRC.

He added that London was taking Taipei increasingly more seriously and former President Lee Teng-hui’s visit to Britain was a symbol of this.

Contrary to Castro personally supervised a patriotic crusade to bring Elian home, mobilizing millions in rallies across island.

It is political victory for Fidel Castro’s government? The result upset the turbulent history of Cuba-US relations. I believed that the U.S. side’s thoughts it would let Cuba a projection of emotional release from long time of Cold War overtones.

Many Asian economics are recovering vigorously, but the region’s leaders are still smarting from the deep wounds inflicted by the 1997-98 financial crisis.

The new President Chen gave his honest goodwill to Beijing but in vain. President Chen faced criticism after conflicting remarks on his mainland China policy provoked confusion and accusation that he was giving way to Beijing.

--- Frank Hsieh, DPP chairman

Chen surprised some analysts by resurrecting the position, widely considered to be the bottom-line proposal he was saving if his other efforts to start talks failed.

“My hunch is that the pressure from the U.S. is very strong and they want Taiwan to get back into the talking mode,” said Joseph Wu, deputy director of the Institute of International Relations in Taipei.

Wu said there’s a perception in Washington that Beijing is willing to return to the 1992 agreement and now would be a good time for Taiwan to do the same.

Washington is eager for Beijing and Taipei to solve their differences because the United States could quickly get drawn into a war between the two sides. U.S. warships have sailed into the Taiwan Strait before when tensions began to boil, and America is one of the few nations that sells Taiwan weapons.

But the party’s new leader, Frank Hsieh, has said there’s no need to change the platform because Chen has already promised he would not unilaterally hold the independence vote.

Hsieh told reporters that he was not optimistic that the right words could solve long-standing tensions.

Beijing (AP) – China objected Tuesday to former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui’s visit to Britain, hinting that Chinese-British relations could suffer as a result of the trip.

Lee arrived in Britain on Tuesday, reportedly to attend his granddaughter’s graduation and speak at a conference. Without speaking to reporters, Lee waved to TV cameras as he walked through the airport with his wife and bodyguards.　

Before the outspoken Taiwanese leader stepped down last month after 12 years in office, Beijing repeatedly tried to block him from traveling to nations that don’t have diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

“We are strongly opposed to the activities to be organized by Lee Teng-hui in the United Kingdom,” Zhu told reporters. “He is a troublemaker. So we have already asked clearly the United Kingdom government to honor its commitment and maintain the overall situation of Sino-British relations.”

Britain said Lee’s visit “is a purely private one by a private individual” and would not change British policy toward Taiwan.

Since China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949, Beijing has considered the island to be a renegade province unworthy of formal ties with other countries. China hates Lee because as president he sought to break the diplomatic isolation Beijing has imposed on Taiwan. Lee also suggested that Taiwan and China treat each other as separate states.

When Lee visited the United States in 1995 to attend a class reunion at Cornell University, China conducted war games and fired missiles into the seas near Taiwan. It lambasted the United States, recalled its ambassador to Washington and suspended negotiations with Taiwan.

But even as China was protesting to Britain on Tuesday, new Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian made an apparent concession to Beijing, recognizing a 1992 agreement with China that once made it possible for the rivals to hold historic meetings.

The “one China” agreement said both sides agree there is only one China and each can have its own interpretation over its contents. The deal allowed Beijing

In recent months, Taiwanese officials had signaled that the “one China” agreement was outdated and that the new government was backing away from it.

But at a meeting with William Fuller, chairman of the U.S think tank Asia Foundation, Chen said Taiwan would adhere to the consensus. However, Chen also accused China of backing away from the agreement and instead seeking to reaffirm that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China – a stance which Taipei views as denoting Beijing’s authority over the island.

Chen told Fuller the new dispute makes it all the more important to resume dialogue so the sides can discuss what “one China” actually means, according to a presidential office statement.

The situation for both sides was changed by Beijing’s business big deal and nuke weapons are attracting whole world’s attention.

This attitude apparently didn’t have much of an impact in Britain, which was reported to have been very cooperative in granting Lee a visa and making arrangements for him to pass through the diplomatic gate after arriving at the airport.

It seems highly ironic that while the British government doesn’t have the slightest problem with hosting a visit by our former leader, international academia appears to be scared stiff of retaliation from Beijing.

While we think other foreign government would be wise to let Lee in their borders as the U.K. has, despite belligerence from Beijing, we wonder what in the world the International Joseph A. Schumpeter Society is afraid of.

At least on the surface, it doesn’t seem like there is very much that Beijing can do to threaten such an academic organization, except to cut links between it and scholarly organizations on the mainland.

Assuming there is no restriction on admission into the university’s from gates, it was entirely possible that Lee could take a stroll on the campus to prove the university administration wrong.

While the British government doesn’t appear to be the slightest bit worried about what effects former President Lee’s visit will have on its ties to mainland China, the University of Manchester must be petrified.

Hopefully Lee himself will explain the details of what happened after he returns home later this week. Until then, we can only speculate.

President Lee himself appeared to be in rather good spirits after the ceremony, and an ensuing banquet in his honor, was over.

Every time he sees reporters following him around, Lee has only said “thank you, thank you,” not giving the slightest hint about how well --- or not well – his trip to England is going.

We will have to wait for a couple of days more before we will know the answer to that question.

After all, Lee is now only a former president, as well as a former chairman of the Kuomintang --- which itself is no longer running the executive branch of government here. There shouldn’t be any logical reason why the organization decided to sweep President Lee under the carpet.

Even before he stepped down after 12 years as president on May 20, Beijing has fervently warned foreign countries not to host visits of any kind by Lee Teng-hui.

The warnings, primarily directed at Japan and the United States, were intended to stave off a widely expected flurry of foreign travel by Lee, who has vowed to circle the globe to promote Taiwan’s cause in the world community.

After Lee turned up in Britain last week, Beijing issued a stern warning to London, dubbing Lee as a “troublemaker who stirs up trouble wherever he goes.”

At least something is better than nothing.　

Despite a flurry of reports saying that he wouldn’t, former President Lee Teng-hui yesterday received honorary lifetime membership in the International Joseph A. Schumpeter Society, an academic organization dedicated to the study of Schumpeteriam economic theories.

Earlier, reports in major news media including The Times of London suggested that the academic society has abruptly cancelled its invitation to President Lee after being pressured by officials from Beijing’s embassy in London.

As it turned out, leading members of the organization moved the venue for the even from Manchester University, where an international forum on Schumpeterian economics is currently going on, to President Lee’s hotel.

The change of venue came after spokespersons for the university repeatedly issued statements denying that Lee had ever been invited to visit the campus and guaranteeing that he wouldn’t attend the international forum.

Leaders of the non-official, purely academic International Joseph A. Schumpeter Society declined to speak to throngs of reporters who had been tirelessly following Lee around for days. Left without any direct information, the reporters filed stories speculating that the venue had been moved to the hotel in a kind of compromise to avoid a backlash from Beijing.