Ping: There is nobody that does not care about politics. Politics is related to everybody's life. Taiwan has a good democratic process but Hong Kong doesn't. The people of Hong Kong have few opportunities to get involved in politics and they don't have the right institutions and processes to express their interest in politics.

TT: Do you think the people of Hong Kong have changed their opinions on politics and democracy since the 1997 handover and the July 1 demonstration [when 500,000 people took to the streets to protest an anti-subversion bill]?

Ping: The July 1 demonstration was very significant. The people of Hong Kong felt empowered because of the demonstration. [Hong Kong] Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa made concessions and high-ranking officials resigned.

The public took action and it got results. The July 1 demonstration was quite different from the 1989 protests against the Tiananmen Square massacre. Nothing happened after the protests in 1989.

However, in the aftermath of the July 1 demonstration, what's more important is how to channel the energy accumulated during the event to the right institution to produce democratic results.

In Taiwan, all demonstrations -- be they of a political nature or aimed at bringing about social changes -- are able to channel their energies into the right institutions to maximize their efforts.

But Hong Kong doesn't have such a mechanism.

TT: Do you think the gruesome and even bloody effects of the push for democratic change in Taiwan during the 1950s and the 1960s are likely to happen in Hong Kong as its people strive for democracy?

Ping: Democratic movements exist in different forms. Each individual society has its own process of democratization.

Taiwan has gone from a government patronized by one party to a rotation of ruling parties. Now, Hong Kong's democratic aim is that the Chief Executive and all members of the Legislative Council be elected by universal suffrage.

Hopefully Hong Kong can achieve that. Taiwan and Hong Kong have taken different paths, but the paths lead to the same destination.

The foundation stone of democracy is a civil society. The power of democratic change can spread to various corners and propel social reforms. Such power is still invisible in Hong Kong.

TT: Some observers say Taiwan's younger generation grows more like Hong Kong's because they only care about making money and are apathetic toward politics. Do you agree with this observation?

Ping: I don't thing the people of Hong Kong are apathetic toward politics, they just don't have the opportunities to get involved in it. I don't think Taiwan's younger generation is apathetic toward politics, either.

Taiwan is heading toward a more delicate democracy, where more legality in the democratic processes will be demanded.

Perhaps Taiwan's younger generation is not as passionate as their predecessors. But I have seen young lawyers and activists who care very much about what's happening in society's corners.

TT: During a recent international conference discussing Hong Kong under Beijing's "one country, two systems" formula, Hong Kong delegates said they believed democracy is still possible in the region under the formula. According to your observation of the political atmosphere in Hong Kong, do you agree with what they said?

Ping: Hong Kong could be the place to which China directs the mainlands political tensions. China can learn about democracy from Hong Kong. Hong Kong will play a very important role in China's democratization process.

TT: Can the degree of democracy China allows to happen in Hong Kong be an indicator of the levels of democratization China might achieve in the future?

Ping: No. But hopefully the democracy in Hong Kong can hasten mainland democratization. I believe it is inevitable that China will become a democracy.

If Hong Kong accelerates China's democratization, it will have contributed a lot to Asia's stability.

Distant friends and a close enemy

By the Liberty Times editorial

`This country's international survival space is increasingly limited as a result of China's endless obstructions.'

The curtain has rung down on the latest Taiwan-Central American Summit. The enthusiastic participation by seven allies in this exchange was most meaningful to this country's relationship with the Central American allies. As a result, relationships with these countries are being upgraded from bilateral to multilateral and from regional to international. And with the signing of a free-trade agreement with Panama, it is clear that Taiwan is expected to be able to join the regional integrated body of Central America. This is indeed a priceless diplomatic accomplishment. The hard work of the government not only deserves support and encouragement.

This country's international survival space is increasingly limited as a result of China's endless obstructions. China has spared no efforts in this regard, not even toward Taipei's request to participate in the World Health Organization (WHO) in order to do our duty as a member of the international community to protect the health of mankind. Even Vice President Annette Lu's plan to visit the Boeing Co during a transit stop in the US was turned down as a result of the unreasonable pressure from Beijing.

All this has once again made it clear that China is the cause of most of the difficulties that this nation encounters in foreign affairs arena. Some members of the media, however, consistently hold a very critical attitude toward the government's predicament, questioning the usefulness of various foreign aid efforts made to strengthen ties. They seem to turn a blind eye toward the diplomatic siege by Beijing. Rarely do they ever voice opposition to China.

Even during the recent summit, the pro-unification media relied on unverified and one-sided information to accuse Colombia's president of accepting political bribes, spoiling the occasion for him entirely. Some pro-unification media bashed the government for using "dollar diplomacy" and "throwing a lavish ball" while our foreign visitors were here.

How is such conduct any different from that of Beijing? Why doesn't the pro-unification media question how much money Beijing has poured into luring Taiwan's allies? Why is it that they only know how to blacken the name of their own government?

Didn't the opposition party also play "dollar diplomacy" when it was in power? The government should make public its confidential files on diplomatic relations from the Chiang Ching-kuo era to the Chen Shui-bian era. Then the people will be able to see who spent more money in this regard. Who was the founding father of "dollar diplomacy?"

Moreover, the Beijing government has been striking blows against Taiwan in foreign affairs incurring serious resentment. During the peak of the SARS epidemic, the infamous words uttered by Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and Beijing's delegate Sha Zukang's in front of the world media -- "Who cares about you [Taiwanese] people?" -- should have made those individuals in Taiwan who pine for their "Chinese motherland" realize the harsh reality.

The one thing that is on the mind of the bullies in Beijing every single day is how to trample on Taiwan's sovereignty. The mere sight of Taiwan's national flag at international events is enough to drive them up the wall. Watching Taiwanese officials going on overseas tours gives them nervous breakdowns.

If we called ourselves the "Republic of China," they accuse us of practicing "two Chinas" and say that the ROC ceased to exist in 1949. When we call ourselves "Taiwan," Beijing accuses us of practicing "one China, and one Taiwan," the equivalence of "Taiwan independence."

In a era which increasingly emphasizes regional integration and economic and trade exchanges, having such a neighbor naturally make the people of Taiwan concerned about direct links. Taiwan accounts for 60 percent of all foreign investment in China. Yet Beijing still threatens our lives by aiming more than 450 missiles at us, and and tries to intimidate us into isolation from the international community. This is indeed absurd.

Even more incredible is that pan-blue camp shows more animosity toward Chen than China. With respect to important national policies, such as national defense and foreign affairs, the ruling and opposition camps should naturally join forces and show national unity. However, the pan-blue camp frequently tries to obstruct innovative diplomatic policies, warning that the other side of Taiwan Strait will get mad or attack us if we do this or that. They habitually try to block approval of the defense budget. Little do they know that this unreasonable hatred has turned them into China's hit men.

The pan-blue camp sings eulogies for Taiwan day after day and sings duets with Beijing. These people should be recognized for who they really are. The people of Taiwan should stand by the principles of "nativization" and "democratic Taiwan" and be fearless in the face of obstruction of China and the the pro-unification camp's bad mouthing of Taiwan. Boldly march forward on the path of democratization and nativization.

At the closing ceremony of the recent summit, Guatemala President Alfonso Portillo praised Taiwan's recent economic and diplomatic progresses, saying that Taiwan serves as a good role model for the Central and South American countries. Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos also expressed firm support for Taiwan, promising to caste votes in support of this nation in any international functions.

Although most of our allies are Third World countries and geographically remote from Taiwan, the help we offer them is sincere and they reciprocate with heart-felt gratitude.

These are things that cannot be shaken by China's monetary bribes and political oppression. It truly brings mixed feelings to know that the assistance of these faraway friends far surpasses our bully neighbor across the Strait, who, despite cultural and ethnic similarities, threatens Taiwan with the use of force or the export of disease.

China takes its diplomacy upstage at N Korea talks

NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE , BEIJING

Even though the six nations that gathered for talks here this week have yet to agree on how to stop North Korea's nuclear program, at least one breakthrough was evident: the emergence of China as a more assertive diplomatic power.

China cajoled and badgered the US, North Korea, South Korea, Japan and Russia to join negotiations on how to resolve the Korea arms crisis. It succeeded in pressing participants to commit to another round, despite obvious tensions between the US and North Korea.

Such initiatives are oddly foreign to China. Although it has the world's largest population and fastest-growing economy, it has generally abstained or carped from the sidelines on the most pressing issues of the day, most recently the war in Iraq. For more than a decade, it dismissed US-North Korean tensions as a relic of the Cold War that the two nations should resolve on their own.

Beijing's decision to broker the nuclear talks reflects alarm in the top ranks of the Communist Party that the North Korean problem could spiral out of control, with both the North and the US locked in polar positions. Experts said China had decided that it was uniquely positioned to make a difference because of longstanding ties with North Korea, a neighbor and onetime political and military ally, and its improving relationship with the Bush administration.

Yet its assertiveness may also reflect a new sense of engagement with the world that offers some parallels to the emergence of the US as a dominant power nearly a century ago, experts say.

"China is starting to act like a big power, with interests it has to defend even outside its borders," said Yan Xue-tong, an influential foreign policy expert at Qinghua University in Beijing. "I expect these talks to be remembered as an important milestone in history for that reason."

The North Korea talks are China's highest-profile role to date, but Beijing has begun to extend its reach in other areas as well.

In the spring, China persuaded Southeast Asian nations to create a free trade zone between China and the region, modeled on the North American Free Trade Agreement. Beijing has also begun using its huge foreign currency reserves, totaling more than US$320 billion, to extend development loans to poorer countries, including a recent US$150 million loan package for Vietnam, a former adversary, and US$400 million for cash-strapped Indonesia.

China could take a leading role in the Korea talks also because it had taken steps to improve its relationship with the US since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. China offered America help in suppressing terrorism in Central Asia, a longstanding Chinese concern because it controls the restive Muslim region of Xinjiang.

The Bush administration dropped its focus on China as a potential adversary as it became engaged in fighting terrorism globally.

Regionally, a fragile alliance that China forged with Russia and four Central Asian nations appears to have achieved some momentum. The group, known as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, after the Chinese city where it was founded, conducted its first joint military exercises this summer to practice combating terrorist strikes.

"China's new leadership has clearly shown its desire to play a bigger role in the world," said Chung Chong-wook, a former South Korean national security adviser who helped manage an earlier round of negotiations on North Korea's nuclear program. "You get the sense that they are far more confident than they were before."

It is unlikely, of course, that China could or would want to try to match US influence worldwide. It does not have a mobile military that could project forces far beyond its borders, and its core interests are still regional and territorial, including the question of Taiwan.

Beijing is still recovering from the embarrassment it caused itself by its initial mismanagement of the outbreak of SARS. Its cover-up of the disease in its early stages highlighted the fact that China's political system is still closed and reflexively wary of the outside world.

Still, the North Korea crisis may have brought an end to China's complacent foreign policy. Chinese experts say Beijing began accepting in the spring US intelligence that the North had already developed one or two atomic bombs. Chinese officials also worried that the Bush administration, emboldened by a military victory in Iraq, was weighing the use of force on the Korean Peninsula, where China fought a war 50 years ago.

"The situation became an urgent crisis that the top leadership decided to handle personally," said Shi Yin-hong, a foreign policy expert at People's University in Beijing.

Tibetans rekindle hope for Dalai Lama's return

NEGOTIATIONS: Beijing has started talking with Tibet's government in exile, which has sparked speculation that the exiled leader may be coming back

THE GUARDIAN , LHASA, TIBET

Negotiations between Tibet's government in exile and leaders in Beijing have prompted international speculation that the Dalai Lama may be closer to a return to his homeland. But in the monasteries and temples of Tibet, people are too afraid of the Chinese authorities to speak out in favor of a reconciliation that would allow the region's spiritual leader to return to the land he fled in 1959 after a failed uprising.

In private, monks and Buddhist believers admit they still revere the Dalai Lama as a guru and a king. Some beg foreigners for his photo -- forbidden by the authorities. Others secretly display his picture in rooms that are off-limits even to friends and family.

The Chinese government offers rewards to informers and many monasteries are reputed to be filled with spies, so it is difficult to speak openly. But in bars after a few drinks, locals give the thumbs up at a mention of "Dalai Lama" and the thumbs down to "China."

Any show of support for the exiled leader is punished. According to the Tibet Information Network, three people were arrested in June for "splittist activities" during a crackdown before the Dalai Lama's birthday. On that day, Lhasa's citizens were reportedly forbidden from gathering in public, hanging prayer flags and reciting prayers.

During a government-organized trip by foreign journalists to Lhasa, cautious monks repeated the official line that the Dalai Lama was the source of conflict. But political leaders took a noticeably softer line than in the past, reflecting the improved climate between the sides in the wake of two visits to China last year by envoys from the government in exile.

"We very much welcome Tibetan compatriots who return, including delegates of the Dalai Lama," said new Tibetan governor Jampa Phuntsog. "Negotiations are good so that we can understand the true feelings of the Dalai Lama, which is the basis for progress."

Beijing has said the Dalai Lama can return as a Chinese citizen if he renounces claims for Tibetan independence and recognizes Taiwan as part of China.

In a sign of its willingness to compromise, China has released several Tibetan political prisoners, including monks and nuns. Yet it still refuses to disclose the whereabouts of the 14-year-old boy who was identified in 1995 by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama.

Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was whisked away by Chinese authorities at the age of six and has not been seen since, though officials have said he is in good health. The Chinese government's choice of Panchen Lama remains so unpopular that the boy has to study in Beijing, where he is taught scripture by pro-government monks flown out from Tashilunpo monastery in Tibet.

China must cooperate on security in the Strait

By Chang Pai-ta

`Given the lack of controls along China's coast, it is hard to rule out the possibility of some corrupt Chinese government officials collaborating with ... human traffickers.'

Six illegal migrants from China drowned after being thrown overboard outside Tunghsiao, Miaoli County, on Aug. 26. Apart from expressing our condolences for the families of the deceased and indignation towards the human traffickers, people from both Taiwan and China should consider how to keep similar tragedies from occurring.

Due to the political dispute between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, the two governments have seen poor results in areas where they could have worked together to strengthen security.

Unfortunately, the two sides have yet to reach a consensus or build a foundation of trust, goodwill, cooperation and effective management upon which talks to deal with cross-strait crimes can rest.

Snakeheads have a long history of smuggling people from China to Taiwan. Given the lack of controls along China's coast, it is hard to rule out the possibility of some corrupt Chinese government officials collaborating with these human traffickers, making it difficult for the Taiwanese government to hunt them down.

Beijing's poor cooperation in repatriating these illegal immigrants has caused Taiwan's detention centers to become overcrowded. Although sneaking into Taiwan from China is deemed a criminal act by the Chinese government, Beijing is unwilling to assist in the repatriation work on the basis of humanitarian principles. This kind of ruthless government is surely a rarity.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival draws near, we call on Beijing to speed up its efforts to repatriate these illegal entrants so that they may reunite with their families before this important holiday.

If agencies in Taiwan and China cooperate to stop these human traffickers by adopting effective deterrence and strengthening security checks along China's coastline to prevent illegal migrants from boarding the boats, similar tragedies are less likely to occur.

As for Taiwan's crackdown on smuggling, the nation should reinforce its airborne reconnaissance and mobility (for example, helicopters and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft are a must) to build up three-dimensional detecting abilities between land, water and air. This would effectively lower the success of smugglers, thus deterring them and preventing its occurrence.

Although cross-strait acrimony is commonplace, Beijing adopts different principles with direct links than with political issues. I wonder whether this should also be applied to cooperation to eradicate crimes at sea.

Furthermore, if Beijing can dismantle some of the missiles aimed at Taiwan and use the money to improve the lives of the Chinese people, I believe its efforts will be conducive to the common security of Taiwan and China.

Chang Pai-ta is acting deputy chief of DPP's China Affairs Department.

US congressman pushes for diplomatic recognition

SOVEREIGNTY: Peter Deutsch plans to make a speech to the US House of Representatives calling on the Bush administration to recognize both Taipei and Beijing

By Charles Snyder

STAFF REPORTER IN WASHINGTON

A long-time ardent US congressional supporter of Taiwan's independence has announced that he plans to urge the House of Representatives to support full diplomatic recognition of Taiwan when Congress returns from its August break this week.

Representative Peter Deutsch, a Democrat, made public Friday the text of a speech he plans to make on the floor of the House this week. A copy was made available to the lobbying group Formosa Association for Public Affairs (FAPA).

"I call on President George W. Bush to implement the same policy his father fought for [in 1971]: dual representation for both Beijing and Taipei in the UN, participation by Taiwan in all international fora, and full diplomatic recognition of Taiwan by the United States," Deutsch will say.

Deutsch blamed the lack of US recognition of Taiwan on former national security advisor and secretary of state Henry Kissinger and on former president Chiang Kai-shek.

While Bush's father tried to gain dual representation in the UN for Taipei and Beijing, with Taiwan in the General Assembly and China in the Security Council, his efforts were "undercut" by Kissinger and Chiang, Deutsch said.

Kissinger, at the time of the October 1971 debate on admitting China to the UN, was on a trip to Beijing in preparation for then US president Richard Nixon's historic trip the following year, and Chiang opposed dual representation, "clinging to the absurd position that he and his Kuomintang government were the sole legal government of all the Chinese people," Deutch will say.

"It behooves us," he will say, "to fully recognize Taiwan as a sovereign, independent nation, a democratic ally in the war on terror, a forceful nation of 23 million citizens working for a better world."

"The brave citizens of Taiwan deserve nothing less and the global community striving to defeat terrorism will be strengthened by Taiwan's recognition and participation," he will say.

Deutsch, an 11-year veteran of the House, was one of the sponsors and main protagonists for the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act, which would tighten military and other ties between Washington and Taiwan.

He was also the initiator of legislation in 1994 that enabled Taiwanese-Americans to list "Taiwan" as the place of birth on their US passports, instead of "China."

Reaction to the advance copies of Deutsch's comments were guarded.

FAPA president Wu Ming-chi noted, "the US establishing full diplomatic relations with Taiwan is not something that will happen overnight. However, Con-gressman Deutsch's statement will mark the start of a debate in Congress about an idea whose time has come, and that is long overdue."