20031024

Prying hard facts from James Soong

On Wednesday, former president Lee Teng-hui testified before an investigative hearing into the Chung Hsing Bills Finance scandal. Lee's testimony was reportedly highly damaging to People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong, who has been accused of embezzling funds from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) during his time as KMT secretary-general.

Lee's appearance was notable for a number of reasons. It was the first time that a former president had been summoned to give testimony. Lee's wife, Tseng Wen-hui, set another precedent early last year when she testified in a libel suit against three New Party members, who claimed she had left the country with suitcases of cash after the 2000 presidential election.

Taiwan's democracy has therefore matured to the point where even a former president and former first lady are held to be no different from any other citizen when seeking judicial redress and testifying when required. Some have suggested that it is a personal insult to Lee to summon him in such a manner. This view is thoroughly outdated. Even former US president Bill Clinton had to testify before a grand jury on his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. So, former presidents and serving presidents -- to the extent that presidential duties are not obstructed -- have obligations before the courts as other citizens do.

On the other hand, the responses of the KMT and PFP to Lee's summons have been far from satisfactory. Regardless of what the judiciary and the prosecutors' office will do or have done in relation to this case, the Chung Hsing Bills Finance scandal continues to leave a very big question mark hanging over Soong's character. Were Soong not to run in next year's presidential election, it would suffice to leave the matter in the hands of the judiciary. However, since Soong is still in the race, he and his party ought to realize that the real judge and jury for this case are the voters. Soong must offer the public a satisfactory explanation of his conduct. He would do well not to evade the issue, in the hope that voters will, on the assumption that all politicians are corrupt across the board, let bygones be bygones.

As argued by Chuang Po-lin, a former lawyer for the KMT, the previous decision of the prosecutors' office to not even file charges against Soong was questionable for many reasons, the most obvious being that Lee Teng-hui, a key figure in the case, had not been questioned.

It is absurd to hear the pan-blue camp wailing "political oppression" over the decision of the prosecutors' office to open a new investigation into the matter. The KMT is of course put in a most awkward position, since it is supposedly the real victim here. Yet it had been quick to come to Soong's defense. The same level of enthsusiasm could not be detected in KMT corridors when Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou was accused of wrong-doing following the merger of TaipeiBank and Fubon Financial Holding Co. In fact, Ma was pretty much left on his own to defend himself.

If the KMT had been cunning, then the least it could have done was remain quiet this time around, and not reinforce the impression that political interests top their agenda over matters of propriety. Such impressions matter to a significant number of middle-of-the-road voters.

Taiwan's history, culture mapped in cyberspace

By Chiu Yu-Tzu

STAFF REPORTER

"To show environmental changes in the past to students, a teacher from an elementary school can easily superimpose a local map onto another to show natural resources in that area at different times."－Fan I-chun, associate research fellow of the Institute of History and Philology at the Academia Sinica

Historians and information technology experts from the Academia Sinica yesterday released a Web-based Geographic Information System (WebGIS) Atlas containing hundreds of maps of Taiwan's historical culture and natural resources over a 400-year time frame.

At a press conference held yesterday to announce the result of a two-year research project funded by the National Science Council (NSC), scientists said the interactive database involving history, current knowledge and advanced information technology could be regarded as a virtual center for Taiwan studies.

According to Academia Sinica Vice President and project investigator Liu Tsui-jung, the group has turned documents from different eras on diverse subjects into hundreds of base maps, such as topographic maps, geological maps, census maps, historical maps and others.

The 400-year time frame includes different periods ranging from the Dutch occupation and Spanish rule, the Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty and the Japanese era to the present.

In addition, Liu said, researchers produced "thematic maps," which can be classified into diverse categories, ranging from population distribution, religion, education, national defense, transportation, economic, industrial and public health to Aboriginal culture.

"The database will be a useful platform in different fields to conduct interdisciplinary researches," Liu said.

Fan I-chun, an associate research fellow at the Institute of History and Philology at the Academia Sinica, said the database of maps could be multifunctional because users can produce maps based on their needs.

Similarly, Fan said, users can find out what jurisdiction their home fell under in the Qing Dynasty or if any churches were established nearby in the period of Japanese colonization. Defense zones in different periods, changes in river courses or the Taipei train map of 80 years ago can be easily retrieved.

To further promote Taiwan studies, an English introduction will be added, Fan said. Foreign researchers interested in using the database, however, are required to be familiar with Chinese.

Currently, free access to the database maintained by the Academia Sinica remains unavailable to the public, due to unsolved intellectual property problems.

NSC deputy minister Hsieh Ching-chih said the council intends to make part of the knowledge-based database available to the public after solving a number of these problems.

Minister promises name change

CONFUSION REIGNS: The various titles used by Taiwan's overseas representative offices baffle not only foreign governments, but also Taiwanese living abroad

By Melody Chen

STAFF REPORTER

A lawmaker demanded yesterday that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within a year change "Taipei" to "Taiwan" in the names of the country's overseas representative offices.

During a legislative session, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsieh Ming-yuan asked Vice Minister Michael Kau to alter the names of at least half of Taiwan's representative offices in countries that have no official ties with Taiwan.

Besides the embassies serving Taiwan's 26 allies, which all adopt the name the "Republic of China (ROC)," most of the country's overseas representative offices use "Taipei" to represent the country.

Kau, who acknowledged confusion caused by the various titles used by Taiwan's overseas offices, promised to work hard to rectify the matter but said such a task faced unusually complex difficulties.

The progress of the name-changing move really depends on the attitude of the countries where the representative offices are located, Kau said.

"We need to obtain these countries' consent to change the names of our representative offices. Pressure from China will certainly hamper the progress," he said.

However, the mounting calls to change the country's name and the stark diplomatic prospect the country faces propel the ministry to work on a name that will clearly distinguish Taiwan from the People's Republic of China, Kau said.

The name, said Kau, has to both abide by the Constitution's articles regulating the country's title and "manifest Taiwan's sovereignty."

The government, in order to sidestep China's opposition to its bid to enter international organizations, has managed to invent a number of names to represent the country.

"These different names can be used in different situations," Kau said.

Taiwan's allies may call the country ROC or Taiwan. Besides, in joining international organizations, the country prefers to use four names, in order of preference: "ROC," "Taiwan," "Taiwan, ROC," and "ROC, Taiwan," he said.

The title the country adopts in the World Trade Organization, "Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu," a name representing the nation and its major isles, can also be used on certain international occasions, Kau said.

He said that changing the country's name alone cannot solve Taiwan's diplomatic dilemma.

"We need to figure out strategies to cripple China's intervention into Taiwan's political and economic relations with other countries," he said.

The issue of the country's name has also caused overseas Taiwanese a lot of problems, Chang Fu-mei, chairwoman of the Cabinet's Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, said yesterday.

Even the commission's name itself is undergoing examination because it is confusing, Chang said.

"We are considering changing the institution's name into the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission," she said.

Overseas Taiwanese, said Chang, have complained for a long time that Taiwan's overseas agencies have often been mistaken as China's institutions because their names fail to clearly convey the country's identity.

"The commission and overseas Taiwanese are discussing which name would be the most proper for the country's overseas agencies to use," Chang said.

The commission, Chang said, is preparing to rename all of its 17 overseas Taiwanese cultural centers, after the ministry decides how to designate Taiwan's overseas representative offices so that the names can be consistent.

Hakka festival offers fresh repertoire

By Debby Wu

STAFF REPORTER

Audiences at the 2003 Hakka Culture and Arts Festival -- A-Ha! Hakka -- can expect a repertoire of diverse contemporary Hakka music, recreated and represented in both the Western and Chinese classical music traditions.

The Council for Hakka Affairs has invited the renowned local western classical symphony orchestra, JustMusic Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Chinese classical orchestra, China Found Music Workshop, to compose new pieces based on traditional Hakka folk songs.

Music Director of JustMusic Philharmonic Orchestra Joe Lee pointed out that folk songs had been an important element in the Western classical music tradition, and composers such as Johannes Brahms adopted local folk songs for use in their compositions.

"This time we try to use classical music to represent Hakka music, and hope that by turning Hakka music into classical music we can bring it onto the international stage in the future," Lee said.

The administrative director of China Fond Music Workshop, Lin Hui-kuan, said that this was the first time the group tried their hand at Hakka music.

"But we found that many elements in Hakka folk songs sounded like the Chinese erhu, so we used a lot of erhu solos in our adaptation of Hakka folk songs," he said.

Lin said that when the group performed abroad, audiences were always looking for a Taiwanese flavor, but in the past the group usually borrowed their music from Chinese folk songs.

"But now with our new Hakka pieces, hopefully we can help push Taiwanese folk songs onto the international stage," Lin said.

JustMusic will perform at the Tungshih Carnival in front of the Tungshih township office from 7pm to 9pm on Nov. 1, and the next day from 3pm to 5pm at the Hsinchu County Bureau of Cultural Affairs.

China Found will perform at the Meinung Hakka Carnival at the old Meinung township office from 10am to 12pm on Nov. 15.

The Festival opens tomorrow at 7pm with a ceremony in front of the Presidential Office, with several Hakka groups giving performances.

On Sunday evening from 7:30pm to 9:30pm, a Hakka folk song performance by three choirs will be staged at the Taipei Chungshan Hall. Free tickets can be obtained from Hakka TV, The Police Radio Station or at the Taipei Chungshan Hall.

Brochures with more details of the festival are available from 7-11s nationwide.

Pan-blue plebiscite draft a `bird cage,' government says

By Ko Shu-ling

STAFF REPORTER

A draft referendum law preventing government agencies from initiating referendums was jointly introduced by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) lawmakers yesterday.

Further restrictions in the draft would prevent referendums from being held in tandem with presidential elections, as well as exclude questions relating to national sovereignty and constitutional amendment.

While the opposition camp's draft excludes from public consideration such issues as the national title, flag and territory, the DPP's draft allows the public to decide on such matters if Taiwan is threatened by a foreign power.

Other topics banned from public consideration in the opposition's draft include diplomacy, military affairs, the budget, taxation, salaries, social welfare and ethnic affairs.

Mocking the numerous limitations set down by the opposition camp's draft, Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung yesterday likened the bill to a "bird cage."

"What the people need is a referendum law through which they can exercise their direct democratic rights guaranteed by the Constitution, not something that hinders them," Lin told reporters yesterday afternoon.

Earlier in the morning, KMT legislative leader Tseng Yung-chuan told the press conference that the KMT-PFP draft stipulates two kinds of referendums: national and regional.

"Only the general public could initiate referendums, and not government agencies, as is proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) draft initiative and referendum law," Tseng said.

In the opposition's draft, a quorum of 1 percent of votes cast in the previous presidential election would be required to call for a national referendum. The referendum would then be held only if 5 percent of the electorate endorsed the call with a petition.

But in a regional referendum, 2 percent of votes cast in elections for municipality and local government chiefs would be required to call for a regional referendum, and signatures of 10 percent of that electorate would be required to hold a referendum.

The draft also requires that a 21-person review committee should be established in the Cabinet to study the proposals.

PFP Legislator Chou Hsi-wei said that the two parties proposed the draft to counter the Cabinet's strategy to force through referendum legislation.

In April last year, the Cabinet sent the draft initiative and referendum bill to the legislature for review, but lawmakers were deadlocked over which issues would be subject to this powerful form of direct democracy.

While the DPP's draft referendum bill was the only bill of its kind to pass a second reading during the last legislative session, the Cabinet later decided to withdraw that version and endorsed the DPP version in a bid to expedite the legislative process.

KMT lawmaker Huang Teh-fu said that the Cabinet should have proposed its own version of the referendum law and criticized the DPP's draft as "perfunctory" and "shameful."

PFP Legislator Feng Ting-kuo said that referendums should not be held in tandem with national or local elections because of concerns that certain parties would manipulate the referendums to sway the poll.

TSU plans petition for new constitution

REFORM: The small pan-green party wants 1 million people to sign its petition in support of a new constitution to coincide with a rally in Kaohsiung tomorrow

By Chang Yun-Ping

STAFF REPORTER

The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) announced yesterday it was organizing a petition drive to solicit 1 million signatures supporting the creation of a new constitution to coincide with a march in favor of referendum legislation to be held in Kaohsiung tomorrow.

TSU Chairman Huang Chu-wen said that the party would mobilize more than 50,000 supporters to join the march, initiated by several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators who formed the Alliance for Legislating a Plebiscite Law.

Organizers expect the march to attract more than 200,000 people. President Chen Shui-bian, who proposed a new constitution during the DPP's 17th anniversary celebrations on Sept. 28, will give a speech at the rally promoting his party's constitutional reform platform.

Tomorrow's march comes less than two months after pro-independence activists organized a march in Taipei on Sept. 6 to call for a change in the country's name from "Republic of China" to "Taiwan."

Pro-independence supporters, led by former president Lee Teng-hui, are planning another march on Feb. 28 to campaign for Chen's re-election bid.

Huang said the establishment of a new constitution would enable Taiwan to assert its de jure independence.

Not to be outdone, pro-unification supporters are planning a counter-protest in downtown Taipei tomorrow to oppose the establishment of a new constitution and to safeguard the status of the ROC. They will be marking Retrocession Day, the day in 1945 when Taiwan reverted to ROC rule after Japan's defeat in World War II.

The protest is being led by Elmer Feng, former New Party lawmaker and now convener of the Alliance to Protect the Republic of China.

Feng said yesterday that the presidential election will be a crusade to safeguard the survival of the ROC against the establishment of a Republic of Taiwan.

The alliance posted advertisements in Chinese-language newspapers yesterday to call for pro-unification supporters to join the march.

"The march is being staged to oppose the DPP's march to push for Taiwan independence, an attempt to annihilate the ROC," the alliance said in the advertisements.

The legislative assembly is today expected to consider whether to pass the DPP's version of the referendum law on to the second reading.

The DPP's referendum law allows for referendums to decide the nation's sovereignty, including changes to the national flag and national title.

However, referendums on sovereignty issues would be limited to "defensive use." In other words, the president could initiate such a referendum if Taiwan comes under foreign military threat.

Nuclear tensions build in N Korea

AP , SEOUL

A top Chinese official will soon visit North Korea amid efforts to defuse tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, the North said, as it warned yesterday that the crisis would worsen if Washington refuses to make concessions.

Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, will pay an "official goodwill visit" at the invitation of the North's parliament and Cabinet, said Pyongyang's official news agency, KCNA. It gave no further details.

In Beijing, the Foreign Ministry and Cabinet press office said they couldn't immediately confirm Wu's visit.

Wu would be the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Pyongyang since a 2001 trip by then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Beijing is now trying to launch a new round of six-nation talks aimed at stopping North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons development.

South Korea's Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said yesterday: "We hope progress is made concerning the six-nation talks" during Wu's visit. Wu is expected to meet the North's leader, Kim Jong Il, Jeong said.

Jeong also said that it was rare for North Korea to make an announcement before such a visit, and that Pyongyang was hinting that it could make a "vital decision" in connection with it.

The US and others increasingly rely on Beijing's influence to bring North Korea to the discussion table. China is the impoverished communist country's only major ideological ally, and supplies it with badly needed oil and trade.

But even as it confirmed Wu's visit, Pyongyang said it was not interested in any talks unless Washington agrees to discuss signing a nonaggression treaty that would legally bar the US from launching a pre-emptive attack.

"The situation will worsen and inexorably lead to war if the US insists that we first abandon our nuclear program," said the North's state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun in a commentary carried by KCNA.

Earlier this week, US President George W. Bush rejected North Korea's nonaggression treaty demand. But he proposed a plan under which the US and North Korea's four neighbors would give the country written assurances it won't be attacked if it promises to dismantle its nuclear program.

"We see no changes in recent US moves," Rodong said yesterday. "The more the US buys time behind the curtain of dialogue, the stronger our physical deterrent force will become."

China hosted the first round of six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear development in August. The meeting ended without an agreement on a new round, as the US and North Korea failed to narrow differences. South Korea, Japan and Russia also joined the talks.

North Korea has since added urgency to the year-long nuclear crisis by announcing that it was using plutonium extracted from 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods to build more atomic bombs. US officials believe it already has one or two bombs.

Last week, the North indicated that it might test a bomb. It test-fired at least one short-range missile this week.

During high-level talks last week in Pyongyang, South Korea expressed regret over North Korea's recent statements, and demanded an explanation.

N Korea seeks Bush's `true intention'

REUTERS , TOKYO

North Korean representatives at the UN will contact US officials soon to ascertain the "true intention" of recent remarks by President George W. Bush on security assurances for the communist state, a diplomatic source with close ties to Pyongyang said in Tokyo yesterday.

The source said North Korea, which has described Bush's most recent assurances as "laughable," wanted more details before deciding whether to take part in a new round of six-nation talks on its nuclear weapons program.

Bush, shifting policy in an apparent attempt to re-energize the talks, offered Pyongyang unspecified security assurances for the first time this week but ruled out meeting its demand for a non-aggression treaty.

"The representatives in New York will contact American government officials soon," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The North wants to know the true intention of Bush's remarks," the source said.

He said North Korea would decide whether to resume talks on its nuclear arms program after the behind-the-scenes contacts.

South Korean Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said yesterday that North Korea had complained that Washington had refused to contact Pyongyang since six-way talks in August.

Jeong, speaking in Seoul, quoted a North Korean official as telling a South Korean delegation in Pyongyang last week: "Recently, the US has been refusing New York contacts. We have no choice but to demand dialogue in our own way."

Before stepping down in August, Charles "Jack" Pritchard, acting as US special envoy for North Korea, was in contact with North Korean officials in New York about once a week, the diplomatic source in Tokyo said.

The US, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan are seeking to draw North Korea back to the negotiating table but Pyongyang has made no firm commitments.

Stick to the name Taiwan knows

By Cho Hui-wan

Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Yi-fu has indicated that Taiwan will use a name that carries a deeper sense of sovereignty -- such as "Republic of China," "Taiwan" or "Taiwan Economic Entity" -- when negotiating future free-trade agreements with non-diplomatic allies.

Taiwan will no longer accept names like "Separate Customs Territory of Taipei, Penghu, Kin-men and Matsu" (TPKM) or "Chi-nese Taipei," Lin said. Meanwhile, Taiwan's FTA talks with Singapore have run aground because the government would not accept the name TPKM in the agreement.

It is deplorable that the FTA talks have run aground, but the people of Taiwan should be asking whether the government has wisely sought optimum benefit for the country during the negotiation.

Lin said TPKM blurs Taiwan's status, and that "economic entity" can at least nevertheless highlight the nation's sovereignty even though it does not signify a politically independent entity.

Is this judgment objective or subjective?

The term "separate customs territory" came from the article on accession to the WTO and its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

Article XXXIII of the GATT stipulates, "... a government acting on behalf of a separate customs territory possessing full autonomy in the conduct of its external commercial relations and of the other matters provided for in this Agreement, may accede to this Agreement ... on behalf of that territory, on terms to be agreed between such government and the Contracting Parties." Apparently, in the GATT accession article, "government" is the subject filing for application and "separate customs territory" is the operating unit.

The WTO inherited this functional accession rule from the GATT. Article 12 of the agreement says: "Any State or separate customs territory possessing full autonomy in the conduct of its external commercial relations and of the other matters provided for in this Agreement and the Multilateral Trade Agreements may accede to this Agreement."

Moreover, the "Explanatory Notes" of the Marrakesh Agreement say, "The terms `country' or `countries' as used in this Agreement and the Multilateral Trade Agreements are to be understood to include any separate customs territory Member of the WTO." Therefore, all members, be they "countries" or "separate customs territories," are full and equal members after they join the WTO.

According to GATT/WTO articles, TPKM has an independent and complete legal status. The WTO Agreement and its annexes are part of the international law created by treaties. Therefore, the legal status of TPKM has a basis in international law.

But why does our government feel that TPKM blurs the nation's status? I believe this is because Beijing has constantly claimed that China joined the WTO as a country, but Taiwan joined as a separate customs territory, so Taiwan is "China's" separate customs territory -- thereby making the government feel that TPKM has given Beijing something to exploit.

But isn't it a remake of Beijing's three-part argument, "There is only one China in the world -- the People's Republic of China; Tai-wan is part of China; therefore, Taiwan is part of the PRC?" We can ignore China's three-part argument. Why should we abandon TPKM because of Beijing's three-part WTO argument?

Our government applied for GATT accession in 1990 and faced Beijing's many attempts at obstruction. After Taiwan's application for GATT/WTO membership gained widespread support, Beijing still attempted to add "China's" to the name "the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu."

Beijing did not succeed even though it applied great pressure. Why? Because WTO members based their considerations on their own economic interests, and it would be in their best interest if both sides of the Taiwan Strait joined the WTO. And the GATT/WTO legal basis was exactly what allowed them to resist Beijing's pressure in an upstanding manner.

The entire world knows that Beijing's arguments had no legal basis, but why we are still feeling hurt and mired in self-pity?

"Economic entity" may sound like having more individualistic character, but there is no such term in international law. Seeking this name is undoubtedly a matter of subjective, wishful thinking.

Being small, Taiwan can only hope to use wisdom to outmaneuver the giant of China, which holds a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and is growing stronger economically by the day. All countries in the international community seek their own self-interest. We must strengthen their capacity to resist Beijing.

In terms of objective international law, Taiwan joined the WTO as the "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu," and the WTO allows members to sign free-trade agreements separately. Isn't the "separate customs territory" the most advantageous term for these countries to resist Beijing's pressure?

Taiwan joined the WTO after so much effort, and official contact on economic and trade matters is no longer rejected. But amid regional integration and a wave of free-trade agreements, Taiwan is once again facing the danger of being marginalized. Seeking a name that has individuality is certainly an ideal, but if we can more quickly benefit by using a name that has a perfect legal basis under international law, why shouldn't it be a blessing for the people?

Cho Hui-wan is an assistant professor in the Graduate Institute of International Politics at National Chung Hsing University.