Taiwan's democracy worrying to Beijing

By Parris Chang

Thursday, Dec 04, 2003,Page 8

China's forceful interference in Taiwan's 1996 and 2000 presidential elections caused a strong backlash from Taiwanese voters and had results opposite to what Beijing wished for. Many observers thought Beijing would have learned its lesson and stayed out of next year's election, simply cold-shouldering the event. This is not what is happening, however. Beijing is clearly meddling and trying to block President Chen Shui-bian's re-election bid.

Beijing has rashly decided that Chen's goal of holding referendums and creating a new constitution mean Taiwan's independence and splitting from China. Beijing has recently been hurling loud threats at Taiwan. Wang Daohan, chairman of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, warned Taiwan that it has pushed the cross-strait situation "to the brink of danger." The director of the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office said Taiwan will suffer a severe blow to the head, while the office's vice director, Wang Zaixi, said it may be difficult to avoid the use of armed force. Such language could be seen as a new version of the threats issued during the 1996 presidential election.

When Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visits the US this month, he will have orders to demand that the US take more forceful and effective action to block the Chen government's move towards Taiwan independence. He will give the US a stern warning that if the US cannot deliver, then China itself will have to act. Is Beijing really concerned that holding referendums and creating a new constitution will bring Taiwan independence? After all, Chen hasn't been re-elected yet, and no one knows if he will be able to propose a new constitution by 2006, or what such a constitution would include.

So why is Beijing in such a rush? Does it dislike Chen and therefore uses the referendum and new-constitution issues as tools to defeat his re-election bid? Beijing is not providing covert assistance, but is overtly helping the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP). Aren't they afraid of once again tasting the bitter fruits of meddling in Taiwan's internal politics?

How should Taiwan respond to Beijing's actions? First, we must innoculate ourselves against the international community (particularly the US). The referendum and new constitution are domestic issues in which we cannot tolerate Beijing's meddling.

The referendum and new-constitution issues differ from China's "separatism" and "Taiwan independence." Beijing cannot say that Chen's government is working towards Taiwan independence just because Taiwan wants to hold referendums and create a new constitution. After all, even opposition parties advocating "one China" and unification understand the direction of public opinion and agree on these two issues.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) doesn't understand democratic politics, and simply entertains the wishful thinking that Taiwan, like Hong Kong, will give in to Beijing's will.

We are telling Washington that it must not be threatened by Beijing. Under pressure from military hardliners, Wen must make his position clear to Washington. In a recent briefing to Washington-based Taiwanese journalists, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Randall Schriver said the US firmly opposes China's use of armed force to solve the conflict with Taiwan. US President George W. Bush and senior US government officials must reiterate this position.

More importantly, the US should take concrete action in support of such a policy. In other words, the US should send the US 7th Fleet to patrol the waters around Taiwan to let Beijing see that the US is no paper tiger, and that it has the determination and power to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Parris Chang is a DPP legislator.

US' Taiwan policy in doubt: academic

PRO-CHINA SHIFT: A think-tank academic says the Bush administration is considering a return to the `three noes' of the Clinton era ahead of a visit by the Chinese premier

By Charles Snyder

STAFF REPORTER IN WASHINGTON

Thursday, Dec 04, 2003,Page 1

The Bush administration is considering key changes in its policy toward Taiwan as it prepares for President George W. Bush's meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao next Tuesday, a leading specialist on US-Taiwan relations said in Washington Tuesday.

An academic from an influential think tank said that among the options being considered by top administration foreign policy officials are a public announcement that the US "opposes" Taiwan independence, and a return to the Clinton-era policy of the "three-noes."

The three-noes policy, enunciated during a trip by former president Bill Clinton to China, says the US endorses no Taiwan independence, no "two-Chinas" -- or "one China, one Taiwan" -- and no Taiwan membership in international organizations requiring statehood for membership.

On the independence issue, such a statement would change the current policy that Washington "does not support" Taiwan independence.

China has been pushing the administration to proclaim its opposition to independence for more than a year, and, according to some sources, got Bush to say privately that he opposes independence during his summit meeting with then-Chinese president Jiang Zemin at Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch in October last year.

The academic's claims could not be confirmed by Taiwanese or US administration sources.

State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli refused to get into a semantic discussion of the issue when asked repeatedly at the regular daily department press briefing.

"I think our policy is clear, and our policy is not to support Taiwanese independence. And that's the position, you know, we have elaborated, that is the position we're going to stick with," he said.

Other sources point to comments made by Randall Schriver, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, at a press briefing for the Taiwan Washington press corps last week that the US' Taiwan policy has not changed. That has been reaffirmed by other administration officials, sources say.

According to the source, this is the timetable for the administration to prepare for Wen's visit and set its Taiwan policy: Yesterday, the so-called deputies committee were to meet, bringing together top China specialists from the foreign policy establishment, which would presumably include the Departments of State and Defense as well as the National Security Council.

Their recommendations will go to their secretary-level bosses today, which will recommend their policy options to Bush tomorrow. Tomorrow's meeting will decide what Bush tells Wen next Tuesday.

"The American leaders are telling the Chinese privately what they will not say publicly," the academic said, citing Bush's alleged statement in Crawford last October.

The source also repeated rumors in Washington that James Moriarty, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice's chief Asia aide, is in Taiwan to discuss military and other issues, despite a denial of Moriarty's visit by the White House Monday.

"Everybody's talking about it, so I assume it's taking place," he said.

Other sources could not confirm the Moriarty trip.

Ministry downplays US response to referendums

BY Melody Chen

STAFF REPORTER

Thursday, Dec 04, 2003,Page 1

Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien said yesterday that comments by the US State Department on Tuesday could not be interpreted as the US' opposition to Taiwan's independence.

The US "does not support" rather than "opposes" Taiwan's independence, Chien said, responding to remarks by State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher that the US "would be opposed to any referenda that would change Taiwan's status or move towards independence."

A statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said State Department Deputy Spokesman Adam Ereli clarified shortly after Boucher's press briefing that the US' policy toward Taiwan had not changed.

"The US does not support Taiwan's independence," the statement quoted Ereli as saying. That does not mean the US is opposed to Taiwan's independence, the statement said.

Chinese-language media reported yesterday that the US, unnerved by President Chen Shui-bian's plan to hold a "defensive referendum" with next year's presidential election, is considering to restate former US president Bill Clinton's "three noes" endorsement of China's line against Taiwan.

But Chien said that as far as he knows, the US is not considering a reintroduction of Clinton's "three noes" -- that the US will not support Taiwan's independence, its admission to the UN or a compromise solution that would create two separate Chinas.

"President Chen has said the `defensive referendum' will not touch upon the independence issue. The `defensive referendum' is like a hat. Chen has not said what issue will be put into the hat," Chien explained.

Local media reported the State Department began reviewing Clinton's "three noes" pledge following the US National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs James Moriarty's visit to Taipei on Monday.

Moriarty reportedly met with high-ranking government officials under the accompaniment of Director of American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Douglas Paal and had left for Beijing. But Chien said he knew nothing about the visit.

The AIT yesterday denied that the State Department urgently summoned Paal back to Washington to discuss the defensive referendum issue. An AIT spokesman said Paal does not have an immediate plan to leave Taiwan.

Some lawmakers in the legislature's Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee yesterday viewed the recent intense official visits between Taiwan and the US as an unusual development in the two sides' relations.

Chien described current Taiwan-US relations as "good."

Over the past few months, Secretary-General of the Presidential Office Chiou I-jen and Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen have visited Washington to explain Taiwan's constitutional reform and referendum plans.

Antonio Chiang, deputy secretary general of the National Security Council, is reportedly in the US now for the same reason.

Lawmakers expressed concern about whether the issues have become so complicated that the US demanded face-to-face communications with Taiwanese officials to clear their doubts.

Meanwhile, Chien will lead a task force to monitor Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's upcoming trip to the US.

"The US has promised us they will not damage Taiwan's rights in their negotiations with China," Chien said.

Reports from US come under fire

GETTING IT RIGHT: The Presidential Office said that the `China Times' Washington reporter was consistently getting his facts and stories wrong

By Lin Chieh-yu

STAFF REPORTER

Thursday, Dec 04, 2003,Page 3

"This reporter has written many incorrect stories making oblique charges. I want to urge the reporter's newspaper and himself to jointly shoulder responsibility for making these mistakes."

－Chiou I-jen, Presidential Office secretary-general

The Presidential Office yesterday described as ridiculous and groundless a China Times report from Washington claiming that President Chen Shui-bian had promised the US that Taiwan would buy the newest generation of the Patriot missile air defense system if Chen wins re-election.

"This reporter has written many incorrect stories making oblique charges," Presidential Office Secretary-General Chiou I-jen said. "I want to urge the reporter's newspaper and himself to jointly shoulder responsibility for making these mistakes again and again."

Chiou, Chen's top aide and head of the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) campaign staff, held a press conference at the Presidential Office to express his anger at the China Times' coverage.

He said that the reporter obviously intended to link US-Taiwan arms purchases with Chen's recent visit to the US.

"The government has concrete statutory procedures for arms purchases and the two countries' negotiations have been proceeding for a long time," Chiou said.

"The Ministry of National Defense has already clearly elaborated its stance and opinion on this. At the moment, only technology details are waiting for further negotiation, which surely does not need the president to make any promise," Chiou said.

"I remember that this reporter wrote a story before President Chen arrived in New York, which said that the US government will downgrade its treatment of Chen," Chiou said.

"However, when President Chen achieved a diplomatic breakthrough by receiving better treatment than ever before, this reporter dared to write that the high-level treatment was a result of personal favors from American Institute in Taiwan Chairwoman Therese Shaheen," Chiou said.

"What his stories described were far from the truth and ridiculous," Chiou said, adding that as the boss of a "senior journalist," the reporter's newspaper had to take responsibility for the reports.

Chen Chung-hsin, head of the DPP's China Affairs Department, later told the media that Taiwan had already deployed an upgraded PAC-2 system and was preparing to upgrade it to the PAC-3 system.

"This military procurement is a scheduled project of the MND, and the government's budget will be sent to the Legislative Yuan as soon as the price negotiations are completed," Chen said.

Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Joseph Wu said there was a "group" behind the scenes producing rumors to mislead the public about the US-Taiwan relationship.

He gave an example of incorrect media coverage, saying that reports claimed that AIT Director Douglas Paal had been summoned to Washington whereas he actually stayed in Taiwan.

"What the `group' intends to do is to produce anxiety among the public, who may therefore blame President Chen and the DPP," Wu said.

South China Sea requires rethink

By Trung Latieule

Thursday, Dec 04, 2003,Page 8

Recent tensions with Vietnam are an urgent reminder that Taiwan needs to update its South China Sea policy.

Hanoi early this month accused Taipei of infringing upon its sovereignty in the Spratly Islands. In fact, the Coast Guard Administration merely intercepted and drove off Vietnamese fishing boats that had been poaching in Taiwan's territorial waters near Taiping Island, which is part of the Spratlys. Such incidents highlight the potential for a military crisis in the South China Sea and the necessity for Taiwan to avert an escalation.

Officially, Taiwan still claims all the islands in the South China Sea: the Spratlys, the Pratas, the Paracels and the Macclesfield Bank. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Richard Shih reiterated that position recently in response to Vietnam's complaint.

Taiwan has effective jurisdiction only over the Pratas and Taiping Island, which are respectively about 390km southwest and 1,120km southeast of Kaohsiung.

The Spratlys are claimed either in part or in their entirety by Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines. Taiwan's sovereignty over the Pratas, however, is only contested by Beijing and Manila.

Taiwan faces a strategic overstretch by not modifying its South China Sea policy. The Ministry of National Defense (MND) is also aware of the growing military imbalance across the Taiwan Strait resulting from China's missile buildup.

The MND realized in 1999 that the air force and the navy did not have the ability to project their power into the South China Sea without sacrificing the security of Taiwan, Matsu and Kinmen. It therefore withdrew troops from the Pratas and the Spratlys to focus on the defense of Taiwan's core territories.

Taiwan is also hurting its interests in Southeast Asia by not formulating a policy that would prevent clashes. One purpose of the replacement of troops on the Pratas and Taiping Island with coast guard personnel was to reduce tensions in the region. The skirmish with Vietnam obviously contradicts that goal and comes at a bad time for Taiwan.

Until recently, Beijing's behavior in the South China Sea was poor compared with Taipei's emphasis on peaceful means to solve disputes.

China clashed with Vietnam in 1974 over the Paracels, and in 1988 and 1992 over the Spratlys. It also quarreled with the Philippines over Mischief Reef in 1995. That year, the 10-member ASEAN condemned Beijing's bellicose actions in the Spratlys.

Taiwan, in contrast, has no such negative record. It only protested Malaysian and Vietnamese actions in the Spratlys in 1999.

But last year, China successfully marginalized Taiwan by reaching an agreement with ASEAN members. Under that agreement, all parties were to refrain from activities that could increase tensions in the South China Sea.

Though Taiwan was among the claimants, it was not a party to the deal.

China's recent charm offensive on the international stage just adds to Taiwan's isolation in the South China Sea, where its main ally, Washington, has no say and can therefore be of no assistance.

To regain some leverage in the region, Taiwan should first differentiate its position from that of China and drop its claim to the South China Sea as a whole.

This would strengthen Taiwan's sovereign status as a political entity separate from China. And it would help remove the suspicions of some Southeast Asian countries about Taiwan's intentions.

How can they take seriously President Chen Shui-bian's call for the formation of an "Asian Democratic Alliance" to promote democracy in the region while Taiwan still has an expansionist foreign policy?

Taiwan, however, should not give up control of the Pratas. They have a significant strategic value because they command the entire southern mouth of the Taiwan Strait.

On the other hand, Taiwan could adopt a softer stance on the Spratlys. There is no civilian population on Taiping Island and fishing vessels do not represent a military threat. The Spratlys have abundant fishing resources and huge reserves of oil and natural gas. But Taiwan's true interest in the Spratlys is to prevent China from opening a second front. Were Beijing to gain a dominant position in the South China Sea, it could launch an attack from behind.

In that regard, Taiwan should use its occupation of Taiping Island as a tool for bilateral cooperation with China's main rival in the Spratlys: Vietnam.

Trung Latieule is a freelance reporter based in Taipei.

Editorial: Referendums a victory for Taiwan

The main theme of the "defensive referendum" proposed by President Chen Shui-bian is finally beginning to get some attention. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan said on Tuesday that two examples of good topics for a referendum would be the "one country, two systems" model and on whether China should dismantle the missiles aimed at Taiwan.

Lee's timely clarification finally clears the doubts in Taiwan and abroad surrounding Chen's suggestion. It is obvious that the two topics now broached by the DPP do not touch on the unification-independence issue, nor do they conflict with Chen's "five noes."

Opposition to the "one country, two systems" model and anger over China's armed threats is common to all Taiwanese people. Using a defensive referendum to alert the international community to this situation and to win international support is a legitimate way for Taiwan to break through China's wall of threats. We do not believe that friendly countries, including the US, will oppose such action.

The DPP's fight for the referendum legislation -- which was ultimately successful once the blue camp agreed to support it, creating the first referendum legislation in the Chinese world -- allowed Chen to demonstrate to the Taiwanese people the bravery, experience and determination that a national leader should possess when leading Taiwan.

The blue camp's legislative majority meant the Referendum Law was far from perfect, with many articles restricting the power of the people. Nevertheless, we finally have a legal basis for holding a referendum.

One year ago, when referendum legislation was promoted by no one except DPP Legislator Trong Chai and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmakers, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-People First Party (PFP) alliance made only sarcastic remarks about it, such as "a referendum law will bring disaster to the Taiwan Strait." Were it not for the DPP taking the initiative, who would have expected that Taiwan finally would get a Referendum Law?

Representing the old KMT power, both the KMT and the PFP have played a feudal, reactionary role when it comes to constitutional reform. During the KMT's rule, political reform was always initiated by the tang wai ("outside the party") forces and later the DPP. The price was imprisonment and political persecution of many democracy activists.

Now, even though the KMT and the PFP are in opposition, their reactionary instincts remain unchanged. At one point, they strongly resisted enacting a referendum law. Even Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou made the absurd accusation, by quoting a Taiwanese businessman, that the political environment in which the government was promoting referendums was like the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

As the ruling DPP continued to press the issue, however, the KMT-PFP alliance finally found no other way out than to present its own version. Although the DPP's version was overridden during the legislative process, the creation of the Referendum Law was a historically significant victory for the people of Taiwan.

Judging from the several township-level referendums conducted recently, rational and peaceful voting has finally replaced the previously frequent bloody protests by local residents. It only goes to show that Ma's remarks reflected his reactionary mentality. In other words, without referendums, people expressed themselves using violence; now that the referendum exists, they voice their opinions using the ballot.

The birth of the Referendum Law has once again highlighted the lonely, difficult role the DPP has played throughout the nation's development toward democracy. In the face of China's military threats, and carrying the great burden of opposing the blue camp, the DPP is now leading the Taiwanese people on its march forward.