Annette Lu’s power for Taiwan on Aug 06, 2004

Braving a storm to cross the new Strait

Annette Lu astonished many people with her stubborn suggestion that residents in mountainous areas -- mostly Aborigines -- emigrate to Central America to allow ``overdeveloped'' land to recover. But these comments were part of a greater agenda of Pacific Rim diplomacy which has received less publicity. Lu talked with 'Taipei Times' staff reporters Lin Chieh-yu and Huang Tai-lin about the Democratic Pacific Union, floating universities and using the Pacific to forge ``cross-strait'' relationships"

STAFF REPORTERS

Taipei Times: How is the proposed Democratic Pacific Union (DPU) different to other international organizations?

Annette Lu: The UN was established in 1945 and is an organization with a structure based on government-to-government relations. It therefore has greater financial resources, so the contributions required from its members are larger. It is known that the UN has been in financial debt for some time now. On political issues and the like, it has definite and specific capabilities and functions, although there also exist issues of parity between small and big countries. It has the Security Council which holds a veto power, and this violates principles of fairness and equality.

So personally I think a contradiction exists in terms of its mechanisms. Having said that, all in all we do recognize the functions of the UN.

As for the DPU, there are requirements to become a member. First of all, a member must be a country on the Pacific Rim. So far we have not rushed to include Europe and Africa, instead focusing primarily on countries situated around or across the Pacific. This is a rather new way of looking at things, for in the past the development of civilizations has mostly focused on terrestrial development. So, here we are, using the ocean as our base of operations and that is why the DPU is different.

We don't have diplomatic relations with many countries, so before we can win more diplomatic allies, we have to hold these events in the mode of a non-governmental organization.

That said, our intention at this time is to use the name of our country as part of the DPU. And the DPU member nations would have three representatives: one each from the governmental, academic and industrial sectors.

Given the organization's vast scope, another important element is to separate it into three districts. The East Pacific is the American region, the West Pacific refers to the Asian region and the South Pacific includes New Zealand and Australia. I believe that the DPU can be established within two years.

But give me 10 years. After that I believe it will be interesting to see how the DPU will have turned out.

projecting strength

TT: What do you wish to achieve with President Chen Shui-bian in your diplomatic work?

Lu: The DPU is a mechanism which we hope to operate not only as a diplomatic tool but also to project Taiwan's national strength, authority and prestige.

Our key diplomatic area is in Central America. Through the DPU we wish to extend Taiwan's mode of development abroad.

We will in the near future join hands with Central American nations on numerous joint ventures. Among the projects that have been proposed are international marketing in the fields of agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and animal husbandry. We think it is feasible to join hands with our allies in these fields -- all the way from production to marketing. As long as they provide land and labor, we can provide technical assistance and personnel and train their people.

We should establish a government-to-government mechanism of cooperation to safeguard and encourage our people who are interested in going abroad to take part in this endeavor. There are two means -- investing capital or forming contracts -- by which they can contribute their expertise in their specific fields.

For those who are interested in this project, they might even want to take their whole family and emigrate. This will be a win-win policy in which we invest together and take a share of the profits. In other words, we will gradually introduce our economic strength to our allies.

Many of our other traditional industries, such as steel, petroleum and electricity, have been moving to China. There are actually several Central American nations who want these industries to move there as well and provide assistance in these fields.

In fact, last night I had an opportunity to share these ideas with several leaders of industry at a luncheon. They welcomed the proposals and were excited about them.

Over these last years, many businesses have moved to China. The industry leaders expressed concern over this, and I noted that many were feeling apprehensive if the situation were allowed to continue.

So, I have tentative plans to lead a delegation of observers [to Central America] at the beginning of next year.

Through the DPU, we will also be able to share our ideas with countries that don't have diplomatic ties with us.

Student

The Executive Yuan has noticed that there are very few international students coming to Taiwan to study. It is with these concerns in mind that the government has plans to allot an annual budget to encourage more foreign students to come to Taiwan. Through the DPU mechanism, we will be able to take the opportunity to encourage member nations to come to Taiwan and learn more about us, as well as for us to learn from these DPU members -- many of them are more developed than Taiwan.

Another idea under discussion is the formation of a "Pacific University of the Sea". Cruising on a ship, students can both study and and take in new experiences and ideas as the ship stops at various DPU member nations. Given the expense, which would be considerable, this would be a program tailored more to individuals with social standing and economic independence. With this program we would learn to treat all Pacific nations as one family.

In the past, we sent missions and aid to other countries focusing on technical areas. Now we wish to assemble missions that focus on a more cultural perspective. Using methods such as pen-pal correspondence, humanitarian assistance and the like, we wish to promote cultural exchange, understanding and interest in Taiwan.

Viewing Central America as our key diplomatic region, I wish to cultivate and implement a "new cross-strait" relationship. We have had nearly five decades or so to cultivate cross-strait relations [in the Taiwan Strait]. But what do we get in return? Military threats, diplomatic isolation and being fleeced economically.

Pacific union set to take shape, Lu says

TAIWAN, GO GO GO!: The vice president said the democratic union will be established over the next two years. She also announced plans yesterday to `retransform Formosa'
By Lin Chieh-yu and Huang Tai-lin
STAFF REPORTERS

Vice President Annette Lu said yesterday that she believes the Democratic Pacific Union (DPU) could be firmly established in the region over the next two years.

"I believe that the DPU can ... gradually actualize its goals and the projects it aims to launch as it slowly takes shape," Lu said in an interview with the Taipei Times.

"Give me 10 years. After that I believe it will be interesting to see how the DPU will have turned out," Lu said.

She yesterday elaborated on a number of ideas and goals of the alliance of democratic Pacific nations, which she initiated.

The second Democratic Pacific Assembly, organized by Lu, is slated to take place in Taipei from next Friday through Sunday.

The assembly was formed last year to facilitate communication among the nation's allies in Central America and the Pacific region and between other Pacific and East Asian countries, as well as promoting democracy, human rights and freedom.

Regional security, marine resources, industrial development, technology exchange and promotion of democracy will be the main themes of this year's assembly.

Lu said during the interview that she is preparing to push for a public campaign in late October to raise awareness of the country's circumstances in the international arena.

Lu has tentatively dubbed the movement "Retransform Formosa, Taiwan, Go! Go! Go!"

"Our comrades in the `Formosa Incident' had their historical mission in the previous era," Lu said, referring to an incident on Dec. 10, 1979, in which the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government imprisoned participants in an anti-government rally organized by Formosa magazine.

Lu was one of those who took part in demonstrations at the time. She was arrested for her involvement and imprisoned on Green Island for 1,933 days.

"Now we are faced with a new era in which there are new challenges, and we therefore need to retransform Formosa with a new historical mission, which includes internationalization, a world vision and advanced technology," Lu said, adding that the idea had been approved by President Chen Shui-bian.

"Previously, it was stressed that `Taiwan belongs to Taiwanese.' In this era, we want to transform it into `Taiwan is part of the world.'"

Reform can boost Taiwan-US ties

By Nat Bellocchi

China is pressing the US at the highest levels to discontinue arms sales to Taiwan, and to restrain Taiwan from making changes to its Constitution. They know well that the arms sales demand is a non-starter. But they hope that they can gain US support for their blanket opposition to constitutional reform.

The US has been firm in opposing China's position on arms sales, but it is less clear on the constitutional issue. It gained agreement that Taiwan would avoid matters of sovereignty in the process of constitutional change. But Washington did not voice opposition to changes that are legitimate reforms of national governance.

Beijing, on the other hand, opposes any change.

This effort to amend the Constitution is the first since the process for doing so was altered. The law now requires the Legislative Yuan, whose previous role in the process was minimal, to play a key part. It must debate and approve each amendment with the support of at least 75 percent of its members. Then it must call a special session of the dormant National Assembly to vote on the proposed changes. Here too, there must be at least 75 percent acceptance.

This is a nightmarish process which a referendum would have avoided. It would have given the people, instead of politicians, a greater say in constitutional change. But China issued threats, and the US was presumably concerned that a referendum would empower more extreme pro-independence elements, risking a reaction from Beijing. It's the usual scenario: China, frightened by the possibility of people voting on sensitive issues, threatens war. The US, wanting to prevent war despite its support for democracy, presses Taiwan to compromise.

President Chen Shui-bian has clearly enunciated the constitutional changes the government wants to make in the present reform process. These include reducing the size of the Legislative Yuan and altering its method of electing members; changing the relationship between the president, premier and the legislature; reducing the levels of government to three; giving the president expanded veto power and abolishing the National Assembly. Human rights and economic provisions will also be addressed.

All of these issues will be debated publicly in open forums before being discussed in the Legislative Yuan. Doubtless there would also be open forums initiated by nongovernmental organizations and other interest groups that will lobby for other changes opposed by government. This kind of public debate will doubtless take place well into next year. At some point, possibly in 2006, the government will presumably introduce bills related to the Constitution to the Legislative Yuan.

Whatever the outcome of this December's legislative elections, the debate in the legislature is likely to be strenuous and progress far less quickly than the government would like. The pace of the process will be influenced by the profile of the political parties and by the need for a 75 percent majority.

Even under the most optimistic scenario for the pan-green camp, 75 percent approval on any change is unlikely. Differences within the governing coalition might split votes and hinder getting that percentage. In the best of circumstances, therefore, amending the many constitutional problems will require considerable compromise. And after all the debates and compromises have led to the passage of bills, an ad hoc National Assembly will then have to debate and pass the amendments approved by the legislature. There, votes along party lines are inevitable and could present still more difficulties.

Regardless of the extent to which the original objectives for constitutional reform are met, the process will be an important step forward for Taiwan's democratization. However, the process described above is based only on domestic considerations, and does not take into account external pressures and concerns.

China is not likely to want even modest results in constitutional reform. They will see this not as a move to better democracy -- which in any event they oppose -- but as a move toward independence. China does not wish to accept that Taiwan today is not the Taiwan of the days when its unwavering policy on the cross-strait situation was formulated. Due to developments on both sides of the Strait, insistence on a past idea of unification such as "one country, two systems" is no longer sustainable.

Reaching out to the US, as Beijing is now doing, to support a policy that is not realistic is as much an admission of failure as it is a threat. While the US has many divergent interests to consider, on cross-strait relations it pursues a policy of opposing any unilateral change of the status quo. At the same time, it supports Taiwanese democracy.

All three countries -- the US, China and Taiwan -- support a policy of peace, but only the US and Taiwan support democracy. There will be a growing challenge to change that. For Taiwan, there is much work to do externally as well as domestically.

One priority should be to maintain transparency in the constitutional reform process and reach a consensus on that process which is acceptable to the public. That in itself would send a message to the world that Taiwan's democratic system is based on the will of its people. And as pressure from China grows, that message will be especially helpful to the strength of the US-Taiwan relationship.

Nat Bellocchi is the former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan and is a special advisor to the Liberty Times. The views expressed in this article are his own.