No talks without sovereignty: Chen

CROSS-STRAIT TIES: The president said Beijing's attitude has not changed and he wouldn't meet with Beijing's leaders if it meant compromising Taiwan's national interests

CNA AND AP , TAIPEI

"Why should we go there if we have to accept conditions such as the [so-called] `1992 consensus' and opposition to Taiwan independence?" he said, adding that "we will not go there to surrender."－ by President Chen Shui-bian

President Chen Shui-bian said yesterday that he will hold talks with China only on condition that he can protect Taiwan's national sovereignty and the interests of the 23 million people of Taiwan.

Chen, who made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Formosa TV, also questioned the meaning of a visit to China that might demand that the nation's leadership accept some conditions set by Beijing.

``China did not make any concessions,'' he said. "[The formulation] would make Taiwan a special administrative region of China, a part of the People's Republic of China.''

"China's basic attitude has remained the same," he said.

In response to whether he would visit China and meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Chen said he would not visit China just for sightseeing or other unimportant matters.

He also said he does not think any Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member's visit to China will have a better result, since Beijing still demands that the opposition leaders and their parties, who speak the same language and have close ideological and common backgrounds as their Chinese counterparts, accept certain conditions on dealing with cross-strait issues despite their visits.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan and People First Party Chairman James Soong's visits to China have proved that it is not that simple to hold talks with Beijing, he said.

Although the Taiwanese people and companies hope Taipei and Beijing can engage in a dialogue to reduce misunderstanding between them, without any concessions China would offer to better its understanding of Taiwan at the present time and only wants the island to accept requests that are not beneficial to Taiwan, he said.

Saying that if he has opportunity to visit China, he will insist on his stance of protecting Taiwan's national sovereignty and the interests of the people of Taiwan, Chen promised never to make concessions on his stance on China.

He said he would hold talks with Chinese officials only on condition that his stance is respected.

Taiwan will negotiate with China if Beijing does not raise any conditions or premises, Chen said, noting, however, that China insists on its "one China" principle, while Taiwan firmly stands by peace, democracy and equality.

Chen said China's "Anti-Secession" Law goes against the principles of peace, democracy and equality and has jeopardized the cross-strait status quo since its enactment in March.

While China might disagree with Taiwan's opinions, it should listen to the Taiwanese people, Chen said, adding that if Beijing only wants to hear what it wants to hear, cross-strait dialogue will not be possible.

Taiwan focuses on Geneva

The World Health Assembly's (WHA) annual 10-day conference opens on Monday in Geneva. Once again, Taiwan is seeking observer status at the meeting. Although a communique signed by People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong and Chinese President Hu Jintao states that Beijing will help Taipei gain entry into the World Health Organization (WHO), Beijing is still obstructing Taipei's applications to join the organization. This has undermined the Chinese regime's credibility among the Taiwanese.

Beijing remains unyielding on its "one China" principle. It has negotiated a memorandum of understanding with the WHO Secretariat to allow Taiwan to join the organization under the name "Taipei, China." It has also demanded that the WTO inform the Chinese authorities before Taipei works with the WHO on the implementation of the International Health Regulations.

Taiwan is an independent and sovereign country. China has no right to unilaterally negotiate with the WHO Secretariat on any issues regarding Taiwan. Nor is it in a position to decide anything for Taiwan. This country will not accept any attempt to belittle its status.

China's UN representative office in Geneva recently issued a diplomatic note citing a UN resolution stating that Taiwan, as part of China, is not qualified to become a WHO member state or a WHA observer. Beijing requested that all nations not to propose, sign or endorse any bill that is related to Taiwan and not to speak for Taiwan. This is totally contrary to Hu's statement in the communique.

The diplomatic note also stressed that Beijing has taken measures to facilitate exchanges between Taiwan and the WHO, and guarantees that Taiwan has free access to health information and technical assistance. What a pack of lies. Over the past two years, Taiwan has requested technical exchanges with the WHO 22 times -- 14 were rejected, five were never answered and three were endlessly delayed. These are the results of Beijing's obstruction.

Disease does not recognize borders. In the wake of the SARS epidemic and outbreaks of avian flu in this region, Taiwan not only should be part of an international disease-prevention organization, it can make valuable contributions to disease prevention around the world.

The medical profession in this country made considerable advances and is able to export its skills and experience to benefit others. The tsunami disaster-relief effort is an example. The government contributed US$50 million in aid, and the private sector US$100 million. Taiwan has also established the Taiwan International Health Operations Center to expand international medical cooperation and provide support for countries in need.

Participation in the WHO is about the human rights of the people of this country. The government has not linked participation to an acceptance of Taiwan's independence, two Chinas or "one China and one Taiwan." Seeking observer status is a bid to avoid political controversy. The government has adopted a flexible position on the name under which Taiwan participates in the organization as long as national dignity can be maintained. Involvement in the WHO is a purely practical request, and as long as Taiwan can directly and immediately participate in all WHO activities as a separate entity, the government is willing to consider all options.

The WHA meeting will be an opportunity to assess Hu's real attitude. Perhaps China will be true to its word and respect the wishes of Taiwan's people. If Taiwan fails to gain entry into the WHO because of interference from China, then there will be no further doubt about Beijing's hypocrisy. That would hopefully put an end to the current bout of "China fever."

China wants to use it HK formula

By Paul Lin

Hong Kong commentators are experiencing a sense of deja vu with the current bout of "China fever" brought about by the visits Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong made to China. The Chinese government has reapplied the Hong Kong model to tackle the Taiwan issue.

Regardless of what people are calling the visits, they were a kind of pilgrimage. When China publicly indicated its intention to take over Hong Kong in 1982, it invited wealthy businesspeople and celebrities in the territory to make a "pilgrimage" to China. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) reassured them that China would definitely resume sovereignty over Hong Kong.

Once these people returned home from China, they were eager to show other residents of Hong Kong that they were confident of Beijing's reassurances. These people became a mouthpiece for China, but nonetheless started quietly selling off their Hong Kong stocks, forcing Beijing to invest heavily in Hong Kong to keep the people there happy.

Lien shamelessly said that his trip to China was to "ally with the CCP to resist Taiwan [independence]." It doesn't matter what Lien was opposed to, the act of allying himself with the CCP was wrong. In Soong's impassioned speech upon his arrival in Xian, his firm stance against "Taiwan's independence," "two Chinas," "one China, one Taiwan" and the "special state-to-state" model, he seemed to open his heart to the CCP even more than Lien did.

The promises China has made to Hong Kong were eventually torn up after they had served their purpose. In order to sow dissension in Hong Kong, the CCP paid lip service to many issues, such as "no change within 50 years" and "one country, two systems with a high level of autonomy," but it later ignored these promises.

Zhao Ziyang, China's premier at the time, asked reporters from Hong Kong what they had to be afraid of, and gave students of the Chinese University of Hong Kong an open letter promising democratic rule in Hong Kong, but ultimately he was not even able to protect himself.

Ahead of Lien's and Soong's departure there was talk of China presenting Taiwan with gifts. Some Taiwanese had high expectations, but in the end Soong's mention of "the Republic of China" was edited out of news reports, China did not agree to withdraw its ballistic missiles, Taiwan was not permitted to join the World Health Assembly, and its reporters were denied media credentials.

Lien and Soong's cooperation with Beijing to work against Taiwan does not pave the way toward recovering our sovereignty and dignity. Even China's offer to allow tax-free imports of fruits from Taiwan will evaporate as soon as is has obtained the agricultural technology it desires. That China is using pandas as a tool in its "united front" strategy shows the bestial nature hidden behind its fine exterior.

China used its deceptive "united front" strategy to take over Hong Kong and make it a special administrative region. Taiwan could similarly become a special administrative region, but apparently quite a number of people continue to believe that Lien's and Soong's trips did not set Taiwan on its way to becoming a local government of China, or downgrading Taiwan to a status to that of Hong Kong.

In the face of China's "united front" strategy to polarize Hong Kong's public opinion, as opposed to the UK's policy of taking a democratic route to win Hong Kongers' hearts, a vigorous dispute was stirred up between China and the UK.

The governor of Hong Kong under British rule had a firm hold on public power, and would replace any government officials who were individually close to the Chinese government. In this way, the governor was able to prevent the government from being hamstrung by China-friendly officials.

Taiwan's current situation is different from that of Hong Kong before it reverted to China. To begin with, Lien and Soong are both chairmen of political parties, who are much more influential than the Hong Kong celebrities or business tycoons China wooed in the past.

Second, except for a few pro-China newspapers that did not enjoy a large readership, most media outlets in Hong Kong were anti-Communist and therefore the people of Hong Kong were united against reversion to China. However, Taiwan's media is utilizing the recent bout of "China fever" to glorify China's autocratic regime and give Lien and Soong credit for their tours of China. This has misled people in Taiwan. It is clear that Taiwan has it own strategic advantages, but the predicament it is facing is harsher than Hong Kong's.

Since the Democratic Progressive Party is inexperienced in dealing with China's "united front" strategy, it seems to have become confused. There are three things we can do to change the current situation:

First, enhance the psychological preparedness of the people. As an open-minded president, Chen Shui-bian did not reject Lien's and Soong's pilgrimages to Beijing, but instead praised Lien for acting like a loyal opposition leader.

Although Chen demonstrated how tolerant and receptive a democratic society like Taiwan's is, he should be cautious about what he says at this moment when some of the media outlets are particularly keen on dividing the nation. When showing tolerance, Chen also has to be critical of any treacherous acts by opposition leaders; otherwise, his remarks might easily be misinterpreted as approval and cause confusion.

Second, establish a better understanding of China. Taiwan's media has a polarized approach to reporting about China. The pro-China media paints a rosy picture, while the pro-independence media has long been indifferent to anything from China, and their reports about its communist regime are infrequent, insubstantial and superficial.

Therefore, people lack resistance to "China fever" and are easily mesmerized by the short-term benefits offered by Beijing. Thus, the pro-independence media must strengthen its endeavors in this regard. The content of school textbooks should also be revised accordingly.

In short, when disclosing the nature of China's dictatorial regime, we should also seek to win the hearts and minds of the Chinese people.

Third, internationalize the Taiwan issue. The history of Taiwan and the strategic values that it represents have made the cross-strait dilemma not only a dispute between Taipei and Beijing or between the KMT and CCP, but also an issue of international importance.

The US certainly hopes that both sides can resume dialogue and make efforts to ease tensions, but it will not tolerate an authoritarian regime such as Beijing attempting to annex a democratic Taiwan, thereby increasing the scope of dictatorial forces all over the globe. Democracies in Europe and in Asia, such as Japan and India, are all reluctant to see the expansion of autocratic China, particularly in the military field. Therefore, Taiwan has to do whatever it can to make the international community aware of China's expansionist intentions.

The CCP, the KMT and the PFP are now complacent about their mutual cooperation. They are now most likely to make a slip-up. Anybody who truly loves or cares about Taiwan has to keep an eye on their actions and await an opportunity to turn the tables on them.

Paul Lin is a political commentator based in New York.

Translated by Lin Ya-ti and Daniel Cheng