Chen promises an end to `ossified' national identity

By Huang Tai-lin

STAFF REPORTER

A more practical approach to national sovereignty should be adopted to replace the old concepts dominated by a "greater China consciousness," President Chen Shui-bian said yesterday.

Chen said that doing this would not only be helpful to the nation's unity and ethnic harmony but would also facilitate the next round of constitutional reforms.

He was speaking at a forum hosted by the Taiwan Law Society entitled "Sovereignty, Constitution and the Future of Taiwan."

Chen said that "an illusory and ossifying `greater China ideology'" had severely confused Taiwan's national status and identity for five decades.

As a result, procrastination had hampered the development of democracy and constitutional government, he said.

"It will be impossible for Taiwan to become a normal country enjoying independent sovereignty, freedom and democracy unless it frees itself from this unrealistic political dogma," Chen said, adding that it was due to "greater China consciousness" that comprehensive changes to the Constitution had been obstructed, despite seven rounds of constitutional reforms in the past decade.

Chen sought to emphasize the importance of establishing "sovereignty consciousness" during the new round of constitutional reforms.

"If a person loses the power and will to be his own master, and listens to everything as if it were someone else's command, the person then would then be tantamount to a scarecrow -- having a body but no soul," he said. "So when we talk about sovereignty, it is not just about the right to be your own master, but more importantly, to have the desire to be your own master."

With the nation's democratization, the public's hope to be its own master was realized, and the gradual shaping of a lucid and unequivocally national "sovereignty consciousness" had begun, Chen said.

Chen reiterated that "the Republic of China is an independent, sovereign state, its sovereignty belongs to all people in Taiwan and only the 23 million people of Taiwan have the right to determine its future."

He said this was not only consistent with democratic principles but also honestly reflected the reality of the cross-strait status quo.

"With the establishment of a new discourse on national sovereignty and the fading of an old ideology, Taiwan is ready for across-the-board constitutional reforms," Chen said, adding that the passage of the constitutional amendment package by the National Assembly earlier this month was evidence of this.

The package included the abolition of the National Assembly and the granting of referendum powers to the public to approve constitutional amendments proposed by the Legislative Yuan.

After the assembly voted, Chen had vowed to speed up a second phase of constitutional reform.

Chen yesterday expressed confidence in the progress of this new round of reforms, and repeated his hope of delivering a Constitution more suited to Taiwan within three years.

"The second phase of constitutional reform re-engineering will not be more difficult than the first phase," Chen said. "I am confident that a timely, relevant and viable Constitution for Taiwan will be delivered before my term expires in 2008."

Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun had previously said that Chen's plan to introduce the second phase of reforms would not touch on such sensitive political issues as the national title, independence or sovereign territory.

Achievements in PRC propaganda

One cannot help help but be impressed by the extent to which Beijing has mastered and refined the art of the propaganda. Within a few months, the Chinese government has managed to crawl out of the hole that it had dug itself with the passage of its "Anti-Secession" Law, and has painted an illusory yet rosy picture about not just the state of cross-strait relations but also its own regime.

According to an international survey conducted by the US-based Pew Research Center for the People, in many countries, China is viewed more favorably than the US. This raises the concern that China's improved image will go a long way in helping it convince the international community to accept the "one China" policy.

This is of course not good news for Taiwan. While the "favorable" image most likely does not reflect China's domestic and diplomatic actions, Beijing is now in a position to manipulate this image to further isolate Taiwan and convince the international community that the cross-strait relationship is an "internal affair" over which foreign countries such as the US and Japan should not meddle.

Ironically, Beijing has a lot of people to thank within Taiwan for the success of its propaganda offensive. Right after the enactment of the Anti Secession Law, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan and People First Party Chairman James Soong literally fought for the chance to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao, making a mockery of the government's cross-strait policy.

Many commentators within Taiwan agreed that the farce successfully created the illusion that the Taiwanese people are "not that angry" with Beijing, thereby easing mounting international pressure against the Chinese government.

The Lien and Soong trips opened a Pandora's box of unauthorized negotiations with Beijing. In the past, such talks were typically carried out in secret. These days, people just don't care about the authority of the government, and will deal with China with or without government authorization.

If cross-strait relations had genuinely improved after the China visits, then perhaps the pan-blue camp's bout of "freelance diplomacy" would have been worth it. But this is simply not the case. Beijing's policy toward Taiwan has remained the same.

On Friday, Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman You Ying-lung quoted from a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) internal document which indicates that Beijing will continue to on the one hand step up its military buildup against Taiwan, while on the other hand instruct its overseas missions to intensify a campaign directed toward the "Chinese people" on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The campaign will stress the point that all the Chinese people "are wise enough to resolve their differences."

The documents also characterizes the cross-strait relationship as "grim" and directs the People's Liberation Army to maintain a high degree of combat readiness.

The content of this document is consistent with the findings of a national security report recently submitted to President Chen Shui-bian. The report also stated that if Beijing launched a military campaign against Taiwan, it will most likely target the nation's non-military infrastructure, such as water purification plants, electricity grids and banking institutions during the first wave of its attack, with the intent of demoralizing the people and striking at their will to resist the invasion. Appropriately, the government has promptly decided to improve and integrate its disaster relief system to help defend against such actions.

It is sad to see that so many Taiwanese people have lost sight of China's military ambitions and are susceptible to its unificationist propaganda. This level of naivety is a growing problem for the country.

Distinguishing friends from foes

By the Liberty Times editorial

Taiwan is situated in a highly sensitive area. Therefore, the conduct of its neighbors all have serious impact on the country. Besides doing its best to defend itself and strengthening its economic power, Taiwan must learn to recognize its friends from its foes.

In light of this nation's precarious geopolitical situation, if Taiwan cannot distinguish between friend and enemy it may be cast aside by allies and create an opportunity for its enemies to close in.

Who are Taiwan's friends? Those countries that advocate the interests of Taiwan in the international community.

In arenas for the international community, including the UN, the WTO, World Health Organization (WHO) and others, the nation's allies have spared no effort in condemning the unjust treatment give to Taiwan. In the international community where self-interest tops everything else, the friendship of Taiwan's allies is especially precious. Although countries such as the US and Japan do not hold formal diplomatic relationships with Taiwan, they share common strategic interests and are therefore close partners with us.

During the 1996 cross-strait missile crisis, the US sent military vessels to the region and forced China to curtail its actions. Moreover, the joint US-Japanese declaration that the Taiwan issue is of strategic importance is further evidence of this partnership.

Who are Taiwan's enemies? The facts speak for themselves -- the People's Republic of China is the enemy. China has more than 700 missiles targeting Taiwan and threatens us with other advanced weapons. It also openly declares within international community that Taiwan is a province of China. In a nutshell, China's intent is to one day invade Taiwan and destroy its sovereignty and the self-determination of its people.

In light of the PRC's attitude toward Taiwan, it is an aggressor and an enemy of international order. In order words, the PRC is both the troublemaker in the Taiwan Strait and an obstacle to international order.

Since we can tell our friends from our enemies, it should not be so difficult to formulate defense, cross-strait and foreign policies. Unfortunately, that is not the case. For selfish reasons, some politicians, political parties, the pro-unification media and businesspeople knowingly and deliberately treat our enemies as friends and our friends as enemies in order to place the country in danger.

For example Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong clearly know that the nation needs to purchase defensive weapons from the US in order to protect the country. Yet, they adamantly continue to boycott the approval of the arms budget, leading the US and Japan to question the determination of Taiwan to protect itself. Lien and Soong not only dismiss the nation's defense needs, but also willingly adhere to Beijing's unificationist propaganda.

The pan-blue camp characterizes the US and Japan as domineering hegemonies, but are not the least bit bothered by China's bullish behavior. Therefore, when the Japanese government expelled and seized Taiwanese fishing boats from the area around the Diaoyutais , the blue camp criticized government for being too meek, and demanded that warships be dispatched to protect Taiwan's fishing waters. However, when Chinese survey ships entered Taiwanese waters in recent weeks, the same critics didn't utter a word.

Does the fact that the blue camp's leaders can't tell Taiwan's friends from its enemies demonstrate that they are stupid? No, they are actually very smart people. Their words and actions are the result of the idea that the enemy, China, is the "motherland," while Taiwan's friends are actually the enemy. The political ideology in question is the illusory "one China" principle. Countries that help Taiwan maintain its sovereignty, such as the US and Japan, are considered a roadblock to the goal of "unification with the motherland."

As for China's oppressive behavior toward Taiwan, they feel that it is the legitimate right of a country to forcibly rein in a renegade province. Even though its well-crafted unification campaign makes explicit China's ambition to force Taiwan down the path of unification through economic integration, the blue camp still characterizes economic integration with China as the only way for Taiwan.

On the one hand they push for unification and on the other hand they utter lies about "loving Taiwan." Why would anyone believe them?

In recent years, Taiwan has seen a lot of internal bickering and friction. At the same time, the country has gradually moved closer to China. Taiwan is a democratic country. Those who seeks destroy Taiwan know how to hide under the protection of its democracy and bring down the country from within through a kind of ongoing internal political war.

There is nothing one can do about the behavior of such people. However, the government should look after the common interests of all and resolve differences in a rational manner. It is indeed irrational to mobilize warships to resolve a territorial dispute before using negotiations through diplomatic channels. The fishery dispute with Japan did not begin yesterday. Due to overlapping territorial claims, disputes are inevitable. But the friendship of the two countries should outside differences of opinion, and negotiaing a mutually beneficial solution is the way to resolve the situation.

Unable to withstand the pressure from the legislature, the nation's defense minister last week agreed to dispatch warships to the disputed islets, thus shattering any chance for reasonable negotiation with Japan.

No one is surprised by the behavior of the opposition parties, who seek to inflame negative sentiment. But why did the government fall in line?

This shows that the government has failed to distinguish Taiwan's friends from its foes.