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Hu ignores Bush on religious freedom

PRC CHARACTERISTICS: Detention of dissidents attracted the US secretary of state's ire, though China seemed more agreeable on financial controversies

AFP , BEIJING AND TAIPEI

Chinese President Hu Jintao yesterday rebuffed US President George W. Bush's calls to allow greater religious and political freedom but promised to show more flexibility on Sino-US economic disputes.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that Washington was complaining "vociferously" to Beijing after Chinese authorities took forceful steps to keep dissidents and activists out of sight during Bush's visit here.

After a 90-minute meeting at the Great Hall of the People, Bush and his host pledged to keep relations between the US and China on track and talk through what Hu described as "inevitable" tensions.

As their talks got under way, Boeing signed a US$4 billion deal in Beijing to supply 70 737 aircraft to China.

"Win-win cooperation is the mainstream of China-US relations," Hu said, and promised to work to reduce economic tensions on issues such as currency reform and a massive bilateral trade imbalance that favors China.

The two leaders agreed to pursue joint efforts to defuse the North Korean nuclear crisis through six-country talks, and to ramp up cooperation to battle the spread of avian flu amid fears of a global pandemic.

Bush, who began his day on a symbolic note by going to church, said: "It is important that social, political and religious freedoms grow in China. And we encourage China to continue making the historic transition to greater freedom."

Hu said that China was "continuously raising the level of human rights enjoyed by" its people, but that progress must reflect "China's national conditions" and that the country would have "democratic politics with Chinese characteristics."

On the economic front, Hu said Beijing would "unswervingly press ahead" with currency reform and "gradually" cut its massive trade surplus with the US, which was expected to run to about US$200 billion this year.

The US side reported no breakthroughs yesterday, but pointed to less tangible signs of success, with one senior Bush aide insisting that Hu had been more specific in promising to crack down on rampant counterfeiting of US goods.

Tackling another perennial irritant in Sino-US relations, Taiwan, Hu said that Beijing was "committed to peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits" but warned that "we will by no means tolerate so-called Taiwan independence."

The two leaders said they would next meet in the US early next year -- a visit that will replace Hu's planned trip in September, which was indefinitely postponed because of Hurricane Katrina.

But even as Bush underlined the importance of human rights, China detained or put under house arrest at least a dozen dissidents and activists to keep them from being heard.

Authorities on Wednesday started sending officers to stand guard outside the homes of a number of intellectuals and activists while detaining others in out-of-town guesthouses, sources said.

Meanwhile, Taiwan is keeping a close eye on the meeting between Hu and Bush, the foreign ministry said yesterday.

Taipei believes its interests will not be dented during Bush's China visit, an acting foreign ministry spokesman said, adding however: "It's reasonable to be cautious towards the closed-door meeting because we don't know what's going on there."

But "as of now, our observation is that the two sides have not reached an agreement, with Bush voicing his stance on democracy and freedom while Hu renewing `one China,'" Wang said.

Wang said he believed Taipei would receive a briefing from Washington on the content of the meeting regarding Taiwan.

The remarks came after Hu made a statement following his meeting with Bush in Beijing.

"I reaffirmed to President Bush that the Chinese government and Chinese people are committed to peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits," Hu said. "And we're ready to do our utmost with all sincerity to strive for the prospect of a peaceful reunification of our country.

"This being said, we will by no means tolerate so-called Taiwan independence," he said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday also said that "one has to be concerned" about China's growing military clout in Asia.

"One has to be concerned by increasing Chinese military power," she told reporters after Bush met Hu. "There's a question of intent."

"The Chinese continue to say that it is their intention to have a course of peaceful development. I think our view is that if that is the case, then that would be a very good thing," she said.

"But, obviously, both in terms of our own military presence and forces, we expect that we will be able to keep a balance in this region," she said.

"The United States has been active in pursuing balance and security and peace in this region for now almost 60 years, and we're going to continue to do that," she said.

National Security Report to surface after elections

By Chiu Yu-Tzu

STAFF REPORTER , WITH AGENCIES

Taiwan's first National Security Report, which analyzes problems affecting the national security, including military and non-military factors, will be released after the Dec. 3 local government elections, Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu said yesterday.

Although US President George W. Bush did not raise cross-strait tensions when he met Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing, Wu said that the US has been closely watching China's growing military power.

A Pentagon report on Chinese military power released in July clearly pointed out the military imbalance in the Taiwan Strait, he said.

"Focusing on similar issues, Taiwan's first National Security Report will be released after local government elections on Dec. 3. President Chen [Shui-bian] will announce the release of the report in the middle of December," he said.

In addition to the military threat, Wu said that China poses other hazards to Taiwan.

He said that Taiwan had to pursue a comprehensive defense posture in order to deal with the full spectrum of military and non-military threats that Beijing represents.

"The cross-strait situation has become more delicate. Taiwan has to pay more attention to non-military factors affecting national security, such as in the fields of economic development and environmental protection," Wu said.

The report is expected to cover five main themes: finance and the economy, national defense, cross-strait affairs, diplomatic matters and land conservation.

The report will include an analysis of the relationship between Taiwan's economic environment and China's growing markets.

It will likely highlight China's rapid industrialization and population growth, which have caused water and atmospheric pollution in other parts of East Asia.

Opposition parties say that the report is being produced by the Chen administration to justify its arms-procurement bills.

Japan pushes for hotline with Chinese government

AFP , TOKYO

Japan's defense chief yesterday appealed for talks with his Chinese counterpart and suggested setting up a hotline before disputes over energy and other issues escalate into a "military threat."

Defense Agency director-general Fukushiro Nukaga said Japan was concerned over China's rapid military buildup, pointing to Chinese warships spotted near a disputed gas field this year and a submarine that violated Japanese waters last year.

"What we have to keep in mind is that we must deepen exchanges before these things grow into a military threat," he said on a talk show on the private Asahi network.

Nukaga said the two countries should have "something like a hotline that would enable us to contact each other and share information" in case of emergency.

He said he wanted to use his television appearance to invite Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan to Japan, saying mutual understanding would bring a "sense of stability" to relations that sunk to rock bottom this year.

Noting China's defense chief last visited Japan in 1998 and Japan's defense head went there two years ago, he said: "I earnestly hope the Chinese side will come next time round. I want to have frank exchanges of opinion."

Japanese Trade Minister Toshihiro Nikai, speaking on the same television program, also invited Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai to Japan.

The Japanese minister said he and Bo agreed to seek an amicable solution to the bitter dispute over energy resources in the East China Sea when they met in South Korea on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific meeting.

Nikai said Japan also hoped to hold a bilateral forum to help China with energy saving and tackling pollution.

"If we can shift Japanese machinery and technology to China, it would also contribute to Japanese industry," he said.

"We have to say what we should say [to China] to protect Japan's national interest, but there would be no use if we compete with each other on everything stubbornly," he said.

Both Nukaga and Nikai last month joined the Cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who has infuriated neighboring countries over his visits to Yasukuni shrine.

Book makes case against `renegade province' argument

By Shih Hsiu-chuan

STAFF REPORTER

The main co-authors of the book are Huseh Hua-yuan, chair of the Graduate Institute of Taiwan History at Chengchi University, and Tai Pao-tsun, a professor in the Graduate Institute of Taiwan History at Taiwan Normal University. Other contributors to the work are historians, professors of anthropology and professors of international law.

"Although it is widely agreed [in Taiwan] that Taiwan is not Chinese, most people don't know how to explain the relations between Taiwan and China or even Taiwan's history, which is the reason we had to publish this book," Lee said at the book's launch.

The book's preface, which was written by Huang Kun-huei, secretary general of Taiwan Advocates, a think tank established by Lee, said that the work was a means of refuting the false impression China propagated within the international community that Taiwan is a "renegade province."

"China's propaganda to the world and the passage of the `Anti-Secession' Law are ultimately aimed at paving the way for China to annex Taiwan," Huang said.

Besides being available in English and Chinese, Huang said the book will soon be published in Spanish, Japanese, and German.

"We won't be able to understand the future without knowing our past history. And only when we understand the past can we hold fast to Taiwan's sovereignty and not get lost," Lee said.

Citing the recent controversy over the rejection of a Taiwan visa for Chen Yunlin, China's top Taiwan affairs policymaker, as an example, Lee questioned the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) motive for inviting Chen, saying that doing so would only foster the Chinese Communist Party's ambition of bullying Taiwan.

Lee said that Chen's purpose for visiting Taiwan was to announce that "Taiwan is a province of China," and to urge the legislature to pass the cross-strait peace advancement law, which recognizes the "one China" principle and supports its "Anti-Secession" Law.

"Chen's visit is to give the international community the false impression that Taiwanese people are oblivious to the 700 missiles which China has deployed against Taiwan," added Lee, who praised the government's decision to shut its doors to Chen.

Lee said that the government should never allow Chen and other senior Chinese officials to visit Taiwan unless China decided to do away with the "Anti-Secession" Law.

"As long as the law exists, approving Chen's entry would be tantamount to raising a white flag [in response] to the law and letting China eat Taiwan for breakfast," Lee said.

The transformation from dictatorship less than two decades ago to today's democracy was the first surprise Taiwan gave the US.

Taiwan might now deliver a second surprise to the Americans by recovering from the growing pains its adolescent democracy is experiencing.

It's worth noting that these growing pains were brought on in large part by the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) exploitation of the US' "one China" policy in its quest for unification. It comes as no surprise that Taiwan could do with some change to the policy to ease unificationist pressure.

Nevertheless, whatever interest there is in the US in tweaking the "one China" policy would have to be backed by enormous local pro-sovereignty sentiment to have a reasonable chance of success.

Yet this is where Taiwan can give the US that second surprise: The pan-green camp could win the next legislative and presidential elections.

This would come about because the alternative would only lead to a fate unacceptable to most Taiwanese.

To be sure, this time around, the odds against Taiwanese producing this result may seem greater because the pan-blue camp and the Chinese Communist Party have formed a working relationship to oppose Taiwan's sovereignty and democracy.

One of this alliance's most dangerous maneuvers is the cross-strait peace advancement bill. It is in effect an attempt at initiating de facto unification while bypassing formal cross-strait negotiation. It's also a diabolical plot to rob the Taiwanese people of the right to informed consent in deciding the future of the country. Pan-blue legislators are, in effect, openly assaulting Taiwan's democracy.

The pan-blue leaders' unilateral disarmament effort -- as exemplified by the repeated blocking of the special arms-procurement bill and the pro-China media's daily use of propaganda and rumors -- also amounts to an attempt at debilitating Taiwan's physical and psychological defenses.

This three-pronged maneuver encompasses legislation, unilateral disarmament and propaganda, and is intended at crippling the US Taiwan Relations Act, in addition to crushing the Taiwanese people's confidence in the survival of their democracy. In turn, the alliance seems to believe this will ensure the pan-blue camp's victory in the next elections.

But the Taiwanese people can make sure that what actually unfolds will not follow that script.

For instance, the eagerness of the People First Party (PFP) to please its Beijing handlers by proposing the cross-strait peace advancement bill is placing KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou in quite a bind.

For Ma, this bill is better left untouched until after the next presidential election. Taking up the bill at this time forces him to show his cards earlier than he would prefer.

What had been envisaged as a Trojan horse therefore looks increasingly likely to be a bill that will blow up in pan-blue leaders' faces instead.

Conversely, the bill might be a blessing in disguise for the pan-green camp, given that it is revealing the blueprint on how a 2008 pan-blue president would conduct cross-strait affairs. It could therefore evolve into issues around which the Taiwanese people can rally against Ma and the KMT.

Should the pan-green camp prevail in the elections for 2008, the Taiwanese people will have proclaimed anew their preference for democracy and sovereignty over collective autocracy and "unification."

This renewed commitment would have profound implications internationally. The global community of democratic states would have to take this democracy seriously. Most importantly, Taiwan would have earned the respect of its two closest allies -- the US and Japan.

Gone would be Taiwan's image of being the weakest link in the chain of democracies in the western Pacific needed by the US to impede the spread of China's despotic capitalism.

Gone would be government backtracking -- under misguided US pressure -- on changing the national title and constitutional overhaul, matters of paramount importance to the continuing flourishing of Taiwan's democracy.

It is imperative, therefore, that the pan-green camp perform well in next month's elections, which are a warm-up for the big elections in a few years.

`Will pan-green supporters be able to turn the tables if they choose not to cast their ballots this time? I believe it will only make the situation worse.'

During a recent trip to Taiwan, I found that many pan-green supporters are exasperated by President Chen Shui-bian's pledge not to write a new constitution and change the national title during his term in office.

As a result, they may choose not to cast their ballots in the upcoming local government elections, to punish the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and force it to push ahead with reform.

That these pan-green supporters have such a love-hate attitude toward the DPP is understandable. It is also perfectly justifiable for them to criticize the governing party and Chen.

However, refusing to vote in the elections will only prove counter-productive, and bring about serious consequences.

First, if the pan-blues secure a landslide victory in the upcoming elections, they will become more hawkish. The pan-blues believe that they emerged a big winner in the previous legislative elections simply because they were not the big losers.

Since then, the nation's political climate has become even more complicated, with former Chinese Nationalist Party chairman Lien Chan and People First Party Chairman James Soong making their first-ever visits to China.

Therefore, if the pan-blues do well in the elections, they will begin to believe that the nation has wearied of localization, which will boost their momentum.

Early next year, pan-blue legislators will force the passage of their cross-strait peace advancement bill.

Once the whole world believes that "one China" refers to the one ruled by the People's Republic of China, then the Republic of China will have been sold out and Taiwan will disintegrate as a separate entity.

Second, if the pan-blues win the upcoming elections, the Chinese leadership will become as cocky as the pan-blues. Beijing will believe that its strategy of isolating Taiwan diplomatically is still feasible, and that allying with the pan-blue camp to attack the island's localization forces has been successful.

Third, if the pan-blues vanquish the pan-greens in the upcoming elections, the US' attitude toward Taiwan is going to change. Over the past few years, many in the US have called on Washington to re-assess its China policy. If the green camp loses this time, the US is going to take another look at the political climate in Taiwan, especially the strength of the pan-green forces. This will certainly affect the US' perception of Taiwan's efforts toward localization.

Sino-US relations have been at a low recently, with Chinese President Hu Jintao (JÀAÀÜ) getting the cold shoulder when he visited the US in September. This week, US President George W. Bush has traveled to Beijing. However, his visit to China comes after stops in South Korea and Japan.

Interestingly, the US government pointed out that Bush's trip to China is a working visit rather than a state visit, indicating that bilateral relations between these two superpowers are lukewarm at present.

Not long ago, the US agreed that former President Lee Teng-hui (?õµn½?) could visit Washington and deliver a speech to Congress.

This implied an effort by the US to counterbalance China's aggression and "united front" strategy against Taiwan. However, if the pan-blues win a landslide victory next month, then this policy will come to a halt.

Fourth, if the pan-green camp loses next month, it will be seen as being on a losing streak. If this happens, the green camp will become so dejected that it may even lose the next legislative and presidential elections.

Some believe that pan-green supporters can be galvanized into action only when the DPP suffers a major electoral defeat. However, the pan-greens were grouchy and low in spirits after the results of the last legislative elections were released, and not much changed.

The DPP not only failed to seek to reform itself after the loss, it arranged a tete-a-tete between Chen and Soong. Lien's and Soong's brazen visits to China are directly related to the governing party's wishy-washy attitude.

Will pan-green supporters be able to turn the tables if they choose not to cast their ballots this time? I believe it will only make the situation worse.

Although the DPP has been in power for five years, it does not have much experience managing a nation.

By contrast, the KMT was in power for more than 50 years and had a monopoly on all the talent and resources.

When Lien was traveling in China, he even said the KMT would ally itself with the CCP and make use of the cross-strait peace advancement bill to "promote" cross-strait exchanges.

At this crucial moment for Taiwan, I hope the Taiwanese can come to their senses and make a wise decision.