Defense ministry refers to US as ‘semi-military ally’
　

By Hsu Shao-Hsuan
STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Sep 01, 2008, Page 3

In its budget proposal for next year, the Ministry of National Defense referred to the nation’s relationship with the US as a“relationship between semi-military allies.”

It was the first time that the ministry has used the word “ally” in this context since the US broke diplomatic relations on Jan. 1, 1979, and the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty expired on Jan. 1, 1980, which could indicate that the military relationship between the two parties is warming up.

Taiwan and the US cooperate on military matters despite the lack of formal relations.

The ministry said it would further seek to observe and participate in US military exercises and build mutual trust and consensus.

Military relations between the US and Taiwan were intense last year, with the US sending 52 delegations comprising 430 people to Taiwan, while the Taiwanese side sent 19 delegations — a total of 135 people — to the US.

In the budget’s policy goals, the ministry said it would emphasize rebuilding mutual trust with the US and consolidating the bilateral relationship.

This would help increase a variety of military exchanges and cooperation with the US, it said, allowing the nation to maintain a good national defense relationship with the US to build mechanisms for maintaining cross-strait peace and stability.

The shouts will only get louder

Monday, Sep 01, 2008, Page 8

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Taipei on Saturday to protest against the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration’s policies and to demand that the sovereignty of the nation be safeguarded.

Ma has only been in office for 100 days, but the streets of the nation’s capital were brimming with protesters, while Ma’s approval rating has dipped to a mere 37 percent. The honeymoon that never was is now over.

Some may think 100 days is not long enough a period for a government to bring results. But during this time, the economy has plumbed new depths: Economic growth projections for this year dropped from 4.78 percent to 4.3 percent, July inflation reached 5.92 percent and unemployment hit 4.06 percent. These negative results speak for themselves and get even louder in light of Ma’s 633 election promise of 6 percent economic growth, 3 percent unemployment and US$30,000 in national income per capita.

Even Ma’s cure for all ills — allowing a greater influx of Chinese tourists — has only had a limited effect.

It is true that cross-strait relations have entered their most relaxed period in many years. There are now chartered cross-strait passenger flights, more Chinese tourists are allowed into Taiwan and Beijing and Taipei ostensibly no longer compete for diplomatic recognition. This diplomatic “truce,” however, is built on Taiwan voluntarily blurring its own status. It no longer dares call itself an independent and sovereign state. Rather, it was called “Chinese Taipei” at the Olympics and some diplomatic allies have even called it “China, Taiwan.”

This is the result of the self-inflicted humiliation by a government that domestically still claims to be the government of the Republic of China. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t even dare forcefully rebut Chinese Ambassador to the UN Wang Guangya (王光亞) when he responded to Taiwan’s application for WHO observer status by saying that Taiwan was not qualified for membership in any UN organization. Following the Olympics, more countries have been calling Taiwan “Chinese Taipei,” which has prompted the ministry to ask embassies and representative offices to explain to their host countries that the country’s name is the “Republic of China.”

Taiwan may want cross-strait peace, but the administration is so oblivious to other opinions that it has failed to notice that many Taiwanese feel the government is too strongly pro-Chinese. Even worse, it has ignored its principal allies, the US and Japan, who while they acknowledge the need for better relations across the Taiwan Strait, have questioned the speed with which Taiwan has sought rapprochement with China, saying it could jeopardize regional stability.

Maybe the government feels it is too early for protests. But it was Ma who made the 6-3-3 promise, who said: “We are ready,” and that as long as he was elected, “everything will improve immediately.”

Ma therefore has no reason to complain when people are disappointed. Fulfilling the 6-3-3 promise may be difficult, but this does not mean that people should accept a rapidly deteriorating economy.

Ma has no excuse for not fulfilling his election promises and disappointing those who believed in him. He should apologize and stop issuing promises and instead explain the economic situation, take care of the economically disadvantaged and clarify his views on the nation’s status and future direction. He should also explain what the diplomatic “truce” actually entails.

Saturday’s demonstration was a warning. If the situation doesn’t improve soon, the next protest could be even more forceful.

US-Chinese military ties become more far-reaching
　

By Richard Halloran
Monday, Sep 01, 2008, Page 8

US Pacific Command has opened a new channel of communications with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in a continuing campaign that has two objectives: To deter China militarily and to reassure the Chinese that the US is not seeking to contain their country.

The latest US envoys in this endeavor have been senior non-commissioned officers (NCOs) who are responsible for the day-to-day care, feeding, training and work of the soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen. It may be trite, but it is true that they are the backbone of US forces.

In the first venture of NCOs into this military diplomacy, the senior enlisted leader of the Pacific Command, Chief Master Sergeant James Roy, led a delegation of 12 senior NCOs to China recently and is preparing to receive a Chinese delegation in a reciprocal visit to US forces in Hawaii this fall.

Roy emphasized the reasons for the trip to China.

“We did not go to help them to build capacity,” he said in an interview, meaning to strengthen their armed forces.

US military exchanges with China have been controversial with critics, including neoconservatives, who contend that the US should not help China improve its forces.

Instead, Roy said: “We went to understand them better and to have them understand us.”

In less diplomatic terms, that meant learning more about the capabilities of the PLA and demonstrating the ability of US NCOs — the men and women of their services — to get things done.

Sino-US military relations have traveled a bumpy road for many years. The current tone appears to have been set by US Admiral Dennis Blair, who headed Pacific Command in 1999. In testimony before a congressional committee, he asserted that US military leaders sought to get two points across to the Chinese:

First, he said: “We’re not sitting here planning to contain China. We’re not sitting here dying to pick a fight with China. We basically are an armed force in a democratic society who will fight if must but prefer not to. And we’ll support American interests if we have to, but don’t mess with us.”

He also said: “We are very aware in our program of not giving away more than we get from these exchanges. We’re not doing it to be nice guys. We’re doing it to get our job done, of teaching the Chinese what sort of capability we have out there.”

In recent years, several US secretaries of defense and top military officers have visited China and received their counterparts in Washington.

In addition, exchanges of middle grade officers, those who will lead their respective services in the next 10 or 15 years, have begun. Now the senior NCOs have been tasked to gauge the quality of Chinese NCOs and to impress the Chinese with US training and experience.

The PLA, having been an unschooled army that relied on human wave tactics in the Korean War and later, has recently begun to develop qualified NCOs. Chinese leaders, a Pentagon report said in March, are concerned that “low education levels in the PLA negatively affect its operating capability and professionalism.”

During the week the US delegation was in China, they engaged in discussions mostly with Chinese officers, not with NCOs, and toured bases in the Nanjing military district. The Chinese, Roy said, asked “very few stray questions. They had a good idea of why we were there.”

Even so, the US concept of a NCO corps puzzled the Chinese.

“The Chinese do not yet understand the role of the senior NCO in the US military service,” Roy said.

Pointing to the chevrons on his sleeve, he said: “They did not understand that a chief master sergeant as the senior enlisted leader of the Pacific Command is not a commander.”

Richard Halloran is a writer based in Hawaii.