Listen to the voice

Arms sales unlikely to be reviewed this session: US official
　

By Charles Snyder
STAFF REPORTER IN WASHINGTON
Thursday, Sep 18, 2008, Page 1

To the disappointment of Taiwan supporters in the US House of Representatives, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will not soon take up a bill the supporters introduced in late July aimed at pushing the administration of US President George W. Bush to lift a nearly year-long freeze on around US$12 billion in arms sales to Taiwan.

The bill would require that the administration provide Congress with “detailed briefings” on a regular basis on any discussions it has with Taiwan on the arms sales and on any “potential transfer” of weapons to Taiwan.

The briefings would enable Congress to help ensure that the sales go through.

The measure highlights the dismay lawmakers have felt over what they see as the administration’s failure to keep Congress informed on progress toward arms sales to Taiwan and on the reasons behind the freeze, Capitol Hill officials involved in drafting the legislation said.

The bill, which was introduced before Congress went out of session for its annual month-long Fall recess, had been expected to be brought to the committee for a vote this month.

But the committee’s chairman, Howard Berman, excluded the bill from a “markup” session that was scheduled for yesterday, in which the committee votes on bills and passes them on to the full House for deliberation. That session was the last markup for the committee before Congress adjourns on Friday next week.

Despite the omission, the bill’s chief sponsor and the ranking Republican member of the committee, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, remained optimistic it could be approved if Congress holds a “lame-duck” or special final session after the November elections.

“We’re going to continue fighting to make sure that Congress complies with the law of the land, the Taiwan Relations Act, that says the United States will defend Taiwan and will give her whatever equipment she needs,” Ros-Lehtinen told the Taipei Times.

“So I’m optimistic that when we come back, perhaps in the lame-duck session, that we will be able to pass the Taiwan bill that will give the military edge to Taiwan,” she said.

“The reason it has not passed yet is not because of [a] lack of support, just the lack of legislative days on the calendar,” Ros-Lehtinen said.

Listen to the voice

Taiwan deserves a seat at table
　

By W. Andy Knight
Thursday, Sep 18, 2008, Page 8

‘If China wants to deny Taiwan a place within the world body, all it has to do is put pressure on African delegations and remind them how good the Chinese government has been to them.’

The UN General Assembly met on Tuesday to review Taiwan’s application for “meaningful participation” in the UN agencies. This was the 15th consecutive year that Taiwan tried to gain some form of representation in the 192 member world body.

Last year, at the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly, the world body decided not to include the issue of Taiwan’s participation in the UN on its agenda. That decision was made because of enormous pressure from the Chinese delegation at the UN, especially on the African delegations. When Taiwan tried to gain membership in the WHO in May this year, its attempt was again stymied by China.

In the first instance, China’s Ambassador to the UN Wang Guangya (王光亞) told reporters then that the representatives of more than 120 UN member-states had clearly indicated at the plenary meeting of the Assembly that they were “opposed to the inclusion of the so-called Taiwan-related proposal into the agenda.”

Wang made the dubious claim that “both the mainland and Taiwan belong to one and the same China” and that this “has never been changed.” He also said: “There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is a part of China’s territory. This is the common position of the United Nations and the overwhelming majority of its member states.”

What Wang did not mention was the fact that, from 1945 to 1971, Taiwan represented the whole of China within the UN system and held a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. This was because the US and other victors in World War II simply chose to recognize the non-Communist entity (the Republic of China) over the Communist-controlled mainland China (the People’s Republic of China). This Cold War anomaly was corrected in 1971, when mainland China took Taiwan’s place on the Security Council and in the rest of the UN system.

This move made sense from the point of view that one cannot justify a situation in which a population of 1.3 billion people — mainland China — are represented by an island with only 23 million people — Taiwan.

But the UN made an egregious mistake in 1971. Taiwan at the time exhibited the main criteria for a sovereign state — control over a delimited territory, people, resources and an effective government. Yet, it disappeared from the UN system altogether.

As the world’s governing body, the UN operates on the principle of universality. This means that if a state meets the criteria for membership within this august body, then the organization should accept that state into the family of nations. The main criterion for UN membership is clear and can be found in Article 4(2) of its Charter. That article states that to be a member of the organization the applicant must be a “peace-loving” state willing and able to carry out the Charter’s obligations.

There is no doubt that Taiwan is a peace-loving state. Despite not being a member of the UN, it carries out the obligations of the UN Charter. In my visit to Taiwan earlier this year to observe the well-run presidential election, I came away with the impression that Taiwan is truly a de jure sovereign entity. In fact, it is more “sovereign” than many African countries whose economies are in tatters and whose governments are on the brink of inefficiency and outright failure. Yet, many states that are less able to control their populations, territory and resources are members of the UN — because of the universality principle.

Taiwan is a self-governing, autonomous, and prosperous entity with 35,980km² of territory that includes the Pescadores, Matsu, and Kinmen islands. It possesses ample natural resources (including coal, natural gas, limestone, marble and asbestos) and is able to meet the needs of its 23 million people. Its GNP of US$17,252 makes it the 18th largest economy in the world. It is a country with the fourth largest foreign exchange reserves globally, with a thriving IT sector and a record of humanitarian assistance to countries in need.

It is time for the UN representatives to stop giving in to pressure from China and do what is not only sensible but right in granting Taiwan a seat at the table, at least in some UN agencies. Taiwan can do much good in the areas of economic development, technical assistance, health, agriculture, the environment, the protection of endangered species and regional and global security. Why should China be allowed to object to Taiwan’s bid to make a positive contribution to the global agenda? What does China have to fear?

China is clearly emerging as a major global power. Its trade with African countries has quadrupled since the beginning of this decade. China is now Africa’s third-largest commercial partner after the US and France, and it is the second largest exporter to Africa after France.

We all know the primary reason why China needs Africa: natural resources. China needs oil in abundance and wants, like the US, to diversify its supply away from the troublesome area of the Middle East. But there is another reason.

In providing trade, aid, loans, debt relief, scholarships, arms and investments to African countries, China ensures that these countries are indebted to it. African states, through sheer numbers, dominate the UN General Assembly. Therefore, if China wants to deny Taiwan a place within the world body, all it has to do is put pressure on African delegations and remind them how good the Chinese government has been to them.

At the same time, the US has lost much of its clout in Africa. Even if it wanted to support Taiwan’s bid for membership in UN agencies, it can no longer muster enough support from countries in Africa to make this bid a reality.

So, for Taiwan’s application to be successful, it will have to hope that China feels secure enough to desist from placing obstacles in Taiwan’s path.

W. Andy Knight is professor of international relations at the University of Alberta and director of the Peace and Post Conflict Studies program and a governor of the Canadian International Development Research Centre.