Dalai Lama calls for democracy in PRC
　

DIFFERENT VOICES: The chairman of a Tibetan religious organization said that a protest outside the Dalai Lama’s hotel in Taipei reflected Taiwan’s democratic maturity

AGENCIES, TAIPEI
Friday, Sep 04, 2009, Page 1
　

The Dalai Lama yesterday called on China to introduce democracy to avoid a collapse like that of the Soviet Union.

Taiwan must also consolidate its democracy, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said, noting that on his first visit in 1997, he said that Taiwan’s future ought to be decided by Taiwanese.

The Dalai Lama, invited to visit Taiwan to bless typhoon victims, made the comments while receiving disciples at the Howard Plaza Hotel in Taipei.

“Taiwan’s highest value is democracy and freedom of speech,” the Dalai Lama told members of the Friends of Tibet. “While you enjoy this value, I hope you can also spread it to China.”

“I hope China, under communist rule, can adopt democracy and become more transparent step by step, because the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union is not the best for China,” he said.

“Democratization is the trend of the world,” he said yesterday. “China is part of the world, so democracy can help China’s economic development.”

As he spoke, hundreds of pro-China activists protested outside the hotel, clashing with police and shouting, “Tibet, China all belong to China!” and “Dalai Lama go back to India!”

A large police contingent was deployed at the scene to prevent any violence, and National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Te-sheng (蔡德勝) went there yesterday morning to inspect the situation.

Asked to comment on the protest, Dawa Tsering, chairman of the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Taiwan, said the protest was a show of Taiwan’s democratic maturity and that he welcomed any expression of the true voices of the Taiwanese people.

Tsering said although the Dalai Lama had not made any arrangements to meet Taiwanese politicians, former Examination Yuan president Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文) and Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) went to see him.

The Dalai Lama arrived in Taiwan on Sunday and has visited areas devastated by Typhoon Morakot, comforted survivors and held a prayer meeting for victims attended by 15,000 people. He traveled to Taipei on Wednesday.

China has accused the Dalai Lama of seeking independence for Tibet. The Dalai Lama has been leading the Tibetan government-in-exile in India since he fled Tibet after an abortive uprising against a Chinese invasion in 1959.

Beijing has denounced the Dalai Lama’s visit to Taiwan and said it could derail growing cross-strait relations. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has not met the Dalai Lama on this trip, who was scheduled to leave Taiwan this morning.

In an interview with the Public Television Service (PTS) on Wednesday, the 73-year-old Tibetan Buddhist leader stressed that the trip was purely religious, reiterating that it had no political considerations.

He said he was not disappointed that he was not meeting Ma because he usually traveled the world to promote the “harmony of Buddhism” and have simple conversations with others.

The Dalai Lama said that he met international leaders on his travels, but just “occasionally.” Sometimes they wanted to meet him because these national leaders, like everyone else, also wanted to have peace of mind, he said.

In response to a question on concerns that his trip had hurt Taiwan-China ties, the Dalai Lama said: “It’s too early to say that. We wait another six months or one year, then we will know.”

During the interview, the Dalai Lama said that he saw the government and non-government organizations bringing a lot of money and relief to the disaster areas, helping victims to rebuild their houses and villages. From a religious aspect, he was giving them hope and faith on a spiritual level. But because of global warming, experts seemed to believe that the chance for such disasters might increase in the future, so the government should find them a safe new home.

In response to a question about religious difference between the Dalai Lama and most of the victims, he said that people’s ethnicities, nationalities or even religions really make no difference to him, because they are all humans.

In response to a question about criticism that his visit was politically motivated, the Dalai Lama said that none of the parties involved were playing politics.

At a separate setting yesterday, when asked for comments on the Dalai Lama’s nephew, Khedroob Thondup, who said that Taiwan’s government had put a “gag order” on the exiled religious leader out of fears of Beijing’s reaction, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) declined to comment.

Wang also denied that Presidential Office Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) had met the Tibetan representative and made a three-point request, including that the monk would refrain from engaging in political activities.

Angry protesters take to streets of Xinjiang capital
　

TROUBLE: A World Uyghur Congress spokesman said witnesses had told him that about 10 Uighurs had been beaten and taken to hospital in the unrest

AFP AND REUTERS, BEIJING
Friday, Sep 04, 2009, Page 1

Crowds of angry Han Chinese protesters took to the streets of the city of Urumqi yesterday to demand better security, less than two months after deadly unrest rocked the capital of mainly Muslim Xinjiang Autonomous Region.

Police ordered residents to stay indoors and stationed officers throughout the city, in a forceful response aimed at staving off a second wave of bloodshed following that in July, when nearly 200 people were killed.

Xinhua news agency said “big crowds” had gathered in several points across the city to protest a series of syringe attacks against members of various ethnic groups in the city. Shops and markets were shuttered.

The precise number of demonstrators was not immediately clear. Witnesses described large crowds, with some putting the turnout in the thousands.

Xinhua said that some Muslim ethnic Uighurs, who clashed with Han Chinese in July in the worst ethnic unrest to hit the country in decades, were among the protesters.

“There are about 10,000 to 20,000 people and many police in the street at every intersection,” a Han woman who runs a local medical clinic said, asking not to be named.

“There are more than 100 police stationed every 400m to 500m,” she said. “I heard there was a protest yesterday afternoon and I saw it myself today. They shouted, ‘Protect our homeland.’ Most of them are Han.”

“The reason for the protest was because people were stabbed by the needles,” the woman at the clinic said.

Xinhua said 15 people, whose ethnicity was not disclosed, had been arrested after attacking members of nine ethnic groups, including Han Chinese and Uighurs.

No one had been infected or poisoned in the attacks, the agency said, without saying when the attacks took place or how many people were hurt.

Regional Communist Party chief Wang Lequan (王樂泉) and Urumqi party boss Li Zhi (栗智) both “called on the crowds, on two separate occasions, to stay calm and show restraint,” Xinhua reported.

Some witnesses said protesters had shouted slogans against Wang, demanding that he do something to put an end to the needle stabbings.

“I have shut my shop. I am afraid to go out. Many people are marching outside,” a female shopowner in the city’s central Nanmen area said.

“The Han have staged a march so the police imposed controls and ordered us to stay indoors,” Halisha, a Uighur eye doctor, said by telephone.

A receptionist at an Urumqi hotel said Internet access had been limited throughout the city.

It was not immediately clear whether the protests were still going on as night fell. One woman surnamed Bai at the front desk of the Dehe Hotel in the Nanmen area said the protests had ended, but other witnesses said they were ongoing.

Local and regional government officials were not immediately available for comment.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu (姜瑜) said she had no knowledge of the incident but told reporters at a regular briefing that China was “competent to safeguard social stability and national unity.”

Uighurs say the July 5 riots occurred after Urumqi police tried to forcibly break up a peaceful protest over a brawl involving factory workers in distant southern China that state media said left two Uighurs dead.

China however has accused exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, who lives in the US, of orchestrating the unrest.

During a visit to Xinjiang late last month, Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) described those behind the unrest as “separatists” who were “doomed to fail.”

Kadeer has denied any involvement in the violence.

Dilxat Raxit, the Munich-based spokesman of Kadeer’s World Uyghur Congress, said witnesses had told him that about 10 Uighurs had been beaten and taken to hospital in the latest unrest.

“The situation is very complicated — we want the international community to send people to Xinjiang to investigate the situation there,” he said.

“The Uighurs are in a terrible position, especially now that it’s Ramadan,” he added, referring to the Muslim fasting month.

A female office worker in downtown Urumqi said the situation in the city had been “very chaotic and especially serious” in the past two days.

Taipei schools express concern over Chinese flags
　

By Mo Yan-chih and Jenny W. Hsu
STAFF REPORTERS
Friday, Sep 04, 2009, Page 1

Two municipal schools in Taipei City assigned to cheer for the Chinese team in the Deaflympics expressed concerns yesterday about hanging China’s national flag in their schools and having students wave the flags.

A total of 36,000 students from 88 junior high and elementary schools in Taipei City have been assigned to welcome and cheer for teams taking part in the Deaflympics. Taipei’s Hongdao Junior High School and Taipei School for the Hearing Impaired were chosen to cheer for the Chinese team.

Chen Ching-jen (陳金珍), principal of Hongdao Junior High School, said the school decided not to hang the flags in front of the school to prevent controversy.

“I was kind of surprised when I learned that our school was assigned to cheer for the Chinese team,” she said.

Lee Rong-hui (李榮輝), principal of Taipei School for the Hearing Impaired, said he refused to take the Chinese flags to the school. Students would use sign language to welcome the Chinese athletes instead, he said.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday declined to comment on the flag issue, while saying that he would not visit the Chinese team after the athletes arrives in Taipei tomorrow night.

The Chinese will arrive in Taiwan at about 9:30pm tomorrow, skipping the opening ceremony.

Hau also declined to comment on China’s boycott of the opening ceremony, only saying the Chinese would not be the last team to arrive in Taipei for the Games.

Hau said the Deaflympics’ security measures are divided into three categories: A, B and C, with A being the strictest security measures.

Teams from countries with “special backgrounds,” such as China, Israel and the US, will be protected with A-level security measures, he said.

Meanwhile, Emile Sheng (盛治仁), chief executive officer of the Taipei Organizing Committee of the Deaflympics, said yesterday that the Chinese delegation should have enough time to attend the closing ceremony, but the decision was up to them.

The opening ceremony will also most likely be held on schedule even if it rains, he added. A rehearsal on Wednesday had to be suspended because of heavy rain.

Tomorrow night’s opening ceremony will welcome more than 5,000 athletes and staffers from 91 countries.

Sheng said the Chinese team will leave Taiwan one day after the closing ceremony.

“I cannot speak for the Chinese team,” said Sheng, when asked if they would also boycott the closing ceremony on Sept 15.

On Monday while speaking at a press conference, Sheng insinuated that the Dalai Lama’s visit to Taiwan had deterred the Chinese team from attending the opening ceremony to be presided over by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

All Deaflympic participants are required to have their temperature taken daily and anyone who develops a fever or displays flu symptoms will receive medical attention, Sheng added.

In related news, organizers misspelled Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin’s (郝龍斌) name in the media handbook passed out by the committee. Instead of “Lung,” the second character was spelled “Laung.”

Balance of military power tips to Beijing
　

By Ben Blanchard and Ralph Jennings
REUTERS, BEIJING AND TAIPEI
Friday, Sep 04, 2009, Page 3

The balance of military power between China and Taiwan is shifting toward Beijing, leaving Taiwan few options without US aid in the event of an attack, a threat that has not eased despite warming ties.

China has invested billions of dollars in its military, buying from Russia, developing its own advanced fighter jets and missiles, and slimming its once bloated ranks into a lean and high-tech military, analysts say.

It is also considering building an aircraft carrier.

Taiwan’s forces, by contrast, are increasingly hobbled by outdated systems, unwillingness by almost every country but the US to sell it weapons, and by troop cuts as part of a strategic reduction.

Since taking office last year, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has eased tensions through trade and tourism deals, a far cry from his predecessor, Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who supported formal independence, but military suspicion remains deep.

“They’ve always had a quantitative edge over the Taiwanese, but the Chinese have really closed if not eliminated the qualitative edge the Taiwanese had for decades,” said Richard Bitzinger, senior fellow and Asian military expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

China’s overwhelming military superiority, combined with Taiwan’s deepening economic reliance on China and its growing diplomatic isolation, could force a resolution to the sovereignty issue even without a shot having to be fired.

“That’s the intention — to combine growing military leverage and a stronger military, to maybe eventually just present Taiwan with some kind of fait accompli about accepting reunification,” Bitzinger said.

ANNIVERSARY

While Beijing’s language has softened, it is in no mood to let Taiwan go its own way, 60 years after Mao Zedong (毛澤東) proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

In July, Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie (梁光烈), while noting “positive changes” in cross-strait relations, pointedly did not offer to pare back forces aimed at Taiwan, nor renounce the use of force to bring Taiwan under China’s control.

“We will firmly hold the theme of peaceful cross-strait development ... oppose the secessionist activities of ‘Taiwan independence’ forces and firmly safeguard China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he was quoted as saying in state media.

VISIT

China has reacted angrily to Taiwan’s decision to allow Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to visit this week, in a reminder, if one were needed, that knotty political problems overshadow improving economic and cultural links. China brands the Dalai Lama a separatist.

Taiwan estimates China still has 1,000 to 1,500 missiles aimed at it and Beijing continues to expand its arsenal.

“Given mainland China’s state power and military might, most people wouldn’t believe Taiwan could win a war by itself,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said.

The RAND Corp, a US-based policy research group, estimated in a recent report that short-range Chinese ballistic missiles could easily destroy the runways of every airbase in Taiwan in a well-targeted initial strike to knock out the air force.

Taiwan’s navy could fare even worse. It has just four submarines, two of which date back to World War II and still have some of their original brass fittings. China has more than 50, a few believed to be armed with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.

DESTROYED

“One expects many of Taiwan’s naval vessels will be destroyed very quickly. Taiwan’s fighters and other aircraft would move to airbases where there are underground facilities, but, over time and attrition, most of Taiwan’s fighters would be destroyed or have few places to simply land and refuel,” said Wendell Minnick, Asia bureau chief with Defense News.

While the prospect of war breaking out may seem remote at present, there are no guarantees that Taiwan, a boisterous democracy, will re-elect Ma in presidential elections in 2012.

The Democratic Progressive Party could get back into power with a leader who supports de jure independence from China, which is the red line where Beijing has said it would consider attacking.

DEFENSIVE NEEDS

The Obama administration is re-evaluating Taiwan’s “defensive needs” as a whole, US officials in Taipei have said.

China could target missiles at US bases in Japan and the distance across the Pacific Ocean means that reinforcements may reach the arena only after China wins control of Taiwan.

“This geographic asymmetry ... combined with China’s growing capabilities and the lack of basing options for US forces in the vicinity to the Strait, call into question Washington’s ability to credibly serve as guarantor of Taiwan’s security in the future,” RAND wrote.

Former Australian leader speaks on Chinese diplomacy

AFP, SYDNEY
Friday, Sep 04, 2009, Page 5

Former Australian prime minister John Howard has criticized “clumsy” Chinese diplomatic efforts to gag exiled dissidents and linked recent strains between Canberra and Beijing to a failed mining deal.

Howard said China’s attempts to prevent exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer visiting Australia last month were “ridiculous” and left Canberra with no choice but to grant her a visa.

Conservative leader of Australia for 11 years, Howard said Beijing had adopted similar tactics when Tibet’s spiritual leader visited the country, failing to appreciate that efforts to dictate diplomatic policy were destined to backfire.

“They can be very clumsy diplomatically,” Howard told a business function in Sydney on Wednesday. “They’ve got this silly habit, if they don’t want you to see someone, they say so — which means that you must see them.

‘RIDICULOUS’

“It’s just ridiculous, they’ve done that with the Dalai Lama [and] the way they carried on about that lady with the visa [Kadeer].

“Of course we had to give that lady a visa. Heavens above, you don’t allow the Chinese, or any government — whether it’s China or Britain or America — to tell us who we should give visas to,” he said.

Australia revealed last month that China had canceled a senior minister’s visit over Canberra’s decision to grant a visa to Kadeer, whom Beijing accuses of being a separatist and inciting deadly unrest in northwest China’s Xinjiang region in July.

MINING AT ROOT

Howard said recent tensions between China and Australia could be traced back to mining giant Rio Tinto’s rejection of a US$19.5 billion cash injection from China’s state-owned aluminum giant Chinalco.

“I think they got their noses out of joint over the Chinalco thing and some of the things they have done in response have been conditioned by that reaction,” he said.

China arrested an Australian Rio Tinto executive in the weeks after the Chinalco deal collapsed, but says his detention is linked to allegations of industrial espionage and bribery during fraught iron ore negotiations.

Propaganda overshadows Dalai Lama

Friday, Sep 04, 2009, Page 8

The Dalai Lama is scheduled to leave today following a six-day visit comforting victims of Typhoon Morakot. The trip has provided a timely reminder of the increasing sway Beijing holds over many things, from the way the international media reports on certain subjects to Taiwanese politics and politicians.

One of the clearest examples of the former was the disproportionate amount of coverage given to a token number of pro-unification protesters who have followed the Nobel peace laureate.

Any neutral person watching or reading these reports from abroad may have received the impression that pro-China views are in the ascendancy in Taiwan, yet polls show that support for unification is less popular than even independence, at about 7 percent or 8 percent.

While this kind of trashy, low-cost reportage is understandable from certain sections of the domestic media, such protests would receive little or no attention in other countries. The activities of this rag-tag bunch received far more coverage than they deserved. One would expect the international press to do a better job.

While many international media groups reported on the protests, almost all neglected to mention the mandatory subtext to the story: Many of the demonstrations had been organized by a fugitive pro-unification gangster on the lam in China who once cooperated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government to eliminate dissidents.

Time magazine even went so far as to describe the protests as “Taiwan’s raucous democracy,” a statement that deserves extensive qualification.

Taiwan’s relationship with China is an important issue that attracts news editors around the globe because of the dramatic headlines it provides, but editors shouldn’t let a good story get in the way of the truth. Some facts about the background of these protesters would have provided readers with a balanced story.

We also look forward to the day that the international press stops framing the Taiwan issue in Beijing’s terms.

Another inconvenient truth revealed by the visit is just how much the KMT and its politicians are in the pocket of Beijing. Not one KMT official or politician had the courage to meet the Dalai Lama — an all-too clear demonstration of where the party’s loyalties lie.

These elected representatives pandered to Beijing’s whims by shunning a figure idolized by the majority of the people he represents.

How the KMT can continue to claim to represent Taiwan when its first reaction on domestic issues is to solicit China’s advice is beyond comprehension.

But it’s not all bad news. One thing we can be thankful for, even in the face of reams of pro-China propaganda and falsehoods in the pro-unification media, is that the majority of Taiwanese are still able to recognize the Dalai Lama for what he is: a peace-loving religious leader who has been demonized by a malevolent, authoritarian power.

Who knows? Perhaps this clarity of judgment may soon extend to the KMT itself.

Taiwan’s legal system and Chen
　

By Bruce Jacobs 家博
Friday, Sep 04, 2009, Page 8

‘Why is Chen the only person detained in prison on corruption charges before being convicted?’

Earlier this week I was one of the first foreigners to visit former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) at the Taipei Detention Center in Tucheng (土城). The visit was severely restricted. We saw Chen through two very thick panes of glass separated by insulating air as well as substantial vertical steel bars. No sound could penetrate this barrier and we talked with Chen though phones that were old and had a scratchy sound quality. As we could easily see, guards monitored our conversation.

We could not take anything into the reception room, even a notebook or a pen, so we could not record what Chen said. On the other hand, prison officers were polite and efficient and did not hassle us in any way.

Every Monday to Friday, Chen is allowed one 30-minute visit with a maximum of two visitors. On the first Sunday of each month, he has an additional visit, though this too is limited to two people and 30 minutes and is also conducted by telephone through the thick bars and glass.

I should make clear at the outset that I have frequently and publicly criticized Chen’s presidency. In addition, my knowing Chen for many years is not unique because I have also known former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) for some 15 years and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for about eight years.

Many foreign observers, including me, have raised serious questions about the justice system in Taiwan. Traditionally, crimes of embezzlement and corruption in Taiwan have not required detention prior to conviction.

For example, after Ma was indicted on corruption charges on Feb. 13, 2007, he remained free, despite the severity of the charges, until found not guilty on Aug. 14 that year. Similarly, no one else indicted on corruption charges remains in prison prior to conviction, except Chen.

Why is Chen the only person detained in prison on corruption charges before being convicted?

Many observers have noted that when the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came into office in 2000, it retained many KMT office-holders. In contrast, when the KMT returned to power last year, it quickly got rid of DPP office-holders and filled positions from its own ranks.

Many observers believe that the current KMT administration genuinely hates Chen and they expect that the KMT will do its best to keep him in prison as long as possible.

The difficulty in a democracy is that the voters usually throw out the government and put in the opposition. A few years ago, who could have predicted that the high-riding Republicans in the US, who dominated all branches of government, would be so severely defeated last year?

Similarly, the high-riding KMT of last year is already facing many problems, including administrative incompetence, an incompetence highlighted by the devastation of Typhoon Morakot. Will a future DPP government pay back the KMT with pre-conviction detentions and possibly long jail terms?

Another problem facing democratizing Taiwan is that the areas of both justice and the media have been slow to reform. In the media, many newspapers and TV stations had their origins in the authoritarian period and they continue to push similar beliefs in democratic Taiwan.

The former justice system, too, had many inexperienced “baby” judges and prosecutors just out of law school who did well in examinations but who had no life experience. Many were trained to accept KMT guidance with respect to judicial cases. The apparent manipulation of the judges hearing Chen’s case raises many fears that past practices continue.

Fortunately, the story is not all gloomy. After protests from overseas, Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) declared that the use of handcuffs on Chen was inappropriate and he now goes to and from the courtroom without them.

In addition, Chen looks quite fit. He has lost the extra weight he appeared to have in previous photos and he is alert with relatively high morale.

Looking out through the two thick glass panes and the thick steel bars, he said we — the visitors — looked like we were in prison, while he felt free.

In fact, we were locked inside the reception room, but our door was eventually opened and we came out, while Chen went back to his cell.

Bruce Jacobs is professor of Asian Languages and studies and director of the Taiwan Research Unit at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.