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Lies, lies and more lies
Saturday, May 08, 2010, Page 8
In an interview with CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour reported in your paper,
President Ma Ying-jeou (°¨^¤E) announced to the world that he would ¡§never¡¨ ask
the US to fight for Taiwan (¡§KMT downplays Ma comment,¡¨ May 3, page 1).
So much for the ¡§strategic ambiguity¡¨ that has long been a crucial aspect of US
policy toward China and Taiwan. The ambiguity of what measures the US would take
if war were to break out across the Taiwan Strait was a sort of ¡§wild card¡¨ that
the US held close to its chest. In its counterintuitive way, the US refusal to
show all its cards has contributed to peace across the Taiwan Strait.
Ma would have done well to keep his mouth shut. But no, Mr ¡§golden-mouth¡¨ had
yet another in what can only be termed as a series of brain farts. For example,
in a speech in Panama, he gave the wrong date for the founding of his own
country (or what he claims is his own country, although that fact ¡X along with
his true allegiance ¡X is highly debatable). Then, wonder boy brilliantly
announced to the world that he would never ask the US to fight for Taiwan should
there be a cross-strait war.
However, Ma, in his effort to tickle the rectal bristles of Chinese officials
and sell out Taiwan, is forgetting one thing: The decision to assist Taiwan
against a military invasion or blockade by China is not his decision alone to
make. One cannot exclude or factor out the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA). The TRA
is legally binding for the US, a hell of a lot more binding than any groveling
bullshit that Ma will ever be able to concoct.
The TRA provides that it is up to the US ¡§to maintain the capacity of the United
States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would
jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people of
Taiwan.¡¨
In other words, not only is the US legally bound to supply weapons of a
¡§defensive variety¡¨ to Taiwan, the US is also obligated to defend Taiwan.
Whether the US will aid Taiwan in the event of a war is not a unilateral
decision made by a kowtowing, toady turncoat like Ma. I wonder if Ma has any
idea of how much tonnage of shipping passes through the Taiwan Strait on a daily
basis. Does anyone sincerely think that the US (or Japan and South Korea) would
stand by twiddling their thumbs if the Taiwan Strait were blocked? One look at
history shows that the US invariably takes military action whenever its shipping
lanes are threatened.
In the interview, Ma brazenly continued to lie to the public. For example, when
Amanpour asked why the US should risk so much for Taiwan, Ma responded that ¡§the
risk for the US is [the] lowest it has been in 60 years,¡¨ thanks to his
administration¡¦s efforts to improve cross-strait relations. Pure codswallop. The
Ma administration¡¦s policy of unabashed pandering and relentless appeasement of
China has in fact increased the threat of violence in the Taiwan Strait to the
highest level it has been in 60 years.
Premier Wu Den-yih (§d´°¸q) downplayed the president¡¦s statement by claiming that
Ma was ¡§simply highlighting Taiwan¡¦s determination to defend itself.¡¨ According
to Du, Ma¡¦s remark showed the ¡§determination and confidence¡¨ of Taiwan. Du said
that ¡§this is what a leader should say.¡¨ Yeah, right. And, may I ask Du with
what is Taiwan expected to defend herself? I¡¦m sure that the four submarines in
Taiwan¡¦s possession paralyze everyone in the Chinese navy with fear.
One last question: Does anyone find it the least bit odd that ¡X coincidentally
enough ¡X just as Ma makes such an outrageous remark, there are quite a few
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) bigwigs in Shanghai, inspecting the ¡§Chinese
Taipei¡¨ pavilion at the Shaghai Expo?
Michael Scanlon
East Hartford, Connecticut
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