20100627 Guest of honor, or guest of shame?

Guest of honor, or guest of shame?

By James Wang 王景弘
Sunday, Jun 27, 2010, Page 8

‘If Taiwan chooses to embrace China, then why bother damaging US-China relations by selling arms to Taiwan?’

Dianne Feinstein, the US Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman, visited China recently, and she was invited to come to Taipei when she was in the region; however, the invitation backfired and embarrassed Taiwan.

I would say the best type of visitor is one that speaks well of a host country after the visit, or at least one that tells other people about Taiwan’s interests.

The next best type of visitor would be one that stays silent about disagreements with Taiwanese ideas.

However, by far the worst type of visitor is one that expresses opinions that infringe upon Taiwan’s interests after leaving the country.

Feinstein’s visit to Taipei was a diplomatic disaster, the worst we have seen in many, many years. She not only stuck to her pro-China stance, but she even intensified criticism and expressed open opposition to the US selling arms to Taiwan. By doing so, she helped China ruin Taiwan’s democratic achievements.

There is no way that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) could have been unaware of Feinstein’s pro-China stance. On many occasions, she has ignored conflicts of interest and openly waved espoused her pro-China stance in the senate. The Los Angeles Times published a story on Richard Blum, Feinstein’s husband, and the profits he has made from his investments in China, which has soared as quickly as his wife’s political career.

Senators who oppose US arms sales to Taiwan, like Feinstein does, are very rare. Taiwan is not likely to change her mind on this issue. It is therefore pointless to invite politicians like her to Taiwan.

Worst of all, this will discourage those who support Taiwan. Inviting Feinstein to Taiwan was a serious misjudgment in every way possible.

Ma brags about the supposed “peace” and stability across the Taiwan Strait while he ignores Taiwan’s security. By inviting Feinstein, Ma offered the US the best possible alibi to refuse arms sales: If Taiwan chooses to embrace China, then why bother damaging US-China relations by selling arms to Taiwan?

Ma intended to take advantage of his guest’s visit to endorse the controversial economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China. However, he has ignored the US Senate’s diminishing support for Taiwan, and those who support Taiwan on the basis of anti-communism, democracy and human rights now see the government going against public opinion and leaning toward China.

With such developments, some could very well reverse their support for Taiwan.

Feinstein did not meet Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) or Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶).

However, as soon as she landed in the US, she started to repeat former Chinese president Jiang Zemin’s (江澤民) words so as to stop the US selling weapons to Taiwan. However, as she trumpets her views, it seems that there are no pro-Taiwan senators to counterbalance her comments.

Obviously, Ma’s diplomatic truce has led us down a road that we have never seen the likes of before.

James Wang is a journalist based in Washington