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China aid linked to
Taiwan issue: cable
CANDID CABLE: The WikiLeaks release of a US
transmission from 2009 showed that a New Zealand official said China had been
candid about a ‘quid pro quo’ with Fiji
By Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff Reporter
A diplomatic cable recently released by WikiLeaks suggests the modus vivendi
approach adopted by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) diplomatic policies has not
kept the Taiwan issue out of China’s controversial aid policy.
For the past few decades, China has emerged as a major source of foreign aid
aimed at securing access to resources necessary for its continued economic
development and wooing nations as part of its competition with Taiwan for
diplomatic allies.
Beijing’s “no strings attached” aid programs have often drawn concern from
Western countries.
Released by WikiLeaks on Thursday, a cable dated May 19, 2009, from the US
embassy in Beijing recorded observations by New Zealand embassy political
official Tara Morton about China’s “massive” aid to Fiji, stating that “the
People’s Republic of China [PRC] had been candid with New Zealander
interlocutors in linking Fijian support on the Taiwan issue to China’s
development assistance there.”
However, in talking to US officials, Zhou Jian (周建), then-deputy director of the
North American and Oceanian Affairs Division of China’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, denied the link.
According to the cable, Zhou said that with the recent thaw in cross-strait
relations, China’s policy in the South Pacific was looking past its traditional
focus on checkbook diplomacy to buy UN votes to shore up its claim to Taiwan,
and the Taiwan issue had become “less of a priority” in Chinese foreign policy
with the South Pacific.
The cable showed disagreement between China and countries such as New Zealand
and Australia over Western-led international efforts to persuade the leadership
in Fiji, which came to power after a coup in 2006, to carry out democratic
reform.
A Fijian embassy official told the US that a new package of Chinese economic
assistance to Fiji, that was announced earlier in 2009, arrived just as Western
sanctions were proving problematic and therefore had a political effect, the
cable said.
Another cable dated Feb. 13, 2009, from the US embassy in Beijing showed that
Australia and New Zealand expressed concern to China on the eve of a trip to
Fiji by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (習近平), saying the trip would send the
wrong message in light of international efforts to urge the government in Suva
to reform.
Beijing downplayed the Xi visit, calling it a transit stop on the way to Latin
America, according to the February cable.
However, a cable in June 2009 quoted Zhou as saying that China had signed at
least four economic agreements with Fiji during Xi’s visit and one of the
agreements was for a 10 million yuan (US$1.54 million) grant, but the details of
its use were still under discussion.
Aid programs offered to Fiji and the Solomon Islands by Taiwan were also a
concern for the US. A cable dated Jan. 24, 2007, from the American Institute in
Taiwan (AIT) showed that then-AIT director Stephen Young met with then-minister
of foreign affairs James Huang (黃志芳) to discuss Fiji and the Solomon Islands.
Young told Huang that it was particularly important that Taiwan follow its
democratic values in its relations with Fiji and the Solomon Islands, and
repeatedly said that Taiwan should hold discussions with Australia on the
Solomon Islands, the cable said.
A year before the Fiji coup, then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) made an
unscheduled visit to Fiji — which recognized China — during a tour of allies in
the Pacific.
In response to Young, Huang said Taiwan had a number of assistance projects in
Fiji before the coup, but these had all been suspended, pending further review.
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