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Caution pays on
cross-strait offices
By Chen Rong-jye ³¯ºa³Ç
President Ma Ying-jeou (°¨^¤E) has said on several occasions that he would like to
see China and Taiwan establish representative offices in each others¡¦
territories as soon as possible. However, the idea of setting up such offices to
handle emergency situations was first broached by the Straits Exchange
Foundation (SEF) when it was established, but China rebuffed the proposal on the
grounds that it was too early to take such action.
Several days ago, the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) of China¡¦s State Council
adopted a different line, saying that the foundation and its counterpart, the
Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), are civic groups
authorized by the governments of China and Taiwan, and that there is a pressing
need for them to set up offices in each other¡¦s territories. It is worth
considering why China has reversed its position on this issue.
Ma has said that these offices would be expected to carry out comprehensive
functions, although it is not clear what he means by this. The first issue to
consider in establishing those offices would be guaranteeing the safety of staff
stationed in the SEF¡¦s office in China, as well as the security of documents in
the premises.
These are fundamental considerations, as without such guarantees it would be
impossible for staff to carry out their duties. Judging by the TAO¡¦s recent
statement, it is clear that it envisages these representative offices as being
branches of two organizations. Would it really be wise to rush into setting up
an office in China under such an organizational model?
Another issue to consider is how the proposed representative offices would
conduct their official business.
China is always putting pressure on Taiwan in the international arena. For
example, the staff of Taiwan¡¦s representative offices abroad are subject to all
kinds of restrictions, including how they conduct business with official
government institutions, what channels they go through and who they are
permitted to speak with.
Taiwanese officials stationed overseas are not allowed to approach government
institutions in their host country in any official capacity. If they wish to
hold a meeting, they have to do it in a coffee shop. If they have any official
business to conduct, they must first notify designated intermediaries.
Certain intelligence services even designate captains or majors as contacts for
Taiwanese major generals. Attention must be paid to this issue before the
foundation and ARATS think about establishing representative offices.
When Taiwanese visit China as guests, they have to keep their itineraries and
meetings confidential. When Chinese VIPs come to Taiwan, senior Chinese
Nationalist Party (KMT) figures, local leaders and community dignitaries line up
to meet or dine with them. How will this be addressed in the future?
The US is a bastion of freedom and democracy, that also plays host to the UN and
several UN agencies. Yet the US imposes travel restrictions on the diplomats of
certain countries. For example, they may not be allowed to travel further than
40km outside of New York or Washington without a special permit. These kinds of
restrictions are usually applied when there is a risk of espionage or terrorism,
or when the officials are from countries deemed hostile to the US.
Japan and Russia have diplomatic relations, but never signed a peace treaty
after World War II and have similar measures in place. Several Japanese police
cars are parked outside the Russian embassy in Tokyo at any given time. Whenever
a Russian vehicle carrying important passengers leaves the embassy, Japanese
police will tail it for its entire journey.
In 1999, the US Congress published the Cox Report, officially titled the Report
of the Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/ Commercial
Concerns with the People¡¦s Republic of China, concerning China¡¦s espionage
activities in the US during the 1980s and 1990s. According to the report, China
has modeled its operations on those of the former Soviet Union, employing an
extensive and pervasive intelligence-gathering network.
China now feels that the time is right for the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to
exchange representative offices. The battle lines are being drawn, but is Taiwan
going to tolerate its officials being subjected to restrictions in China, while
Chinese officials in Taiwan are allowed to go wherever they want?
Recently, a Taiwanese businessman in China complained that Ma ¡§looks in the
mirror for his appointees.¡¨ It should be added that Ma also prefers to conduct
business behind closed doors. When Ma worked for the Mainland Affairs Council,
he tended to be overcautious and lacked courage and insight.
Now, one can only hope that he will again take a cautious approach and set up a
representative office in China that will uphold Taiwan¡¦s dignity and safeguard
its interests.
Chen Rong-jye is a legal expert and a former Straits Exchange Foundation
secretary-general
Translated by Paul Cooper
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