For some reasons, U.S. and British planes bombed five Iraqi military radar sites that had been threatening allied planes patrolling the no-fly zone. From that action, we have seen the U.S. power force in maintain peace in the world. In Taiwan side, in a curious twist of journalistic fate, a reporter published in an America n college newspaper has captivated the attention of people here in Taiwan. Bit a closer look at the reporter reveals the reason why people are so interested --- the possibility of another trip to Ithaca, New York by our globetrotting former President Lee Teng-hui. Despite Lee’s new status as a mere ordinary citizen, any visit to the United States by the former president would surely test the current status of relations between Washington, Taipei and Beijing. Mainland China has stubbornly refused to lift its diplomatic embargo against Lee, even though he is out of office. Spokesmen for Beijing Foreign Ministry have repeatedly accused him of promoting Taiwan independence through his travels and have urged foreign governments not to let Lee step foot on their soil. It is not reasonable for Lee’s travels to be restricted simply because he was once democratically elected to be president of the Republic of China. Like it or not, Beijing will someday have to accept this reality. According to the reporter, published by the Cornell Daily Sun, staff members, students and alumni of Cornell University are widely anticipating a return visit by Lee sometime this spring. Sources in the Chinese-American community told the newspaper that Lee was expected as soon as April or May. The report was published on the heels of similar stories that appeared in the Japanese press over recent weeks. But Vivienne Shue, director of the school’s East Asia Studies program, told the paper that Lee’s status as an alumni means that he “has a standing invitation to visit Cornell anytime he likes.” Up to post history, Beijing’s warning is effectively work in U.S. action over Taiwan-strait’s issues, as Stanley Roth has said in visiting Taiwan …
Feb.17,
2001 --- That tensions between Taipei and Beijing slackened somewhat in the last year but mistrust still blocks any breakthrough in bilateral ties, a former U.S. diplomat noted, recommending dialogue to break the stalemate. Stanley Roth, who helped shape Asia police for U.S. President Bill Clinton, told an audience here that mutual failure to grasp the other’s concerns poses, the biggest obstacle to cross-strait rapprochement. Wary of speculating on future scenarios, Roth said relations between the two rivals are less uptight in comparison with a year earlier when mainland China sought to box in the island through intimidating tactics. Beijing issued a white-paper days before the 2000 presidential election, threatening to overtake Taiwan by force, if it declares independence or drags on with the unification issue. The lack of confidence, the guest observed, caused Taipei to insist on have limited links before giving serious thought to full-fledged contact --- trade, transport and mail --- with Beijing. To demonstrate its commitment to promoting cross-strait exchange, the government early this year introduced the so-called “mini-three links,” allowing direct voyages between the outlying islets of Kinmen and Matsu and mainland Chinese port cities. Roth said that he understood the goodwill Taiwan sought to communicate but doubted that the policy could accomplish its hoped-for effect. Beijing has said it would not have anything to do with Taiwan’s new rulers before they agree to uphold the “one China” principle. But it has courted the opposition parties in an apparent bid to isolate the Democratic Progressive Party-led government. The former state official said he found it unwarranted for mainland leaders to bypass the DPP administration. By so doing, they missed a great “window of opportunity created by the transfer of power” to improve cross-strait ties,” Roth said. Consistently, he suggested the two sides seek to bridge their differences through institutional talks halted since July 1999 when former President Lee Teng-hui painted cross-strait ties as “special state to state.” Lee’s successor, Chen Shui-bian, swept into office last May, would treat the “one China” claim as merely an item of discussion, insisting that Taiwan’s 23 million people have the final say on the island’s destiny. The sovereignty row has antagonized the two sides for five decades following a violent civil war where the Chinese communist drove out the Kuomintang (KMT) from the mainland. Roth dismissed as “unlikely” forecasts that Washington would embark on any material change in its dealing with Taipei or Beijing following the inauguration of President George W. Bush last month. The United States will not back down on its “one China” policy, said Roth, a longtime expert on East Asia and Pacific security. “Taiwan should focus more of its energy on mending fences with mainland China,” Roth said in a speech sponsored by the Institute for National Policy Research, a local think tank. He denied passing on any message from the Bush administration, pointing out that he no longer has any official role. Still, he met with President Chen, Defense Minister Wu Shih-wen, among other key government officials, and opposition leaders during his four-day visit to the island that is expected to end later the weekend. Defending his former boss, Roth said the Clinton administration left ties with mainland China in good shape, although not always sturdy. Analysts here say Clinton tended to tip the balance in favor of mainland China even though he repeatedly urged leaders across the strait to resolve their feuding peacefully. Obviously, Taiwan must do work in deal with “Beijing” by “begging for mercy”, as if democratic Taiwan would be isolated by the United States, which tuned with hegemony of China. President Bush expressed his statement on Feb. 16, 2001 that “building this hemisphere of freedom will be a fundamental commitment of my administration,” he said. “Our future cannot be separated from the future of our neighbors in Canada and Latin America.” And added “America will set its own priorities, so that they are not set by our adversaries or the crisis of the moment,” he said. “We must work closely with our democratic friends and allies in Europe and Asia, we must engage Russia and China with patience and principle and consistency.” Missile defense problems are always the sensitive issues over U.S. security. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called Russia “an active proliferator” of missile technology and said Moscow had no valid reason to challenge U.S. plans to build a missile shield defense. “Russia is an active proliferator,” he said in an interview on PBS television. “They are part of the problem. They are selling and assisting countries like Iran and North Korea and India and other countries with these technologies which are threatening other people, including the United States and Western Europe and countries in the Middle East.” Rumsfeld said Russia, which can launch hundreds of nuclear missiles simultaneously, knew that the NMD’s planned ability to shoot down only a “handful” of missiles at once did not threaten its own massive nuclear arsenal. The secretary, who gave concerned European allies assurances about the arms control ramifications of the NMD at a conference in Germany earlier this month, said he thought the Europeans would eventually fully support it. President Bush has offered to share with allies any technology that is developed. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who hosted Bush at the State Department ceremony, a briefing with specialists on his Mexico trip and the swearing-in of 38 junior foreign service officers, will discuss the NMD issue with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov later this month. From the report we knew it that Bush’s visit to the State Department was the fourth in a series on carefully staged events in a week the White House devoted to national security. “On Monday, he visited with the troops at Fort
Stewart, Georgia. On Tuesday, he visited with the troops in Norfolk. On
Wednesday, he visited with the Reserve and National Guard troops in West
Virginia. And here on Thursday, he’s with the troops of the State
Department of the United States of America,”
Powell said to prolonged applause and loud cheers. Experiences told us, too many warnings from Russia and China’s reaction over the United States’ justice, which relating with threat, torment, and massacre of “oppressing human rights.” The condition of Taiwan in our world is worse than before that democracy mixed economy and political situation are confusing Taiwanese people. We want democratic system and respected human rights, but, unfortunately, Taiwan would lose its power over international identification by way of stronger communist China. However, we need your help and lead us into international society. As President George W. Bush vowed in public … “We must work closely with our democratic friends and allies in Europe and Asia. We must engage Russia and China with patience and principle and consistency.” We thought that Taiwan was a front-runner that
could against threat from Beijing. Please give Taiwan a hand. President Chen Shui-bian (Feb. 12, 2001) told Taiwan’s military leadership that he will push for the country’s economic and political integration with China if it renounces the use of force against Taiwan. Chen cautioned at the same time
against a potential outbreak of war in the Taiwan Strait because of
miscalculations by the Chinese leadership. “We can not ignore the fact that we are feeling greater pressure from China because of its growing ballistic missile forces, state-of-the-art weapons and overall arms build-up. They are still likely to miscalculate the situation and launch a war in the Strait,” Chen said. “We must therefore constantly be ready for war so as to deter China.” Chen made the statements in a
speech to 200 senior officers from all the services, who gathered at a
military site in Yangmingshan yesterday for the start of an annual
four-day advanced studies session. It is the first time that Chen has
spoken to the military leadership on such an occasion. The advanced studies sessions are held for generals or those likely to be promoted to general, to enrich their knowledge of various fields. A total of 600 officers will have attended this year's sessions by the time the program ends in a month’s time. In his speech, Chen reemphasized his advocacy of conditional economic and political integration with China, which he first brought up in a televised address to the nation at the end of last year. “I called upon the Beijing leadership in my speech on Dec. 31, last year, to respect the ROC’s right to exist in international society. I urged them to publicly renounce the use of force against Taiwan,” Chen said. “[Under these conditions], the two sides of the Strait can best use their wisdom to solve the current stalemate. We can start with economic and cultural integration. We can build mutual trust during the process,” he said. “The ultimate goal is to seek a lasting peace in
the Taiwan Strait and construct a framework for the political integration
of the two sides. This will be to the greatest Chen did not forget, however, to remind officers of the military threat from China despite the bright future he envisioned for them together. “China’s threat to use force against Taiwan is still the biggest danger to the existence and development of Taiwan. It is estimated that by 2005, China will pose a real threat to Taiwan in military satellites, advanced weapons, C4ISR (command, control, communication, computer, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) systems, as well as naval and air power,” he said. In a break following Chen’s
speech, none of the generals in the audience were willing to talk with the
press about what they thought of the speech. In our view, this ruinous and ignominious situation, where we cannot act with success or suffer from honor, calls upon us to remonstrate in the strongest and loudest language of truth, to rescue the ear of “America’s friend” from the delusions with surround it. Please save democratic Taiwan.
Yours Sincerely,
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