Either competitor or partner?
China is a country for no definite condition to say it clearly. The China of easily wounded
nationalism was on display in the standoff over the US surveillance plane,
especially early on. The China of economic interests with the US also
emerged, perhaps decisively in the end. The Chinese military is deeply
conservative, and some officers probably would not mind undermining some
of Mr. Jiang’s goals -- like joining the World Trade Organization, which
they worry will court social unrest and enhance Western influence. For preventing sickness than to
find a doctor, amid concern over a spate of detentions of academics in
China, the US will issue a warning that some US-based Chinese are
vulnerable to China’s secret police, a US official said on April 18,
2001. The warning, which would stop short of an advisory to avoid travel
to China, would be issued this week and target Chinese who were US
citizens or permanent residents, the official said, speaking on condition
of anonymity. The warning would caution Chinese-American travelers that
China “seems to be singling out Chinese who have participated in events,
with Taiwan or have publicly criticized the Chinese government,” the
official said. Who is the boss of North Korea? The North Korean statement, one of
countless condemnations in the tense decades since the 1950-53 Korean War,
was unusual because the North had largely refrained from criticizing or
threatening the South since their summit agreement last year. “If the South Korean authorities defiantly take part in the projected war exercise in pursuance of the US war moves against [North Korea], their behavior cannot be construed otherwise than a downright betrayal to the North-South joint declaration,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by KCNA, the North’s foreign news outlet. As we know that China’s claim to
Taiwan is “just too absurd” and “outrageous,” according to former
US ambassador to the UN Jean J. Kirkpatrick. “There
is just no reason to stand by and permit the Chinese Communists to take
them [the people of Taiwan] over,” the director of foreign and
defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute sated during
an interview Saturday on the Judicial Watch Report, a radio broadcast
sponsored by Judicial Watch, a Washington-based legal watch group. “I
strongly believe that we committed a long time ago to selling Taiwan the
technology and weapons which are necessary for [its] defense,”
Kirkpatrick said, adding that “we’ve been doing it in quite an
inadequate way,” the Internet newspaper WorldNetDaily reported Tuesday. New story was told by Taiwan
strait that about 60 percent of the drugs seized by Taiwanese authorities
last year were from the southern Chinese provinces of Guizhou, Guangdong
and Hainan island, said Yang Kuang-chuan, director of the Investigation
Bureau’s Drug Enforcement Center. Taiwan’s efforts to stop the
smuggling of heroin, opium, marijuana and amphetamines from China “were
encountering difficulties because the talks between the two sides have not
resumed,” Yang said. From 1990 to 2000, about
17,000kg of heroin and amphetamines were seized by Taiwanese authorities,
Yang said. On the other hand, Taiwan’s
special geographic location has indispensable significance in East
Asia’s security alliance structure. Only when Taiwan has enough weapons
for self-defense can a military balance in the Taiwan Strait be achieved.
The effect of mutual deterrence over the Strait is one of the essential
factors in stabilizing the situation in East Asia, and stability
in the region is in accord with the US’ national security interests in
the western Pacific region. In short, the US takes into
account the military balance across the Strait and Taiwan’s defense
needs when considering weapons sales to Taiwan. That is why the arms sales
issues must not become a bargaining chip as a consequence of the US-China
collision. International politics is
changeable. No
one can guarantee that worsening US-China relations are completely
advantageous for Taiwan. If the US supports Taiwan simply to show
a hard line to China this time, it may well betray Taiwan to pander to
China next time. The lives and guaranteed security of 23 million Taiwanese
must never become bargaining chips in US-China diplomatic and political
wrestling. We could tell people that the
meaning of life isn’t worrying about from shopping mall to shopping mall
like a headless chicken. Instead, relax meditation, breath deeply, and
believe in a life force greater than prada. Despite its lack of recognition in
the UN, the Executive Yuan on April 18, 2001 agreed to submit two key
parts of the International Bill of Human Rights to the legislature for
ratification, in a move the Presidential Office described as a step toward
incorporating the bill into Taiwan’s legal code. The two covenants, the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) and
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), were draw
up by the UN and are integral to the human rights bill. Formerly a UN member, Taiwan
signed both covenants in 1967. After China succeeded to Taiwan’s UN
membership in 1971, however, the UN refused to further acknowledge
Taiwan’s signature of the two covenants. The two covenants were never
ratified. In our viewpoint, the key to
Taiwan’s security no longer rests with its army but with its air force
and navy. They would be used to thwart any Chinese amphibious invasion
across the 160km-wide Taiwan Strait, contest a blockade or defend against
bombing raids as Taiwan tried to keep China’s military at bay in the
hope that the US would come to its aid. To enable Taiwan to better direct
its forces in war, the Pentagon pushed for the establishment of a modern
command and control system so that Taiwan’s army, navy and air force
could immediately share information on enemy planes and ships. Plans were
made for the construction of a new long-range radar to provide Taiwan with
better warning of an aircraft and missile attack. Failure to fulfill Taiwan’s defense needs due to Beijing’s objections – at a time when China is quickly expanding its military power and stepping up its missile threat – will be like leaving a tethered goat in front of a tiger’s lair. This will not only harm Taiwan but also jeopardize the security of other US allies across the Pacific. If the US is worried that the Taiwan military may not be capable of operating the AEGIS-equipped ships, it can still start building the ships and training Taiwan’s officers now. The EP-3 incident has shown once again that the China threat is right before our noses. The US has no reason and no need to read a competitor’s mood before deciding to help an ally.
Yours Sincerely,
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