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Taiwan Tati Cultural |
Dear Mr. President Bill Clinton,
Mr. Vice President Al Gore,
Mrs. Madeleine Korbel Albright,
Mr. Trent Lott,
Mr. Denny Hastert,
Mr. George W. Bush,
Mr. Secretary General Walter
Schwimmer,
Mr. Deputy Secretary General Hans Christian Kruger,
March 28, 2000, reported ---
Israeli cabinet Minister Haim Ramon said it was impossible to make peace with
Syria since it had not budged from its tough stance. “The summit was a burning
failure,” Ramon told Israel radio Monday.
I am very, very pessimistic about reaching peace with Syria. This Clinton administration says it still hopes to revive peace talks between Syria and Israel. The world is changing into mess with indefinitely. It needs to talk and talk, without war.
America’s dominant shadow has long been welcome in much of the world as a shield from tyranny, a beacon of goodwill, an inspiration of unique values.
But 10 years after communism’s collapse in the Soviet Union left the United States to pursue its interests without a world rival, that shadow is assuming a darker character. The preponderance of America’s power --- economic, political, military and cultural --- is fast becoming a liability.
The complaint abroad is not that America is withdrawing into an isolationist shell, as it has so often in the past. Rather, foreigners diagnose America as suffering from a bad case of “me first.”
Free of the need to contain the Soviet Union, a goal that guided foreign policy for nearly half a century, the United States has focused on new objectives: pressing American commercial interests in the global economy, championing democracy and intervening military to protect human rights.
It strains old friendships and diminishes America’s ability to rally support. It risks depriving the U.S. of the goodwill that has been a priceless asset for decades --- in building the post-World War II order, winning the Cold War and setting the international agenda.
Taiwan’s successful and peaceful transfer of power merits great praise and support. But the embrace of Taiwan’s new administration should be tempered by Chen’s performance. Will his rhetoric policies and appointments merit the external support that he needs? Chen’s election has not altered the underlying strategic reality. The responsibility of the United States and Japan remains --- to maintain a security architecture in the western pacific that preserves stability and enables the mainland and Taiwan to expand their contacts without jeopardizing the security or affronting the dignity of either.
March 27, 2000 ---
The victory of the Democratic Progressive Party in last Saturday’s
presidential poll may not have looked like much more than a normal democratic
practice, to some people.
But for mainland China, the result certainly means more than that, Gottfried-Karl Kindermann, an international politics professor at the University of Munich, told The China Post, Professor Kindermann is a friend of Annette Lu, vice president-elect, and of many local officials.
Q: With the DPP becoming the ruling party in Taiwan, do you see any chance of the new government breaking the “one China” deadlock that has bogged down the cross-strait relationship for years?
A: The deadlock can be broken only if Beijing agrees to talk about “one China” without preconditions, just to get to know each other.
Beijing wants to take back Taiwan, of course. But the question is whether Beijing will allow itself more time, more patience. Or, has the domestic pressure inside the Chinese Communist system become so strong that it would no longer have any patience and want to have a quick solution?
I am afraid that Beijing’s patience may have been exhausted.
Q: Shouldn’t Taiwan bear part of the responsibility for Beijing’s increasing sense of urgency? The ROC government has failed to convince mainland China of its sincerity, if any, about a final reunion.
A: It is the suspicion of Beijing that Taiwan is just buying time (by calling on China to democratize itself before thinking about reunifying with Taiwan.)
That increases impatience in Beijing.
However, Beijing should understand that in Taiwan there is the process of erosion of the “Chinese element.” Very few here want to accept Beijing as their boss after five decades of division …
Both sides are on the path of departing from each other even further because of generation change. Changing generations creates a change of identity …
Actually, there are three parties that recommend visits by Taiwanese to mainland China.
The first is the Chinese Communist Party. They would ask you to see the great landscape of China, and perhaps you will feel that, “Yes, this is my home country.”
The second is the Kuomintang. They would say: “Go there, seeing it as our own country, but also see that the conditions there are such that you will be happy to live under the KMT’s rule.”
The third is the DPP. They also say: “OK, let’s visit the mainland, but to see the danger. If that system comes to Taiwan what would happen to you?”
Q: How can we expect mainland China’s approach to Taiwan to change after May 20?
A: Unless the new government proclaims independence, which is unlikely, Beijing’s policy is likely to remain the same --- a mixture of threats and demands.
What also can be expected are attempts by the CCP to exploit the new configuration of internal forces in Taiwan, deepening the emerging contradictions between the “pro-China” and “Taiwan-first” groups within former adherents of the Kuomintang. The present split of the KMT and the confusing situation in Taiwan these days might convince Beijing that it should wait. Perhaps the Taiwanese will destroy themselves, splitting the political scene into pro-mainland and anti-mainland, and that could be exploited by China for its own unification strategy.
Q: What do you see as prospects for mainland China’s democratization?
A: We have had in Asia a number of democratic nations: the Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea. All these nations are members of Confucian culture, which is theoretically against democratic values.
I think it is not impossible that you might have, in the far future, democracy in China.
But it must be more difficult (for China than for other countries) because it does not have the close relations with the United States, and the CCP is still in power and is very careful to keep its power. Look at its reckless crackdown on Falun Gong. I am worried.
Q: You have studied the German reunification closely. Some scholars have said the
German model may be the ultimate shape of a reunified Chinese nation. Your opinion?
A: The German model shows that the treaty between the two systems on non-aggression, the avoidance of threats of force, and non-intervention and cooperation can function as a stabilizing force in inter-system relations.
This treaty, however, was accompanied by West Germany’s statement that it would nevertheless strive for peaceful reunification on the basis of self-determination.
The temporary side-by-side membership of the two German states in the United Nations did not prevent their subsequent reunification.
Meetings between the heads of government of the two sides proved to be an effective starting point for establishing closer and regulated relations with each other.
Within those relations, city partnerships between the West and the East proved to be useful.
A ten-point plan for reunification divided into three phases was drafted by West Germany.
First, they formed a contractual community, in which they concluded many cooperation agreements, did a great number of joint ventures, and got accustomed to each other.
Second, they forged a confederation --- a state composed of two equal entities that had a common decision-making unit. That meant the bigger German state agreed to leave it that way for some time with more advantages for the smaller state, of course.
Third, they formed a federation.
After all, there must be talks between both sides.
--- By German scholar Gottfried-Kari Kindermann shares his
views
on cross-strait relations in the post-KMT era. Kindermann is a
longtime friend of vice president-elect Annette Lu.
In our views, country to country is full of unpredictable future. If no countries as United States to be “beacon” of world, then “sunset” would come earlier than WWII.
Taiwan always needs your support.
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Yours Sincerely, 
Yang Hsu-Tung. |
