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Last February, Taiwanese coast guards caught "Ms. Tong" and 41 other illegal Chinese immigrants on a vessel in the Taiwan Strait. Tong paid human smugglers 5,000 yuan (US$605) to get to Taiwan. Now, she would give almost anything to go home.

Sitting in the administration center of the Hsinchu detention center, one of the three camps set up by the National Police Agency (NPA) to accommodate illegal Chinese immigrants, the 28-year-old said she is very worried about her parents.

Tong, who worked in Fujian Province before coming to Taiwan, was one of four inmates the shelter selected to be interviewed by reporters yesterday. As per the center's request, the inmates' real names have not been disclosed.

"I was told I could find a job in a factory in Taiwan. So I paid the money and came here. I had no idea my trip was illegal. All the people on our boat were arrested. There were two Russians, but they were sent home a long time ago," Tong said.

Tong said she hardly knows what Taiwan looks like because she was immediately sent to the Coast Guard Administration and then the detention center after her arrest.

The detention center, which used to be a military compound, now accommodates 1,108 female inmates, exceeding its capacity of 836. It also takes care of the 12 babies born to the inmates, said shelter director Lai Hsieh-yi .

With the Dragon Boat Festival only a week away, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Joseph Wu and officials from the Immigration Office visited the detention center yesterday and urged China to bring its citizens home.

On the three major Chinese holidays of the year -- the Lunar New Year, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Moon Festival -- the detention center sets up dozens of telephone lines for the inmates to call home.

At the time of Wu's arrival, around a hundred inmates, all dressed in uniform red T-shirts and blue shorts, sat in rows in a court waiting for their turn to call home. Each person was given three minutes to use the phone.

"I told my parents not to worry about me, that I am fine here. I asked them to try to tell our government we really miss home. We really want to go home," Tong said.

Life in the overcrowded detention center is hard to bear. Most of the time during the day, the inmates are locked in their shared rooms behind iron bars.

"In winter it is still ok, but in the summer the situation gets worse," Tong said.

The last time China sent boats to pick up the immigrants was March 12. Chinese boats usually collect the immigrants in Matsu, which is close to Fujian Province.

When an inmate's day to return to China approaches, he or she will be transported to Keelung Harbor, where Taiwanese vessels ferry them to Matsu.

From January to March, Taiwan repatriated five groups of illegal immigrants to China, each group containing 160 to 170 people. But since March, Chinese officials have largely ignored Taiwan's requests to bring its people back.

"They just told us they haven't gotten any instructions from their superiors to collect the people," explained MAC Vice Chairman Johnnasson Liu.

Wu expressed frustration with China's refusal to face the illegal immigration problem. Last year alone, the government set aside a budget of around NT$138 million for the illegal Chinese immigrants, which covered their food, clothes, accommodation, transportation and medical care.

With talks between China and Taiwan still halted, the government here "can do nothing but call for China to pay attention to the immigrants' situations," said Wu, adding that expenditure on illegal Chinese immigrants has become a big burden for the government

President Chen Shui-bian yesterday reassured the nation's 8 million workers that he will honor his six campaign promises and prevent the introduction of Chinese workers into Taiwan's job market.

In a meeting with labor representatives at the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) headquarters, Chen yesterday reaffirmed his six campaign promises to the labor lobby, including implementing a ban on the introduction of Chinese workers, reducing the unemployment rate to 4 percent, rebuilding the pension system and enshrining workers' rights in the Constitution.

The Legislature passed the Laborers' Pension Law last week, which will benefit the nation's 8 million workers with a retirement pension that won't be affected if the worker changes jobs.

Chen yesterday said the passage of the Laborers' Pension Law is a significant improvement to the workers' welfare and a revolutionary change in Taiwan's history, elevating the value of the workforce and the competitiveness of the nation's industries.

"I will honor my six campaign promises to workers. Among them, the Laborer's Pension Law, which was the most difficult task, has been passed. So long as I remain in office as president, I will not allow Chinese workers into Taiwan and I'll continue pushing for workers' rights to be added to the Constitution," Chen said.

Chen yesterday said the new pension system allows 90 percent of the workforce that can't claim pension under the old retirement pension system, to be able to enjoy the retirement pension. The new pension system offers pensions to workers despite job changes, while the old system required workers stay in one job their entire career, as any job change would discontinue the worker's seniority, a factor that affects whether or not laborers are given a pension.

"Along with the development of the knowledge-based economy, the industries are getting diverse. Under this circumstance, it is very difficult for an individual laborer to stay in one job permanently. A good pension system should protect laborers' benefits while switching jobs and seeking for further educational training," Chen said.

The Ministry of Justice has signed an agreement with the Swiss Federal Office of Justice to ensure its cooperation regarding the investigation of Andrew Wang, who is wanted for his alleged role in the Lafayette frigate scandal, Vice Minister Hsieh Wen-ting said yesterday.

"The agreement, proposed by the Swiss Federal Office of Justice and written only in English, was signed by Minister Chen Ding-nan on June 11," Hsieh said. "The ministry accepted and will carry out its three promises regarding the case with Swiss justice agents."

According to Hsieh, the first of the three promises states that Wang will not be subject to the death penalty. The second states that Wang will be assigned defense counsel if a trial is held in Taiwan and will have the right to appeal. The third promise states that Wang shall be regarded as innocent until convicted.

Hsieh, speaking on behalf of Chen, made the remarks at a press conference yesterday. Chen was on his way to an annual prosecutor-generals' meeting in California.

Taiwanese justice officials had been seeking cooperation with Switzerland, asking last December that Wang's bank account in that country be frozen.

Swiss Judge Paul Berraudin decided to freeze US$600 million in an account operated by Wang, who is wanted by the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office. The warrant for Wang is good for the next 20 years.

Swiss justice officials granted access to their Taiwanese counterparts in a bid to help the investigation after laying down the three conditions.

There is little the ministry can do to keep the promises, however. The ministry is in charge of investigation and indictment but not trials. While the ministry has promised that prosecutors will not suggest death penalty for Wang, it is not up to the ministry to decide whether Wang will be executed.

Yin was the head of the navy's Arms Acquisition Office. His body was found floating in the sea off the east coast of Taiwan on Dec. 9, 1993. His death prompted an investigation into irregularities surrounding the purchase of Lafayette-class frigates from France. Investigators believe the deal included more than US$500 million in illegal commissions.

Investigators discovered that Yin was trying to collect evidence to protect himself once the scandal surfaced and that he might have been killed by the main beneficiaries of the kickbacks.

Wang has been on the run since September 2000. He is suspected of having received a share of the illegal proceeds for playing an instrumental role in securing a deal for Thomson CSF, a French company now called Thales, to build six Lafayette-class frigates for Taiwan.

According to the Swiss Federal Office of Justice, requests to freeze all bank accounts that may be connected to the scandal were made by both the Taiwanese and French law enforcement authorities on Nov. 6 and Nov. 7, 2001.

SECOND LOOK: The US-China Economic and Security Commission says Beijing's military buildup means the longstanding policy needs to be reconsidered
By Charles Snyder
STAFF REPORTER IN WASHINGTON

A blue-ribbon US government panel has recommended that Washington reconsider its "one China" policy and other fundamental US policies toward Taiwan.

The recommendation is the most dramatic of a series of suggestions made by the high-powered US-China Economic and Security Commission, a group set up by Congress in 2000 to assess US policies on US-China relations.

"Recent developments across the Strait are putting increasing stress on the United States' `one China' policy, demonstrating the need for a new assessment of [that] policy that takes into consideration current realities," said the report, released yesterday morning in Washington.

"Congress and the administration should conduct a fresh assessment of the `one China' policy, given the changing realities in China and Taiwan, including the policy's successes, failures and continued viability," the report said.

It also called for a reassessment of "whether changes may be needed in the way the United States government coordinates its defense assistance to Taiwan; and how US policy can better support Taiwan's breaking out of the international economic isolation that the PRC seeks to impose on it."

The recommendations, if accepted by the Bush administration and the administration that wins the November presidential election, could represent the most dramatic change in US cross-strait policy since the administration of Jimmy Carter recognized Beijing diplomatically in 1978.

The recommendation fits with a low-key, but ardent, effort by conservative thinkers in Washington to change the "one China" policy, an effort that many conservatives feel goes as high as House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who has hinted at his preference for a change in recent years.

The commission was created as part of a defense spending bill four years ago. Its earlier findings and recommendations have been given weight in Washington because of the expertise of its members and the bipartisan nature of its suggestions.

On cross-strait relations, the commission said recent actions by China warrant a re-examination of policy.

"China's recent actions toward Taiwan and Hong Kong call into question its commitments to a peaceful approach toward Taiwan and to preserving Hong Kong's autonomy and self-government. These developments merit a fresh look at US policies in these areas by the Congress and the executive branch," the report says.

At the same time, the commission urges measures to bring about a resumption of cross-strait dialogue to avoid armed conflict between China and Taiwan.

"Congress should consult with the administration on developing appropriate ways for the United States to facilitate actively cross-strait dialogue that could promote the long-term, peaceful resolution of differences between the two sides and could lead to direct trade and transport links and/or other cross-strait confidence-building measures," the report says.

It urges the administration to report to Congress on the status of such talks, the obstacles to them and US efforts to promote dialogue.

Echoing a recent report by the Pentagon on China's military situation, the commission pointed out Beijing's increasing military threat to Taiwan.

"China's quantitative and qualitative military advancements have resulted in a dramatic shift in the cross-strait military balance toward China, with serious implications for Taiwan, for the United States, and for cross-strait relations," the commission report says.

The US would face an increasingly lethal Chinese army modernized by Washington's friends and allies if it had to defend Taiwan in a war with Beijing, a US study released yesterday said.

Russia's arms exports to China are more sophisticated than ever, and Israel -- recipient of some of the US' most advanced technology -- has an increasingly worrisome defense relationship with Beijing, the report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said.

Moreover, if the EU lifts its arms embargo on China as some members want, that could "dramatically enhance China's military capability," the report added.

Echoing a recent Pentagon study, the commission said China's military capabilities "increasingly appear to be shaped to fit a Taiwan conflict scenario and to target US air and naval forces that could become involved."

The commission expressed concern that political attitudes across the Taiwan Strait had "hardened" and recommended the US take a fresh look at its "one China" policy.

The commission, created by the US Congress in 2000, said a key to China's modernization had been "extensive" acquisitions of foreign military technologies, with Russia as the top supplier and Israel as No. 2.

Compared with the early 1990s, recent Russian arms exports showed an "alarming increase in lethality and sophistication," the report said.

As for Israel, Commission Vice Chairman Dick D'Amato said that while Washington had made "strenuous" efforts to restrain it from selling to China, "there's still not the level of cooperation and assurance that has relieved our concerns. We're very worried about this relationship."

Israel receives US$3 billion in US aid annually, including advanced technology. Criticism of Israel is sensitive in the US, its leading ally.

The report said Israel last year assured Washington it would not sell items to China that could harm US security.

But the commission "understands that Israel has offered training facilities, including one for urban warfare, to train China's security forces for the Olympics."

In the past year, "reports indicate Israeli firms have discussed a range of projects with China, including export of sensor and observation systems, security fences, microwave and optics, training, metal detectors and packages for airport and vital facilities security," the commission said.

Israel also provided China with HARPY unmanned aerial vehicles, radar systems, optical and telecommunications equipment, drones and flight simulators.

The commission recommended the government restrict foreign defense contractors that sell sensitive military technology or weapons systems to China from participating in US defense-related cooperative research.

An army of hackers based in China has broken into Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) databases, stealing classified information such as President Chen Shui-bian's personal itinerary, according to a Cabinet official who asked not to be named.

"This is the first time we have found that the DPP headquarters' computer systems were breached by Chinese hackers," the official said. "The incident has sent jitters through the Ministry of National Defense, which deems a systematic information attack launched by China as military warfare."

Information stolen from party headquarters included the personal itineraries of Chen, who doubles as DPP chairman, and those of other high-ranking party officials such as DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung .

Also leaked was classified information on visits to the US by high-ranking DPP officials ahead of the US presidential election.

According to the Cabinet official, the DPP headquarters was an easy target and the attackers were aware it would be more difficult to break into computer systems belonging to the Presidential Office or the defense ministry, where security is tighter.

The attacks were noted a few days ago and the situation has been monitored 24 hours a day since.

This is not the first time that China has conducted information warfare against Taiwan. Last September, the Cabinet discovered that hackers in Hubei and Fujian provinces had spread 23 different Trojan horse programs to the networks of 10 private high-tech companies in Taiwan and used them as a springboard to break into at least 30 different government agencies and 50 private companies.

The Trojan-horse programs were used against the National Police Administration, the defense ministry, the Central Election Commission and the central bank.

Since it appeared no government information had been stolen, the Cabinet suspected that the program was likely aimed at paralyzing the nation's computer systems, stealing sensitive government information or preparing computers for future information warfare.

Trojan-horses are one of the most serious threats to computer security. A computer user may not only have been attacked but may also be attacking others unknowingly

By Bill Chang

In its Annual Report on the Military Power of the People's Republic of China, the US Department of Defense recommended that Taiwan set its sights on various high value targets such as the Three Gorges Dam. This would act as a deterrent to any possible military attack against Taiwan on the part of China. In my opinion the US report is not without reasons for saying this. Attack is, after all, one of the best means of defense. However, there is much room for discussion on whether construction projects such as the Three Gorges Dam or densely populated areas should be targeted.

The Three Gorges Dam is not a military facility presenting a direct threat to this nation. A strike against the dam would not be aimed at destroying a military installation from which the Chinese army could launch an attack in the hope of gaining military superiority on the battlefield. The intention would instead be to deter China from starting a war on the basis of the amount of potential damage that could be wreaked upon them. However, the effectiveness of such intimidation depends on three criteria, namely whether China perceives Taiwan to have the ability to do it, whether they believe Taiwan would actually carry it out and how much damage they estimate could be done to the dam.

If Beijing doubts Taiwan would do such a thing, the deterrence would not work. Vice Minister of Defense Tsai Ming-hsien recently said that the government had no such plans, and that given the current political situation it was impossible to reveal the military's ability to strike the dam. Given this, there is no way that Taiwan can use this as a deterrent.

In the event that China does in fact start military action, the priority would naturally be to take out the largest enemy targets and facilities, and any strike against the dam would come in due course. Unless it could be de-stroyed by underground agents embedded behind enemy lines, such an operation would merely be a diversion of manpower for what would really be very little gain.

Given the distance between Taiwan and the dam, an F-16 jet would barely make the journey relying on its own fuel capacity, and it would burn even more fuel by flying at the low altitudes needed to evade radar. Given this, the task would be an impossible mission unless the fighters were able to refuel in mid-air. However, the idea of a refueling plane waiting for Taiwanese jets to arrive in Chinese airspace is something from 101 Arabian Nights. Even if the strike were carried out using surface-to-surface missiles, anything short of a nuclear warhead would do limited damage and would only be able to destroy the rim of the dam or take out individual power stations.

Even if the jets were able to reach the dam, they would require missiles specially made for the task. Britain, in destroying the dams along the Ruhr in Germany during World War II, used heavy bombers flying at low altitudes and releasing specially made bombs 400m before the dam. When a bomb hit the water surface it would bounce, passing over the defensive netting placed under the water near the dams, and finally sink below the surface. Detonation was triggered by the hydraulic pressure, and the hole torn in the wall of the dam by the explosion was widened by the water pressure, eventually breaking up the entire dam.

The bomb that was eventually developed was codenamed "Department Store." It was 1.27m in diameter, 1.52m long and weighed up to 4.2 tonnes. How-ever, the success of the bombing mission depended on the water level in the dam. Therefore the Royal Air Force conducted detailed surveys of the targets for a period of seven weeks prior to the strike.

So why does the US wish to make such recommendations when attacking the Three Gorges Dam presents so many strategic difficulties and has very little worth in terms of a deterrence? Given the current cross-strait situation, it is clear that the US is trying to remind Taipei of the importance of deterrence and counter measures, and showing us some political means in which they can be achieved.

First, the capacity to intimidate one's opponent and provide counter measures has more demands than merely concentrating on defense, and for this reason the armed forces need to step up the overhaul of their military affairs, just as the US has repeatedly asked.

In the past the military has focused its war preparations on defense, which, in the eyes of the US, is becoming increasingly inadequate in the face of the growing threat posed by the Chinese military. This situation will necessarily increase the possibility of an attack on Taiwan by China and a corresponding rise in the cost of US intervention.

Second, even if the armed forces do have some ability to retaliate, this has never been explicitly stated in the past and it has just been tacitly understood that China knew of it. This being the case, we not only risk China initiating an attack based on a misreading of the situation, but it also makes it difficult to have an effective deterrent. This will have an effect on cross-strait relations and the morale of the people.

Taiwan should pay heed to the real meaning behind the US recommendations, and not restrict its thinking to the feasibility of an attack on the Three Gorges Dam. This will be the greatest guarantee for national security.

Bill Chang is former deputy director of the Democratic Progressive Party's Chinese Affairs Department.

By Chen Lung-chu

"We would prefer to be a small family with self autonomy rather than an abused spouse within a larger family. We want to be the masters of Taiwan, and not of some accessory of Greater China. For the benefit of this generation, and for the next, we have to strive together to establish our own country and our own government."

I wrote this 33 years ago in my book Taiwanese Independence and Establishing a Nation without fear of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of Chiang Kai-shek , whose tyrannical government sought to pressure Taiwan toward unification.

We can look at this from another angle now that we are a modern, multicultural society. Reinterpreting Taiwan's situation will enable us to expand our outlook and find a new foothold from which Taiwan can launch itself into the future.

For the people of Taiwan it is of the utmost importance to cultivate a more international outlook if we are to find a place in the world.

Taiwan is an island state joined to the Asian continent. To the east is the Pacific, the world's largest ocean; to the west and north is the Taiwan Strait that connects with the East China Sea and South China Sea, and to the south we have the Bashi Channel.

Whether you see Taiwan as an island just off China, or see Taiwan more centrally, surrounded by water and other countries, nothing has really changed to any degree. The only thing that has changed is the way we perceive Taiwan.

For a very long time, over half a century of politicized education under the KMT, the majority of Taiwanese have had their thinking manipulated so that they see Taiwan in relation to China.

They believe that for a nation to be strong, for it to be able to deal with other powers on the international stage, it should have a long history, extensive lands, a rich heritage, beautiful scenery and abundant resources. And they view Taiwan as a small country with no alternative but to listen to the dictates of larger ones.

This thinking is flawed, and the current trends of internationalization are moving in the direction of maintaining peace and economic cooperation. A nation's military might and the size of the nation's territory are not the sole indicators of how strong it is.

The strength of a modern nation should be measured on the political, social, economic, technological, educational, cultural and military levels. Nowadays we emphasize the comprehensive and well-rounded development of a nation, particularly in terms of what it means for democratic freedoms and human rights.

Taiwan cannot pretend that it is a large country, but neither does it need to sell itself short as a part of China in order to enjoy the benefits of a stronger nation.

Taiwan is neither big nor small, and we should compare our strengths and weaknesses, not our size, with other countries. We need to compare our democracy and human rights with those of others, not compete with dictators and warmongers.

The boundless ocean stretches out before us, and this should enable us to have an equally boundless vision.

If Taiwan wants to develop into a player on the international stage, we need to affirm our inherent value and spirit and cultivate the ability to see further to replace the traditional mentality of falling into line.

We should see the island of Taiwan as our base and the ocean as a territory over which no one can hold exclusive rights. This is what I mean by looking at Taiwan from a new angle.

In Detention
Illegal Chinese immigrants sit in their rooms at a crowded detention center in Hsinchu yesterday. The Mainland Affairs Council organized an event yesterday to allow the immigrants to phone their relatives in China. The event was held to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on next Tuesday, and was one of the few occasions on which the detainees are allowed to call home.
PHOTO: CHANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES