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President
rejects China's `domestic flights' demand on Aug 18, 2004 President
rejects China's `domestic flights' demand STUMBLING
BLOCK: Beijing's insistence on using the term `domestic routes' for cross-strait
flights is the biggest obstacle to the establishment of links, Chen said By
Huang Tai-lin Taiwan could never
accept China's demand of referring to the proposed air links across the Strait
as "domestic flights," President Chen Shui-bian said yesterday. "China insists, as a pre-condition, that the air links be defined as
`domestic routes,' which is something I cannot accept, and which the Taiwanese
people will also find unacceptable," Chen said at a meeting with
representatives of the Council for Industrial and Commercial Development who
expressed concern over the issue. Chen proposed the term "cross-strait routes," which will allow
both sides to avoid sensitive words such as "international" or
"domestic." Taiwan refers to the opening of trade, postal and transport relations with
China as the "three links." Chen said yesterday that "two and a half" of the three links have
been accomplished, as trade, shipping and postal links have been put into
operation. "The only problem is with air links," Chen said, adding that the
main obstacle was Beijing's insistence on the term "domestic routes." During the meeting, Chen also spoke of his desire to push the "three
normalizations" and "four reforms" as part of an effort to
enhance the country's competitiveness in the international arena. The
"three normalizations" include normalizing cross-strait relations, the
Constitution and the relationship between the Executive Yuan and the Legislative
Yuan. The "four reforms" are concerned with halving the number of
legislative seats, adopting a "single-seat, two-vote" legislative
election system, abolishing the National Assembly and entrenching the right to
hold referendums in the Constitution. Chen said that the government was working on the establishment of a
cross-strait peace development council, which would enact legal guidelines for
the establishment and development of peace across the Taiwan Strait. Concerning the normalization of the relationship between the Executive Yuan
and the Legislative Yuan, Chen said that it would require restructuring the
administration by downsizing the Executive Yuan's divisions. Before meeting Chen at the Presidential Office yesterday, the council
delegation paid a visit to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan.
Council chairman Kuo Tai-chian led the delegation. Chen yesterday urged the group to transcend political bias in the council's
work promoting the nation's economic affairs. "I hope the group will continue presenting valuable economic
suggestions to the government for the welfare of the whole nation and not become
a peripheral organization of certain political parties," Chen said. Meanwhile, Chen said yesterday that his remark that the legislative speaker
should be neutral and not concurrently hold a major post in any political party,
had not been targeted at a specific individual but was aimed at the development
of the country.
John
Kerry, think outside the box By
Chen Mei-chin The US Democratic Party held its convention in Boston, and selected Kerry
and Senator John Edwards as its candidates for the November presidential
election. In the platform that the party adopted, "Our Plan for America:
Stronger at Home, Respected in the World" the convention reiterated the
"one China" policy, re-emphasized the need for a peaceful resolution
(rightly so) and restated the US commitment to provide Taiwan with defensive
arms. Reiterating the worn-out "one China" mantra does not do justice
to the tremendous political transition that Taiwan has gone through during the
past 30 years: three decades ago, there were two regimes claiming to be the
rightful government of China: the Communist regime in Beijing and Chiang Kai-shek's
Chinese Nationalist regime in Taipei. The international community was forced to
make a choice between the two, and recognized Beijing as the government
representing China. Chiang's government obviously did not represent China, and
indeed did not even represent the Taiwanese people. Since then, however, Taiwanese people have brought about human rights and
democracy in Taiwan. Only since 1996 have the people of Taiwan been able to
elect their president. The fundamental difference between 30 years ago and the
present time is that the government in Taipei does not claim to represent China
anymore, but has -- through the democratic process -- established its legitimacy
as the government of Taiwan. This fundamental difference requires a significant shift in US policy --
and the policy of other nations around the world as well: Yes, there is
"one China" -- the PRC with its government in Beijing -- but there is
also "one Taiwan" -- with its government in Taipei -- that deserves
recognition as a full and equal member of the international community. The rulers in Beijing need to realize that the "new" Taiwan is
not its "rival" -- a dimwitted and totally outdated concept which
continues to be perpetuated by newswires such as AP, UPI and Reuters. The
government in Taipei has stated clearly that it wants to live in peace with all
of its neighbors, including China, so it is not China's "rival." The international community needs to realize that Taiwan did not
"split off from China," an equally silly misconception we see written
time and again by AP, UPI and Reuters. Taiwan was not part of China in the first
place: it was a Japanese colony, occupied by the losing side of the Chinese
Civil War, and its people were subjected to some 40 years of martial law. Senator Kerry, Taiwanese people of course favor a peaceful resolution. They
don't want US soldiers to die in a conflict in the Taiwan Strait. But it must be
clear that a peaceful resolution can only be achieved if the US stands firm in
the face of China's aggression. It would be a good first step if you would give
a clear signal to China that its 550 missiles aimed at Taiwan and its
threatening language and military moves are totally unacceptable. The weak-kneed
"strategic ambiguity" as practiced by former president Bill Clinton
will only embolden China's bullying against Taiwan. Thus, something like US
President George W. Bush's "whatever it takes" isn't so bad after all.
But that is not good enough. Senator Kerry needs to adopt some
out-of-the-box thinking. The "status quo" is a dead-end street, which
only perpetuates decades-old hostilities stemming from a Chinese Civil War in
which most Taiwanese people had no part. Taiwan would like the US to go back to the San Francisco Peace Treaty of
1951 to 1952, concluded between the Allied Forces and Japan, when Japan ceded
sovereignty over Taiwan. But it was not decided to whom the sovereignty of the
country was to be given. It was stated that "the future status of Taiwan is
to be determined in due time, in accord with the purposes and principles of the
UN as laid down in the Charter of the UN." Taiwan's international status
was left undetermined. The US -- and other members of the world community -- should keep the
promise made at San Francisco. That treaty was and remains the only
international treaty dealing with Taiwan's status. Any communique concluded
between other governments (including the US and China) without any democratic
representation of the Taiwanese people should in no way have any bearing on the
future of Taiwan. Senator Kerry, you should remain faithful to the basic principles on which
the US was founded and support life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for
the people of Taiwan through normalization of relations between the US and
Taiwan. Many countries will follow your example, and China will come to the
realization that peaceful coexistence between the two nations is in its
interest. Chen
Mei-chin is editor of Taiwan Communique, an international publication
established in Washington.
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