Don't appease China's bullying on Aug 24, 2004

Don't appease China's bullying

In the world of sport, Japan has come up against both Taiwan and China recently, competing against the latter in the Asian Cup soccer and against the former in baseball at the Athens Olympics. The Japanese teams won on both occasions, but the reactions of the Taiwanese and Chinese fans were in complete contrast. Chinese fans, driven by nationalist sentiment, caused riots, while Taiwanese fans recognized the outstanding performance of their rival, but still felt proud of their achievement.

The reactions to the results of these competitions reflect the general attitudes and socialization on the two sides of the Strait. Japan's soccer and baseball teams are clearly stronger than those of Taiwan or China. That is simply a fact, and the Taiwanese people are able to make a rational judgment about this. Although we hope to see Taiwan win, we do not become emotional and irrational if we do not.

However, the Chinese government, the soccer association and the Chinese media have stirred up nationalism among their people. As a result, the public's emotions could hardly be controlled. This led to attacks on the Japanese team's bus and harassment of its fans.

This difference in the two societies is reflected in their contrasting policies and manner of dealing with the cross-strait issue. Due to the power struggle between Chinese President Hu Jintao and former president Jiang Zemin-- who is still the chairman of China's Central Military Commission -- the Chinese leaders have put aside the nation's "peaceful rising," and have adopted a hawkish stance to win the military's support. As a result, Beijing has constantly increased the total number of ballistic missiles deployed along its coastal area targeting Taiwan, boosted its annual military budgets, carried out various military exercises and threatened the island with remarks that it will unify with Taiwan by 2020. China's lack of restraint is making its Asian neighbors uneasy.

Premier Yu Shyi-kun's recent comments in New York about China being a "source of chaos" threatening world peace come as no surprise. Government reports indicate that Chinese surveillance ships sailed close to Japanese territorial waters 14 times last year and seven times this year. This threatening behavior has caused considerable unease in Japan. Surveillance ships have also sailed "numerous times" off Taiwan's east coast. In his speech, Yu pointed out that by pushing its surveillance further into the Pacific Ocean, China aims to break through the encirclement of the island chain that stretches from Japan to Taiwan and the Philippines, to project force directly into the Pacific and directly confront the US there. This is a considerable threat to peace in Asia.

The threat of China's military force is not only Taiwan's problem. It also affects Japan, Korea and southeast Asia. Though they all feel the heat, they can only swallow their anger. Even Singapore has bowed before the punitive diplomatic and economic moves made against it after Lee Hsien Loong visited Taiwan just before taking over as Singapore's prime minister.

If members of the international community, due to their own selfish concerns, continue to allow China to act against its neighbors with impunity, they will be fostering the creation of a tyrannical regime akin to the Nazis.

China's popular sentiment, political structure and military deployments have become a threat to peace and security in Asia. If the international community does not protest Beijing's immoderate language and actions, they will be a party to this ominous development.