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Republican convention on Sep 02, 2004 Arms
sales to Taiwan `an obstacle' to US-China ties US
arms sales to Taiwan are the main obstacle to developing Sino-US relations and
should be re-examined if ties are to make progress, a senior Chinese official
was quoted as saying yesterday. Chinese
Vice-Foreign Minister Zhou Wenzhong said other obstacles are the
"politicization" by the US of human rights issues and its interference
in Hong Kong's internal affairs. "These
issues have created impediments to the growth of Sino-US relations," the China
Daily quoted Zhou as saying to 70 experts and academics from China and the
United States at a conference. He
also said the US presidential election had complicated the momentum of Sino-US
relations, without specifying what he meant. On
Monday President George W. Bush's Republican party warned that the US would not
tolerate any Chinese military moves against Taiwan. It also expressed
"profound disagreements" over China's human rights record. Zhou,
in charge of affairs relating to the Americas, Oceania, Hong Kong and Taiwan,
said arms sales would not only seriously undermine Sino-US ties but harm the
interests of the US. "We're
especially concerned about the sales of large quantities of advanced weapons to
Taiwan and enhancement of military ties between the United States and
Taiwan," he said. "In
so doing, Taiwan independence forces will be emboldened to go down the road to
Taiwan's independence as far as possible." "Currently,
what is most important for the United States is to translate into reality its
commitment to the one-China policy and opposition to Taiwan's independence. In
particular to stop upgrading relations with Taiwan and selling it advanced
weapons," Zhou said. Zhou
was addressing the China Reform Forum, a think-tank of China's Central Party
School and the US Rand Corporation, a non-profit research organization. He
quoted late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's remarks on Taiwan, saying that if the
issue was mishandled, it "could become an explosive issue, and the Chinese
people cannot and will not swallow such a bitter pill."
Henry
Lee harms own reputation and probe By
Chin Heng-wei Forensic
scientist Henry Lee has completed his report on the March 19 assassination
attempt on President Chen Shui-bian. But before its release, he has already been
talking to the media in New York, revealing some of his conclusions. Can this
report give us the truth about what happened on March 19? It seems unlikely. Lee
publicly stated that his report is wholly based on evidence, but the the
evidence so far has been insufficient. Lee has consistently said that politics
would not influence his investigation, but he also insisted that the shooting
was not an assassination attempt on the president and vice president. His reason
for that conclusion is that had it been an assassination attempt, the shooter
would have used a more powerful weapon. Are
these conclusions from evidence in Lee's supposed "investigation," or
deductions based on his personal experience? In departing so much from the rules
of evidence, he is in danger of losing his standing as a forensic expert by
entering the biased arena of politics. First,
Lee did not make clear what he meant by "political assassination."
Surely any violence directed against the president or vice president is
"political"? And shooting at either of these persons -- whether the
assassination is successful or not -- must surely constitute an attempt at
"political assassination"? So in denying that the March 19 shooting
was a political assassination attempt, what is Lee's proof? By being so unclear
he provides further ammunition for endless political debate over the incident
and makes it more difficult to discover what actually happened. Second,
Lee stated even before the investigation that the shooting was not a
"political assassination" attempt. Now, after his
"investigation," he remains fixed in this opinion. This leads us to
ask whether an expert investigation was even required. Much time, effort and
money has been spent but ultimately the report has done nothing to settle
matters. In
making this "political judgment" Lee has left his realm of expertise
and shown his naivety. If Lee said that the caliber of the handmade gun was not
powerful enough to make the shooting an assassination, then do we even need to
consider whether it was politically motivated or not? To
say that the weapon was insufficiently powerful is a purely subjective judgement,
and it still needs to be proven. According to the chief medical officer of the
Chi Mei Hospital who treated Chen, the president came within a few millimeters
of suffering a serious or even fatal injury. Clearly the weapon was powerful
enough to kill the president, and the only reason it failed was good fortune. Lee
also said that the assassin must have had some experience and knowledge of guns
and bullet design. In other words, he was a professional. To hit Chen, who was
traveling in a motorcade, was no easy matter, and to call this person a
"pro" is probably an understatement. Also, by rejecting the use of a
conventional weapon and opting for a modified one for such an assignment, he was
clearly showing his exceptional skill. By
making Lee misjudge him, the assassin has succeeded with a modern version of the
burglar Arsene Lupin outsmarting supersleuth Sherlock Holmes. I
have nothing to say against Lee's expertise in his field. But now that he has
stepped into the arena of political commentary, the holes in his argument are so
obvious that he is damaging his professional reputation. He can do what he likes
with his reputation -- but it is a far more serious matter to muddy the waters
of this important investigation. Chin
Heng-wei is editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine. Translated
by Ian Bartholomew
China
should trust Taiwan's goodwill President
Chen Shui-bian suddenly cancelled an annual live-fire military exercise on his
way to Panama and Belize on Tuesday. The drill, the final part of the Hankuang
No. 20 exercise, was originally set for Sept. 9 in southern Taiwan. According to
Chen, there are signs that China's troops are withdrawing from Dongshan Island,
where they had planned to hold a military exercise in early September.
Therefore, he decided to cancel the drill to show Taiwan's goodwill, even though
the Chinese government has not confirmed their military withdrawal. Later,
when visiting Pearl Harbor during his stopover in Hawaii, he gave an unscripted
talk in which he cited the Pacific theater of World War II as an example. He
said that the US and Japan were in fact enemies half a century ago, but they are
friends today. He also said that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should learn
from this great example. Indeed,
the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941 triggered the Pacific War, and the historical
wound caused by the two atomic bombs also exists. But after half a century, the
US and Japan are already military and diplomatic partners working to maintain
peace and stability in the western Pacific region. This development proves that
no conflict in the international community cannot be resolved. The
following day, the issue with the repatriation of illegal Chinese immigrants
that has been left in limbo since the presidential election in March was
resolved. Through Taiwan's and China's Red Cross organizations, China accepted
the return of 178 illegal immigrants from Taiwan, and returned five Taiwanese
criminals to Taiwan. In a statement, the Mainland Affairs Council said China
plans to receive yet another group of illegal immigrants on Sept. 10. After a
long period of tense relations across the Taiwan Strait, even such a small
easing of tension is enough to be exciting. China
has for a long time posed a military threat to Taiwan, and it keeps around 600
missiles aimed at Taiwan along its southern coast, forcing Taiwan to find ways
to defend itself -- partly through R&D and arms purchases, partly by
strengthening its military. Apart
from having missiles aimed at Taiwan, the People's Liberation Army's exercise on
Dongshan Island is clearly targeted at Taiwan. Dongshan Island is located in the
southern part of the Taiwan Strait, only 181km from the Penghu islands and 307km
from Kaohsiung. The exercise mainly consists of simulated landings and clearly
mimics the capture of Penghu. The
people of Taiwan normally repay one good deed with another, which means that if
your opponent gives you a gift, you have to give him something in return. Chen's
initiative in responding to the military retreat from Dongshan Island serves to
further underline Taiwan's goodwill. If China does not pose a military threat to
us, there is no need for us to strengthen our military. We
sincerely hope that the warmth being shown across the Strait recently is an
indication of a more constructive relationship, rather than one-off incidents. China
should build greater confidence in the goodwill of nations made up of the same
race and speaking the same language. Once China and Taiwan put aside enmity and
choose to engage in the spirit of friendship, they could become the strongest
allies in the Western Pacific. We also hope that China will understand the
Taiwanese way of doing things, namely that we will repay one good turn with
another, so that Taiwan might eventually become China's closest friend.
Taiwan
has Swedish friends Johan
Pehrson, Chairman of the parliament justice committee, and Axel Darvik, Mia
Franzen, Karin Granbom, Anna Gronlund-Krantz, Tobias Gronlund-Krantz, Torkild
Strandberg, Cecilia Wigstrom, members of parliament As
Liberal Party parliamentarians from Sweden visiting Taiwan, we are learning that
there are worries here that some European political leaders are more interested
in selling weapons to China than in supporting democracy in Taiwan. We would
like to assure the Taiwanese people that there are European politicians
sympathetic to their situation and vehemently opposed to any loosening up of the
EU embargo banning weapons exports to China. It
is no secret that the French government, one of the most influential in the EU,
has not only been pushing to abolish the arms embargo, but has held joint fleet
exercises with the Chinese in the Pacific. We recognize that it is in every
nation's interest to enjoy good relations with China, but the attitude taken by
the French government on this issue exposes a lack of understanding of the
perils and threats posed by a huge authoritarian state armed with modern
weapons. These weapons can and will be used to threaten, pacify and oppress the
Chinese and Taiwanese people. The misjudgement by some European politicians of
the dangers of emboldening Chinese expansionism must be resisted. Therefore,
our party regularly brings up the Taiwan issue for debate and pressures the
Swedish government to protest Chinese hardline policies. Additionally, liberals
in the European parliament constantly oppose the policies, from either left or
right, to unnecessarily bow to Chinese pressure. The
Swedish parliament has a Taiwan friendship association numbering 20 percent of
all legislators, with members from the government coalition, including the
long-ruling social democrats. Members of the association take notice of and
bring into the public arena any Swedish government action which is excessively
accommodating to China's expansionism or fails to constructively push to expand
Taiwan's international space and participation. It
is a historical fact that democracies have never waged war against other
democracies. We believe that a democratization of China will definitely secure
peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Democracies thus need to pursue a
responsible policy of a good, stable and growing political and economic
relationship with China to facilitate that nation's transition to democracy. Taiwan's
success is a natural model for the rest of Asia to emulate in both politics and
economics. Taiwan has our admiration for its stubborn perseverance in liberty
and democracy and we will continue to push for Taiwan's legitimate interests
internationally whenever we can.
Dr.
Lee, I don't agree John
Napiorkowski I
was stunned to hear a supposed "professional, world renowned"
investigator repeat his conclusion that the presidential shooting was not a
political assassination. His reason: the gun was not one that a political
assassin would use. Did Dr. [Henry] Lee ever consider that perhaps the party
behind the shooting (let's say China, for argument's sake) may have used this
particular weapon to make it look less like a textbook political assassination? If
a professional weapon was used (and discovered to be such), does he not think
that China would be looked at more suspiciously by the US and the rest of the
world? Let's go one step further. If that bullet went an inch more to the left
and [President] Chen [Shui-bian] was killed and it was found that a
"political assassin's weapon" was used, serious momentum would be
created for an unwanted conflict in the Taiwan Strait. However, what Dr. Lee
fails to contemplate (publicly at least) is that if Chen was killed by this
homemade gun, China would have its cake and could eat it too -- without any
indigestion whatsoever. I don't question Dr. Lee's integrity -- I question his
impartiality.
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