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unification
law on Sep 04, 2004 Chen
cautions on unification law By
Huang Tai-lin
President
Chen Shui-bian on Thursday cautioned his constituents to take seriously China's
plans to enact a unification law. "China's
intention to enact a unification law is an attempt to destroy the Taiwan
Strait's peaceful status quo," said Chen, who arrived in Belize on Thursday
for a one-day state visit. Chen made the remark to reporters traveling with him.
During
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Europe in May, Wen said that China may
write a unification law which will serve as the legal basis for using military
force against what China views as separatist movements. "China
is not just saying it, but is actually proceeding to do it," Chen said.
"As a national leader, I want to caution Taiwan's 23 million people to not
to let down their guard on this matter." "People
must not take the issue lightly. Should China actually enact the law it would be
too late for regret," he added. Chen
said "the Unification Law is a draft bill attempting to unify [China with]
Taiwan. To call it the Unification Law is too polite, for it is in essence a
draft bill aimed at using military force. The law attempts to provide a
so-called legal basis for the use of force against Taiwan." "The
aim is not just to make Taiwan a special administrative region and to become a
second Hong Kong, but if people in Taiwan don't accept this, China could refer
to the Unification Law to apply forceful means to attack Taiwan," Chen
said. He added that among the bill's 31 provisions, 11 were stipulations on how
to attack Taiwan. Chen
said that in his view, "the US' Taiwan Relations Act safeguards peace
across the Taiwan Strait, while China's Unification Law undermines the Strait's
peaceful status quo." Noting
that the US and Japan were foes 50 years ago and now are partners, Chen asked
"Why must Beijing go against Taiwan's 23 million people, who are from the
same ethnic background, and disturb cross-strait peace?" Reiterating
the existence of the Republic of China, Chen said that only when China takes the
subject seriously can both sides sit down to talk over issues relating to the
"one China" policy. He
denied that this warning contradicted his recent announcement to cancel the part
of the nation's Han Kuang military drill slated for Sept. 9 as a gesture of good
will toward China. This cancellation followed China's apparent cancellation of
its own military exercises on Dongshan Island, which some interpreted as a
similar expression of good will. "I
have never said that China cancelled its military drill out of good will,"
Chen said. "What I said then was that some had interpreted it that way,
although others had also interpreted it as being a result of infighting among
the Beijing leaders or of pressure from the US. "What
I said was that, regardless of what China's intention was in canceling its
military drill, Taiwan definitely fosters goodwill and is determined and sincere
in pursuing cross-strait cooperation based on the principle of peace," Chen
said.
Chen
says `Taiwan' is best name NATIONAL
TITLE: The president said `Taiwan' is the most precise abbreviated title for the
country, adding his comments to extensive recent debate over the issue By
Huang Tai-lin President
Chen Shui-bian on Thursday said the best abbreviated title for the country is
Taiwan. "A
country's abbreviated title is an important, serious matter," said Chen,
who arrived in Belize on Thursday for a one-day state visit after a three-day
stay in Panama. "I
feel that the best, the most precise and the most factual abbreviated term for
the country is Taiwan," he said. Chen
made the remarks at a gathering with the Taiwanese press corps traveling with
him. Chen
reiterated that the Republic of China (ROC) does exist, despite Beijing's
diplomatic suppression of Taiwan to prevent the use of its formal national title
internationally. "The
ROC used to be in China, then the ROC moved to Taiwan. Now, the ROC is
Taiwan," he said. "I
don't think it is best to refer to the country as `Taiwan, ROC' because it would
cause misunderstandings," added Chen, referring to the term that Premier Yu
Shyi-kun used while giving a speech in Honduras during his recent visit to
Central America. Yu's
use of the term instigated heated debate in the political arena over the
country's national title. "To
insert a comma between Taiwan and ROC somehow more or less caused a deviation
from the facts," Chen told reporters. He
said that the punctuation implied a different meaning and thus he felt "the
term Taiwan, ROC is not the most optimal option" for referring to the
country. Noting
that even within Taiwan there are people who do not know what "ROC"
stands for, the president said that foreigners are also often not aware of what
the abbreviation "ROC" refers to. "`ROC'
is also the abbreviated title for the Republic of Congo [and] the Republic of
Chile," he said. "The
ROC is Taiwan, Taiwan is the ROC. When we say Taiwan, there is no one who does
not know where Taiwan is," Chen said. "The more often we use it, the
more it becomes clear to people." Taking
the Olympic Games in Athens as an example, Chen said that although the country
was referred to as "Chinese Taipei" at the event, Taiwan should not
lose its confidence and address itself by the same term domestically. "Sometimes
it is us who create problems for ourselves," Chen said. "Why make it
so complicated when we can call our team ... Taiwan. We ought to have confidence
that we are Taiwan." Turning
to constitutional issues, Chen stressed that the reform the government was
undertaking would -- as he had said in his inauguration speech on May 20 -- not
touch upon the issues of national territory, sovereignty, unification and
independence that have yet to obtain majority consensus among the public. During
the gathering Chen also said that he had received a call from Academia Sinica
president Lee Yuan-tseh before he left for Central America. Chen
said that Lee had mentioned to him that "to Taiwan, how to place the `ROC'
is its biggest dilemma, whereas to China, whether to recognize the ROC is its
biggest." Saying
that Lee would not call him on the eve of his diplomatic trip and mention the
issue for no reason, Chen said that it was a "serious issue that needs to
be pondered on and paid attention to." "Only
when China takes seriously the fact that the ROC exists can both sides of the
Strait sit down together and discuss the `one China' issue," the president
said. In
response to Chen's statement that the term "Republic of China"
resulted in misunderstandings, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien
Chan said it was Chen himself who creates such misunderstanding. "Misunderstanding
exists because Chen's words create misunderstanding," Lien said yesterday. He
added that since there were so many domestic problems that had to be solved,
Chen should concentrate on domestic policy and not on issues of political
wordplay. In
response to reporters' questions, PFP legislative caucus whip Liu Wen-hsiung
added yesterday that "the Republic of China is the Republic of China."
The
real issue is not Taiwan's name, but rather the strength of Taiwan's political
position, he said. additional reporting by Caroline Hong
Drop
old office title, group asks By
Jewel Huang
The
Alliance to Campaign for Rectifying the Name of Taiwan yesterday called on the
Presidential Office to change the sign hung on the Presidential Office
Building's entrance from Chiehshou Hall to Presidential Office to make the
building worthy of its genuine name. The
alliance members yesterday brought a large homemade sign reading Presidential
Office to the Presidential Office Building. The
alliance's director, Peter Wang, said that the name Chiehshou Hall was a
pernicious influence left by autocrat Chiang Kai-shek that should be eliminated
in a democratic era. Wang
said that one renovation of the Presidential Office Building concluded in 1949,
which coincided with Chiang's 60th birthday. The renovated building was renamed
Chiehshou, a term used to express birthday wishes of longevity. Wang
said the name Chiehshou Hall symbolized that the office was one of Chiang's
numerous personal villas and halls. "People
should eliminate the myth that the country was supposed to belong to a certain
party or a certain family, because Taiwan has had three direct presidential
elections since 1996," Wang said. Renovation
of the Presidential Office Building will be completed before Oct. 10, Wang said,
so this is a good opportunity to scrap the Presidential Office's old name. The
alliance asked Secretary-General of the Presidential Office Su Tseng-chang to
accept the tablet, but Su did not appear because of other business. Presidential
Office public relations chief Mary Chen accepted the alliance's sign and said
she would pass the group's suggestion on to Su for further action.
US
must be firm in its support for Taiwanese By
Chen Ching-chih Employing
political and economic leverage, Beijing has pressured other countries such as
Singapore and Australia not to side with Taiwan if China attacks. It
is no wonder that the Taiwan Strait has emerged, in the opinion of some
analysts, as Asia's most dangerous flashpoint. Taking advantage of the US
preoccupation with Iraq, the emboldened Beijing government has warned the US
that it will pay a high price if it were to assist Taiwan militarily when China
attacks the island. The
brazen threat appears to have succeeded in weakening the will of some US leaders
in their support for Taiwan. The
most telling sign of such a change of heart is the Democratic Party's failure to
reaffirm its 2000 party platform pledge to support Taiwan in accordance with the
Taiwan Relations Act during its recent convention in Boston. Since
its adoption in 1979, the Taiwan Relations Act has been instrumental in
preserving peace and stability in the Strait. The
law's important security provisions have been reiterated and reaffirmed by the
US congressional resolutions on many occasions. The
executive branch has also faithfully abided by the law. For
example, former US president Bill Clinton dispatched two aircraft carrier battle
groups to local waters shortly after China launched missiles over the country in
the early spring of 2000. And,
in his effort to make crystal clear the US position, President George W. Bush
publicly pledged "to do whatever it takes to help Taiwan defend
itself" in April 2001 and approved the sale of major defensive weapons to
Taiwan. The
US has paid dearly for occasional ambiguity in its post-WWII foreign policy. It
was the US' uncommitted position on the defense of South Korea in the late 1940s
that emboldened Communist North Korea to invade South Korea in June1950. And
again it was the same ambiguity that emboldened former president Saddam
Hussein's Iraq to attack Kuwait in August 1990. To
insure peace and stability in the Strait, the US therefore cannot afford to be
ambiguous. A
bellicose China is a threat to peace and stability in East Asia as well as to
democratic Taiwan. Alarmed
by China's military build-up, Russia and Japan, for example, have joined the US
in opposing the EU's proposed lifting of their arms sales ban on China, a
sanction imposed on Beijing after China's use of force to crush pro-democracy
protests in Tiananmen Square in June 1989. Japan's
steady move to upgrade its self-defense forces and strengthen its military ties
with the US is also a logical response to the rising military power of its
increasingly nationalistic and major Asian rival. In
short, China can only be dissuaded from attacking Taiwan when it knows for sure
that the US is unambiguous on the issue of aiding Taiwan. With
the planned US redeployment of ground troops in Asia and Europe, the Beijing
decision-makers might be inclined to misjudge US determination in protecting its
national interest overseas, particularly in Asia. It
is thus essential that the US is not ambiguous in its stand to defend Taiwan. It
is consequently reassuring to learn that the Republican Party adopted on Aug. 30
a party platform in which it made unmistakably clear that the US will aid Taiwan
in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act if it is attacked by China. Chen
Ching-chih is professor emeritus of history at Southern Illinois University at
Edwardsville.
`UNfair'
ads are spot-on I
usually concur with Vice President Annette Lu on most issues, but I find her
analysis of the "UNfair" ads that are now appearing in New York City a
little off the mark ("Annette Lu says New Yorkers can't understand
ads," Sept. 1, page 3). I
arrived back in Taiwan from Bangkok after a month away, and saw the ad from a
bus window. It immediately cut through the clutter and seized my attention. I
only had four or five seconds and the ad's full meaning regarding the injustice
of Taiwan's continued exclusion from the UN hit me very powerfully. It's a
superb piece of issues-oriented advertising. I used to teach a university course
on the semiotics of modern advertising and I wouldn't be surprised if this one
wins awards. The black "UN" script stands out, you immediately think
"United Nations," then the "fair," in another color, leads
you to read "unfair," which is precisely the point that needs to be
made. The
other ad, which I saw in the paper, calls attention to the usual conflation of
Taiwan with China in the world today, consistent with the People's Republic of
China's "one China" dogma. The ad questions this by placing the words
"Authoritarian China" against a red background above the words
"Democratic Taiwan" against a green background; between the two fields
is a does-not-equal symbol. This arrangement of text is quite effective. Democratic
states need to begin questioning UN practices. The flagrant injustice of the
UN's exclusion of Taiwan should be addressed. The UN should also be taken to
task on other issues: its scapegoating of Israel, its willingness to turn away
from African genocides, its collusion with the former Iraqi regime in the
oil-for-food scam. The list goes on and on. I
don't believe the ads engage in UN-bashing. They draw much-needed attention to
how the UN is being compromised and misused by certain states. I
applaud these ads and their message. Stephen
Carter Taichung
The
"UNfair" ads in New York are plenty clear to anyone with a decent
grasp of US ad practices. As a five-year resident of New York, I cannot imagine
anyone here reading these ads and being confused about their point. Moreover,
as a long-term American supporter of Taiwan, I believe it is urgent that steps
be taken now to bring the Taiwan issue to the front of Americans' consciousness.
With both political parties cozying up to Beijing in their actions, if not in
their words, Taiwan must do something now to make sure every American knows
about the issue of Taiwan's freedom. It will be too late to convince the
American people to support Taiwan after the People's Liberation Army takes the
streets of Taipei. Jeff
Soules New
York
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