20041130

Outspoken Examination Yuan member Lin Yu-tee whipped up a deluge of controversy with his recent contentious remarks about the national history and geography tests in January's basic-level civil servant recruitment examination, and about the nation's founding father. `Taipei Times' staff reporter Ko Shu-ling caught up with the educator-turned-civil servant to shed some light on his statements and way of thinking

Taipei Times: President Chen Shui-bian has publicly endorsed your argument on the national history and geography test, saying that the test on history and geography should not cover China and Mongolia. What are your thoughts on this?

Lin Yu-tee: Basically what he said is just repeating what I've said before. A Chinese saying goes: the saint of the east thinks alike with the saint of the west. I'm not a saint, but President Chen and I do share the same thinking. I didn't know in advance what his stance was on the issue. We think alike because the answer results from logical thinking.

TT: What do you think of the opposition camps daring Chen to enshrine the "one country on either side of the Taiwan Strait" theory in the new constitution he is trumpeting?

Lin: It's a good idea to enshrine the theory in the new constitution, but I'd dare the opposition parties to support such a politically sensitive constitutional reform. It's a highly challenging task, even a mission impossible, for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to push for such constitutional reform, because the opposition parties enjoy the majority in the legislature.

"I'd really hate to say that the president has been fooled by the US government, but what I've seen over the years is that the US government failed to make any efforts to precipitate cross-strait talks."Lin Yu-tee, Examination Yuan member

We know for a fact that China will oppose such reform because it's our enemy. I suspect the US would respect the decision of the Taiwanese people, because democracy is the founding spirit of the US and it's that democratic spirit that wins the respect of the world and keeps it going around.

TT: Do you think Chen would breach the "five noes" promise he made during his inaugural speech in 2000 if the "one country on either side of the Taiwan Strait" policy is eventually enshrined in the new constitution?

Lin: The "five noes" principle has one precondition, and that is China must not have the intention to use military force against Taiwan. President Chen is not bound by the pledge if the premise is breached.

Frankly speaking, I'm not very much pleased with the president's pledge because it's an unnecessary statement. It's like the fabric wrapped around the "golden lotus" feet of Chinese women during the Ching Dynasty: it's not only asphyxiating but also stinky. It doesn't win the appreciation of China and it also disappoints his base supporters.

TT: Don't you think Chen, as the head of state, is obligated to take various complicated elements into consideration during his decision-making process, instead of rushing to a conclusion and pleasing only one particular group?

Lin: I agree. I suspect the US government might have struck a deal with him, pledging to facilitate cross-strait negotiations if he agreed to make the "five noes" promise during his inauguration speech.

I'd really hate to say that the president has been fooled by the US government, but what I've seen over the years is that the US government failed to make any efforts to precipitate cross-strait talks.

Another thing that really upsets me is that the president's inauguration speech has to be approved by the US government. Such a move, in my view, is gravely humiliating to the national dignity.

TT: Before the "one country on either side of the Taiwan Strait" theory is enshrined in the new constitution, do you think it's legitimate to test examinees only on Taiwan's history and geography in January's civil service examination?

Lin: There's no doubt about testing only on Taiwan in the "national" history and geography test, no matter whether the theory is enshrined in the constitution or not.

It doesn't make any sense that the "national" history and geography test should cover China. If the territory of the Republic of China covers China as some have claimed, I'd like to know why the Examination Yuan, the nation's highest examination body, cannot hold national civil service examinations in Beijing for Chinese civil servants? If they cannot answer this question, they should just keep their mouth shut.

TT: The Examination Yuan has made a resolution that the history and geography test in January's civil service examination should follow the "regulations and precedents." What are your thoughts on this?

Lin: Precedents are not binding in nature and some precedents just don't make sense and are illegitimate. If they insist on my following the so-called "precedents," I can always find a way to go around it because I'll just follow the former practices that 100 percent of the questions are about Taiwan.

TT: As the head of January's civil-servant examination committee, could you specify exactly what your plan is regarding the history and geography test in January's exam?

Lin: What I plan to do is quite clear and simple. Unless someone can come up with convincing reasons to counter the plan, I'll forge ahead as planned. In other words, the test of "national" history and geography will cover only Taiwan's history and geography as well as topics related to Taiwan. I welcome anyone to report me to the police if they can prove that I violate any existing law by doing this.

TT: Would you tell the committee members your preferred number of questions on the test?

Lin: The only thing I'll tell them is that the scope of the test must be related to Taiwan. According to the "former practices," there are a total of 80 questions in the test, and all of them are multiple choice. While 40 of them are on civic education, 20 are on national history and the remaining 20 are on national geography.

To be more specific, at least 50 percent of the 40 questions on history and geography should be about Taiwan.

TT: Some have criticized your management style, saying that you've been using the incident to manipulate the media and that you should have remained low-key like your predecessors. What do you think of the criticism?

Lin: I've never ever taken the initiative to contact the media, unlike some Examination Yuan members. I eventually agreed to accept interviews because I was asked by the Secretary's Office to do so.

As head of January's civil servant examination committee, I felt obligated to clear up the confusion so that examinees will know exactly what to expect and how to prepare for the exam. I'd have committed malfeasance if I'd failed to do so, pointed out the mistakes we made and repeated the past. To be honest, I have no idea why I've caused so much media attention. Maybe I have some appealing selli ng points, who knows.

TT: Some have argued that no one has ever had any problem with the national history and geography test over the years until you came aboard. Do you have anything to say to them?

Lin: I have the same question for them: how come no one never had any problem with China's 1,000-year-old monarchy until Sun Yat-sen? (孫中山) Some people are so used to living in mistakes that they don't have the brain to think, or to tell right from wrong. There's nothing shameful about making mistakes, but it's disgraceful if one is unaware of the mistake he makes and intentionally makes the mistake over and over again.

TT: You caused a similar stir last year when you, as the convener of a local civil servant examination committee's history and geography test sub-committee, tested examinees on only Taiwan's history and geography. What do you think of another controversy taking place the same year, by using Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) questions in Chinese literature tests?

Lin: I don't know why the issue of Hoklo questions drew so much criticism, as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) have used Mandarin to test Taiwanese in all civil service exams over the years. Like Taiwanese people learning Mandarin, Hakka and Aboriginal peoples who cried foul over the tests should make efforts to learn Hoklo.

TT: Seeking to settle the year-long controversy, the Examination Yuan later reached a resolution and spelled out a "four noes" principle for future national examinations. What do you think of the decision?

Lin: The decision is nothing but ballocks. Take one of the principles: I agree that it's not suitable to test examinees on knowledge of obscure pieces of classical Chinese literature, but what are the objective standards of "obscure?"

TT: What do you think of the criticism that you're inconsistent in your words and actions?

Lin: I'm a straightforward person and I'm proud of it. It's my candor that got me into trouble, especially during the KMT era.

While it takes a doctorate degreeholder about three years to become a full professor, it takes me 12 years. Everybody knows it's because of political reasons, but what can I do except continue to write and teach? What can a civilian do to stand up against an authoritarian regime?

DIPLOMATIC TUSSLE: The foreign ministry has urged Australia not to be influenced by China and try to exert pressure on Vanuatu over that nation's ties with Taipei
By Huang Tai-lin
STAFF REPORTER
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen yesterday urged Australia not to meddle in the ties between Taiwan and Vanuatu.

"We would like to appeal to the Australian government not to be influenced by China and interfere in Vanuatu's domestic affairs at this time, especially as [Vanuatuan] Prime Minister Serge Vohor is encountering difficulties within the Vanuatuan Cabinet," said Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman Michel Lu , quoting remarks made by Chen.

Since Chen and Vohor signed a diplomatic communique between Taiwan and Vanuatu on Nov. 3 during Vohor's visit to Taipei, China has done everything it could to sabotage the ties, Lu said.

Noting that a wire agency report last Friday said that Canberra had threatened to suspend billions of dollars of aid to Vanuatu unless the South Pacific nation improved its governance and accepted the presence of Australian police and advisers, Lu said "it is hard for one not to believe that there is no association between the move made by Australia and influence from China" to assert pressure on Vanuatu to rescind its recognition of Taiwan.

Lu said Australia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week had sent two representatives to Vanuatu on a mission to convey the Australian government's message.

"During this trip, they urged the island nation to improve governance and to maintain the `one China' policy," Lu said.

Chen summoned Australia's trade representative, Francis Adam-son, last Friday to convey "Taiwan's stern stand" that Canberra should not meddle in ties between Taiwan and Vanuatu.

China has tried to create conflicts within Vanuatu's Cabinet and encourage a no-confidence vote on Vohor, Lu said. He said Beijing has also sent teams, including its former ambassador to Vanuatu, to Port Vila in a bid to sabotage the newly-established diplomatic ties with Taiwan, Lu said.

Beijing had also tried to entice Vanuatu with a proposal to increase its financial aid to Port Vila by US$32 million a year, Lu said.

"Taiwan has no desire nor ability to play the numbers game with China," Lu said, adding that Taipei's establishment of ties with Port Vila was based on Taiwan's genuineness and its sincerity to carry out cooperation projects with Vanuatu.

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Kau is in Vanuatu and keeping a close eye on events there, Lu said, including a meeting scheduled for Thursday when the question of a no-confidence vote in Vohor is to be discussed.

The ministry and diplomats in Vanuatu "will do our best to safeguard our national interests and dignity," Lu quoted Chen as saying.

The flags of the Republic of China (ROC) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) have been flying together in Vanuatu for 26 days now. Vanuatu's maintenance of a diplomatic relationship with both Taipei and Beijing is unprecedented in international diplomacy. Whether this model of dual recognition can be maintained depends on the state of cross-strait tensions.

Vanuatu's Prime Minister Serge Vohor told Taiwan's officials at an informal meeting that he looks forward to maintaining dual recognition of both China and Taiwan. It will be worth noting whether Beijing will tacitly accept the situation or actively oppose it. The key to establishing the "Vanuatu model" was Vohor's declaration that Vanuatu respects the "one China policy," while it also has the right to pursue "one Taiwan policy." He said that Vanuatu is a sovereign and independent country which has the freedom to decide which countries it recognizes. Further, the Vanuatu government and its people have a consensus: recognizing both China and Taiwan and receiving economic aid from both parties best serves its welfare and economic development.

In international business, acknowledging both sides of the Taiwan Strait is the international norm. Most countries have relations with Taiwan. They establish their embassies in Beijing and their economic and trade offices in Taipei. Why isn't this international business model adapted for international politics? The situation resembles that of Israel and Palestine. Many countries don't recognize Palestine, but other countries recognize both Israel and Palestine and use their influence to help maintain the peace. The same goes for pre-unified East and West Germany, and North and South Korea. These are models of co-existence between split countries, with both sides hostile to each other.

When the ROC withdrew from the UN, the US hoped both the ROC and PRC would be members. This hope was dashed by former president Chiang Kai-shek , who rejected co-existence. This established a zero-sum diplomatic model whereby if a country established diplomatic relations with Taipei it was obliged to break its relations with the Beijing, and vice versa. Taiwan's diplomatic thinking has gradually changed in recent years and no longer rejects dual recognition, but China has adamantly tried to restrict Taiwan's international space. When Taiwan established diplomatic relations with Macedonia and created a brief situation of dual recognition, China used its UN Security Council veto to bar UN peacekeepers from that country. This ultimately forced Macedonia to break off diplomatic relations with Taipei.

Taiwan established diplomatic relations with Vanuatu. Since Nov. 3 flags of both the PRC and the ROC have been flying there. This creates new prospects for Taiwan's diplomatic expansion. It remains to be seen if China, too, is looking at the situation in a different way. Vanuatu's dual recognition is a testing ground to see if Taipei and Beijing can put aside a zero-sum war of attrition, arrive at new ways of thinking, and achieve a win-win situation. A successful "Vanuatu model" would contribute enormously toward reducing cross-strait tensions and ensuring peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

By Jewel Huang
STAFF REPORTER
President Chen Shui-bian said yesterday there were too many elections, and that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong have continued to destabilize the nation.

"Lien and Soong have never stopped inciting chaos in Taiwan since they lost the elections in 2000 and in 2004," Chen said. "They never believed in the head of state as rightfully elected by the people."

"And as far as I know, [Lien and Soong] plan to run in the presidential election in 2008," Chen said. "I think it is alright for them to be so ambitious, but I hope they stop causing all this turmoil."

The president also revealed toward the end of his speech plans to reform the law in order to reduce the number of elections. He said there are too many elections, with either a presidential, legislative, county or city council election taking place almost every year. He did not elaborate on the plan. Chen made the remarks in a legislative election campaign rally held in Chiayi County last night, which attracted about 20,000 pan-green supporters.

In the rally, Chen called on voters to use their ballots to wipe out the "three banes of Taiwan" brought by the pan-blue camp over the past three years. He also urged people to give the pan-green camp a chance to govern the country with a majority in the legislature.

The "three banes of Taiwan" include the pan-blue camp's exploitation of its current majority in the legislature to boycott bills proposed by the pan-green camp, which Chen says has blocked as many as 1,200 pieces of legislation. Such a boycott has created an unstable legislature and prevents the country from developing, according to Chen.

Another one of the "banes" is Lien and Soong's stubbornness with regard to the presidential election -- which drove them to encourage their supporters and some legislators to cause disturbances across the nation. The final "bane" was "the canker of the one-party state system," Chen said.

Chen highlighted what he thought were "unjust phenomena" in the nation which needed to be eliminated. He said voting for pan-green legislative candidates would accomplish this aim.

Chen reiterated his vow to step down from the presidency if the pan-greens win a majority in the legislature, but fail to move ahead with this reform agenda.

"I hope that all of you give me a chance and promise me a stable majority legislature," Chen said. "I promise, give me two years and I will govern the country well. Otherwise I would resign from office."

By Antonio Chiang
After President Chen Shui-bian spoke of a "soft coup d'etat," everyone has been rushing around madly looking for evidence either to prove or disprove the accusation. Numerous retired generals have come forward to clarify their position on the issue. Campaign tactics obviously play a part in all of this, but the shock to the military of the whole episode has been educational, and behind this experience hovers the question of nationalization of the military and reform of the national defense system.

Both former president Lee Teng-hui and Chen have had tense relations with the military leadership. The nature of presidential and military leadership places a premium on loyalty. But in terms of their political loyalty and their social backgrounds, they might as well be from different worlds.

The president is the commander-in-chief of the military, and members are all required to swear loyalty to him. But the military and the president continue to be suspicious of each other and seek opportunities to test each other.

When former minister of national defense Tang Yao-ming submitted his resignation immediately after the presidential election, his actions did not seem to meet the criteria of total loyalty to the country, for what the political situation required at the time was for the military to feel secure. As commander-in-chief, it is not difficult to imagine what Chen thought of Tang's action.

Many senior generals who were given their high office by Lee eventually turned against him, including the head of the presidential bodyguard. This set a bad precedent. Some of these generals believed they had a citizen's right to express their political opinion, and since Taiwan is not a fully mature democratic society, a serving four-star officer is able to serve as vice-chairman of a political party.

The participation of military figures in politics still casts a shadow over Taiwan's political scene, and their opposition to Lee and their attitude to Chen have also been a shocking lesson. This shadow that nobody wants to name directly is also present in the US arms sale issue. The political opinions and affiliation of many generals in the military has led the US to be cautious about selling high-tech weapons to Taiwan. The current arms procurement issue has underlined the seriousness of this problem. So when a small number of opposition legislators with close ties to the military come out publicly against arms procurement, the political message they are broadcasting is one that is very detrimental to the military. But looking at the issue calmly, Taiwan already has a solid foundation in the military's nationalization, and the "soft coup" is really just political rhetoric and not really about a coup at all.

The problem lies with a number of senior officers, whose careers were made largely during the period of the one-party state, and whose loyalty to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is considerably greater than to democracy. In contrast, the new generation of officers emphasize professionalism and are far more interested in the reform of the national defense structure.

The three branches of the armed services have different cultures and traditions. They have different characteristics and a degree of chauvinism is unavoidable. But in time of war, the mission and training of the three branches must be closely knit. A practical problem is that very few civil administrators are familiar with national defense issues and there is a lack of common experience and cooperation between military personnel and civilians, although in recent years there have been major improvements.

The military is an independent organization, and so even though the president is the commander-in-chief, he does not necessarily understand military or defense issues or have any professional military advisers. As a result, meetings between the government and the military chaired by the president may not result in meaningful discussion. The commander-in-chief might have power, but he lacks authority, which causes Chen to feels anxious over his command of the armed forces.

Leveling an accusation of a "soft coup" is an expression of this anxiety. Retired generals in the US military often come out and criticize the government, but since they are retired, their status is that of ordinary citizens and they have no influence in the military. Taiwan is not yet so advanced, and the military has not been completely nationalized. But despite this, the level of Taiwan's democratic progress and the standard of its military education are such that the chances of an actual coup d'etat being staged are virtually zero.

Antonio Chiang is a former deputy secretary general of the National Security Council.