20041211

Twenty-five years ago, a group of death-defying tang-wai (outside the party) democracy activists organized a large demonstration in Kaohsiung City to call for democracy and freedom in Taiwan and demand that the government end martial law, lift the ban on establishing new newspapers, end the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion and allow a comprehensive re-election of the legislature. Treating the demonstration as a riot, the government suppressed it and sent many of the participants to prison. It became a turning point for democracy in Taiwan -- the Kaohsiung Incident.

Today, 25 years later, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has returned to the site to hold another demonstration. The past democratic demands have now been implemented, making up the backbone of Taiwan's legal and political system. The tang-wai group founded the DPP and has now moved into government, and Chen Shui-bian -- at the time one of the defense lawyers for the participants in the demonstration -- has become president. The persecutor, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), has splintered into the KMT, the People First Party (PFP), and the New Party and moved into opposition.

Has the passage of time brought full social justice? No. The KMT is still sitting on over NT$10 billion in party assets resulting from the party's past direct access to the national treasury, and it is still in possession of many media outlets and several enterprises that enjoy special privileges. Lien Chan and James Soong , both numbered among the persecutors at the time of the Kaohsiung Incident, remain securely in charge of the KMT and the PFP, and the pan-blue camp still holds a legislative majority, engaging in uninterrupted interference with the government's policies, preventing it from governing fully. The last mile on the road toward democracy in Taiwan still lies ahead, and must be completed by its people.

Today, while standing in front of the ballot box, block out the noise of campaigns. Ignore the various deceptive statistics, vote allocation, and the dump-save strategy. Ignore the politician's tricks of "weeping, kneeling and buying votes," and think about which of the politicians in your district has stood out. Whose face do you remember? Whose political background and policy proposals have touched your heart? If you do not have a candidate in mind, then carefully consider the path traveled by democracy in Taiwan, the development of human rights, the contributions of the DPP and the role played by the KMT.

Think about how your life has been in recent years. If it hasn't matched your expectations, is this because the government hasn't worked hard enough on your behalf? Or is it because of obstruction of the government's policies, which has made progress very difficult? In the future, do you want a government that can really rule, or do you want a continuation of a situation in which the government is blocked by a powerful opposition? Do you want a future in which Taiwan consciousness will be emphasized? Or do you want to see Taiwan more and more reliant on China?

The answer should be clear. Taiwan needs a government that is in step with the wishes of the people, that is both efficient and has clear lines of accountability. If this is what we want, then give the green camp a clear majority.

By Joy Su
STAFF REPORTER
China needs to get used to the inner workings of a democratic nation, Taiwan's top cross-strait policymaking body said on the eve of today's election.

"Chinese authorities need to get used to the idea of Taiwanese governance," MAC Vice Chairman Johnnason Liu said during a press conference yesterday. "They need to know that Taiwan is a democratic nation and as such our leaders are democratically elected. There is no room for them to choose which leader they prefer or express who they like."

Liu also echoed MAC Chairman Joseph Wu, saying that if a pan-green majority is secured in the legislature during today's elections, it would be a move towards securing stability and promoting cross-strait ties.

However, Liu warned that no matter what the results of the election, it is important that China learns to accept the outcome of the democratic process.

"Whoever is elected is democratically elected, and [China] must face it," Liu said. "This should be common practice. You cannot control the outcome or choose whom you prefer."

The election results will be closely watched by cross-strait officials as it is expected that China will clarify its stance on talks regarding charter flights for the Lunar New Year after the election results are in. While Liu refrained from commenting on whether a pan-blue majority or a pan-green majority would be most conducive to expediting negotiations on cross-strait flights, he reiterated the need for China to work with whoever the democratic process put into power.

In addition, with the Lunar New Year gradually drawing near, Liu elaborated on the time needed to take care of the technical details of flights. He refrained however from giving an absolute deadline after which chartered flights would not be a viable option.

"If we model routes and flights on those used the first time cross-strait chartered flights were offered, it would take the least amount of time. If however, we choose to allow carriers from both Taiwan and China to make direct flights both ways, there would be a considerably larger number of concerns to think about. It would take more time," Liu said.

"Of course, we hope to establish flights as soon as possible for the convenience of China-based Taiwanese businesspeople who are eager to book flights to Taiwan at an early date," Liu said.

"Thus far, China's response has come across differently at different times," Liu said, saying that the council would wait for a clarification following the elections.

Johnnason Liu, MAC vice chairman

DIFFICULTIES: Taiwan's representatives posted across the globe came together to talk shop, and backed Chen's plans to use `Taiwan' in the names of their offices abroad
By Melody Chen
STAFF REPORTER

Eight representatives or directors of the nation's overseas representative offices yesterday shared with the media the country's many diplomatic challenges -- including the EU's proposed removal of an arms embargo on China, the establishment of an ASEAN-China free trade area and the proposed change to the names of representative offices to include "Taiwan."

The representatives and directors, returning from France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Switzerland and the US, are attending courses designed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss these issues in the context of the ongoing global diplomatic struggle with China.

Chiou Jong-nan , representative to France, said although China hopes the EU will lift its arms embargo by June, it would find the goal difficult to achieve because of opposition from a number of EU nations.

"French President Jacques Chirac spearheaded the call for lifting the ban on China. Our representative office in France has explained to the French government Taiwan's stance on the issue through all kinds of channels," Chiou said during a tea party with reporters.

"We told the French government that China's human rights record remains shaky," Chiou said. "If the EU removes the weapons embargo, some people may be led to think that somehow the EU supports China using force against Taiwan. Lifting the ban will also threaten stability in the Asia-Pacific region."

Nevertheless, France told the representative office that its support for removing the arms embargo is a political decision.

"They said the decision is part of its global security strategy and an important move to build up its strategic partnership with China," Chiou added.

Despite France's adamant backing for China on the issue, the representative said most countries in Eastern Europe opposed lifting the ban.

Wayne Wu, representative to Malaysia, said he is deeply concerned about the impact of China's economic integration with ASEAN on Taiwan.

"Last year, the bilateral trade volume between Taiwan and Malaysia reached US$7.8 billion, whereas trade volume between China and Malaysia amounted to US$20.1 billion," Wu said.

Taiwan's trade with Malaysia will definitely be affected after the ASEAN-China free trade area is established.

"Exchanges between Malaysia and China are vibrant," Wu said. "Malaysia has great expectations of the vast market opportunities that China offers."

The government is studying the possibility of signing a free trade agreement with Malaysia, but the actual progress in negotiating a trade pact with Malaysia is "limited," Wu acknowledged.

Commenting on President Chen Shui-bian's plan to change the names of the country's overseas missions to Taiwan, the representatives said the government was right to make a distinction between Taiwan and China.

"It is the representative offices' responsibility to implement the government's policy ... For the dignity of our nation, I always introduce myself as `ambassador from Taiwan,'"said Henry Chen , representative to Ireland.

Matthew Lee , director of the representative office in San Francisco, said most overseas Taiwanese prefer the office to use "the Republic of China" in its title, but "Taiwan" is an acceptable alternative.

MAJORITY NEEDED: Chen told a visiting US congressman that if the pan-green camp wins a majority today, the US arms package bill will pass as soon as February
By Huang Tai-lin
STAFF REPORTER
If the pan-green camps win a majority in today's legislative elections, the special arms budget needed to purchase a US$18 billion weapons package will pass in the first session convened by the new legislature in February, President Chen Shui-bian yesterday.

Chen made the remarks while receiving Steve Chabot, a Republican congressman from Ohio and co-chairman of the pro-Taiwan US Congressional Taiwan Caucus, at the Presidential Office yesterday.

Defying expectations, however, Chen didn't touch upon issues relating to Taiwan's name-rectification plan for its oversea missions and state-run enterprises during his meeting with Chabot.

While extending his congratulations again on US President George W. Bush's re-election victory, Chen told Chabot that he hopes that after ballots are cast in today's legislative elections, he will -- like Bush's ruling Republican Party -- enjoy a stable majority in the new legislature which will help improve the nation's governance.

Chen then noted his recent vow to the public that once the pan-green camp wins a majority in the new legislature, he will invite leaders from all sectors to join the Committee for Cross-strait Peace and Development, and push for a reopening of cross-strait negotiations so that the two sides can engage in a dialogue for permanent cross-strait peace and stability.

Chabot also met with Vice President Annette Lu yesterday morning at the Presidential Office. Lu told Chabot that Chen's proposal to rectify the name of Taiwan's state-owned enterprises was not one made out of political concern but out of a desire to distinguish these enterprises from Chinese companies.

Chabot responded that he supports Taiwan's name-rectification and he believes Taiwan's future should be decided by its 23 million people and should not be determined by anyone else.

Prior to his visit to Taiwan Thursday night, Chabot and the other Congressional Taiwan Caucus co-chairmen wrote a letter to Chen expressing their support for Taiwan's plan to rectify the name of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the US to the Taiwan Representative Office in the US. The office is Taiwan's de facto embassy in the absence of formal diplomatic ties between the two countries.

In the letter, Chabot said that a new name for the office that includes the word "Taiwan" would better reflect the characteristics of the government in Taiwan, and that he will do whatever he can to facilitate the name-change effort.

AP , TOKYO
In a shift away from its post-World War II pacifism, Japan's government overhauled its defense guidelines yesterday, easing an arms exports ban and singling out North Korea and China as security threats.

The plan, approved in a morning Cabinet meeting, also called for Japan to participate in international peacekeeping missions and underscored Tokyo's efforts to play a global security role that better matches its economic strength.

It also fit with Japan's decade-long effort to increase security cooperation with the US. The pro-US government on Thursday approved a one-year extension of the military's humanitarian mission in Iraq.

The government on Friday eased its longtime ban on arms exports to allow it to develop a missile defense program with the US. The new guidelines also cited the threats posed by North Korean missiles, China's military buildup and terrorism.

"This is about ensuring security and dealing with new threats as the times change," Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters.

Acknowledging the budget pressures Japan will face as its population rapidly ages, however, the guidelines call for cutting the number of ground forces and tanks. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Thursday approved a 3.7 percent cut in defense spending.

Pyongyang became one of Tokyo's biggest security worries after it test-fired a long-range ballistic missile over Japan in 1998, prompting Tokyo to begin researching missile defense. Pyongyang also has an active nuclear weapons development program.

Japan has maintained an arms export ban since 1976. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said, however, that the government would make exceptions to pursue missile defense with Washington because of the contribution this would make to the Japan-US security alliance and Japan's own national security.

Critics have raised concerns about the slow erosion to the pacifist society Japan has built since it adopted its current war-renouncing constitution after World War II.

The opposition Social Democratic Party, one of the smallest parties in Parliament, criticized the government for removing self-imposed controls on military development.

"This plan reorganizes and strengthens the military around the pillars of modernization and greater power," the party said in a statement.

The guidelines also vowed to maintain the current policy of not possessing nuclear weapons, not making them and not allowing them into Japan, which was the only country to have been attacked with nuclear weapons, in 1945.

The guidelines underscore Japan's willingness to participate in peacekeeping, but troops will still have to adhere to the constitutional ban on using force to resolve international disputes. In more dangerous areas, as in Iraq, they will likely be limited to humanitarian work while leaving policing to other countries.

The new defense outline, which covers the nine years after 2005, also singles out China as a security concern, pointing out that Beijing has expanded the range of its military activities at sea and has been modernizing its naval and air force.

``It does not mean that we consider China a threat,'' Hosoda said at a news conference.

Many Taiwan watchers here in Washington, having miscalculated on the last election in March, are now more humble in guessing the results of the legislative elections. The majority of those who are willing to do so lean toward a modest majority by the pan-green camp.

There is, however, concern by many observers that the present administration in Taiwan might see this as a mandate to act on issues that are of great importance to many of the leaders in the ruling party, but would inevitably raise tensions with China to a very high level.

I do not believe this will be the case. Whatever issues are pursued, China will inevitably voice its ire and press the international community to make clear their concern to the US and Taiwan. They will have little basis for doing so, however, as the Taiwanese leadership, domestic difficulties notwithstanding, will pursue its national interest, ie, strengthen its relations with America, make efforts at beginning a dialogue with China and reform its institutions to meet today's challenges.

What generates concern and doubt about the direction President Chen Shui-bian's administration wants to take in Taiwan?

One has to begin with the possible reaction from China. On the one hand it is strengthening its influence throughout the world, and on the other it has more constraints in how to deal with Taiwan. The issue is not just a legal matter, or even just a political one, but it deals with China's own self-imposed national dignity as well. Thus, reaction is more uncertain, while its consequences go far beyond simply a cross-strait matter.

Other concerns are based on Taiwan's domestic situation. The experience of the recent presidential election campaign continues to linger in the minds of Washington officials and academics. In retrospect, one could have expected that Taiwan's democratic presidential election campaigns would inevitably come to include controversial issues relevant to the cross-strait relationship.

The experience can also be seen as a useful warning for both the US and Taiwan, indicating that a continuous dialogue between the two is vital. The current campaign for legislative seats has shown that communications has improved, but it is also beginning to show that foreign involvement in internal affairs of another country, no matter how close and friendly it might be, needs to be dealt with prudently, by both sides.

So must the understanding of the countries that are Taiwan's friends. The tensions that have developed not just this past year or two, but well into the last decade as Taiwan's democratization has developed, are in large measure a result of that democratization. In the people's democracy that exists in Taiwan, political leaders cannot be expected to "maintain a low profile" to appease adversaries on matters so vital to the electorate. For the elected leader of Taiwan, that would be political suicide. That does not mean he or she does not need to be prudent, but does mean its people must be informed.

Another reason for concern for Taiwan's immediate future is the ruling party's fundamental objectives for gaining independence, and the risks this involves if carried out.

The concern is not based only on campaign rhetoric, but also on the generation now in power, many of whom lived and made sacrifices under a regime that insisted Taiwan must be a part of China (though not under Beijing's present system).

Another concern is that a ruling party with both control of the Executive Yuan and a majority in the Legislative Yuan might create instability.

In China, it is quite understandable that it opposes anything that in any way strengthens Taiwan's ability to govern itself. In Taiwan, it is quite understandable that the opposition will criticize anything that will strengthen the ruling party's ability to govern well. But why might there be opposition coming from the US?

Over the years after 1979, there was an implicit understanding that Taiwan would conduct its external affairs in a low-key manner.

That became unsustainable with the transformation of its political system to a democracy. The absence of any meaningful way to overcome this development has inevitably led to fundamental but sensitive issues being debated publicly in election campaigns in Taiwan.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has a platform that explicitly advocates independence with no mention of how this could be accomplished peacefully. Coming to a complete consensus domestically on what these objectives are, and how best to pursue them, is still being debated.

Given America's commitments and interests in this matter, inevitably this causes concern. It is in the interest of both the US and Taiwan that mutual trust be fully regained, and a better understanding of where each side's objectives hope to go.

As is the case in democratic Taiwan, in America there are many voices heard on almost any subject. What is heard most in the media are the think tank experts and academics, the majority of whom are wary of a DPP-led government and legislature.

Government voices on the subject come primarily from the US State Department, the US Defense Department, and the National Security Council (White House). Each has a somewhat different view, but publicly hold to administration positions and tend to accept the commitments made by Taiwan.

My reason for believing that Chen would not lead the country toward high tension in the Taiwan Strait if his party controls both branches of government is that it would undermine Taiwan's fundamental national interests of improving the relationship with the US; continuing efforts to begin a dialogue with China; and pursuing the reform of Taiwan's governmental institutions.

In addition, the politics of Taiwan will assure that domestic reforms will be debated openly, probably very noisily, but held within the parameters established by Chen. There will also be restraints put on the DPP by the number of seats it will control.

It has only 95 candidates running in the election. Even adding the at-large members that will result from the percentage of seats gained by the election, and the seats of the TSU, which will not always agree with the DPP, especially on the issues of sovereignty, the 75 percent votes required to pass any change of the Constitution will be difficult to attain even on non-sovereignty issues.

No highly significant and sensitive issue is foolproof for any administration in a democracy, but the atmosphere described above makes a strong case: The status quo sought by most of Taiwan's people and Taiwan's friends abroad will be maintained.

Nat Bellocchi is former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan and is now a special adviser to the Liberty Times Group. The views expressed in this article are his own.