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| PICK OF THE
CROP Contestants pose at a beauty contest promoting Dahu strawberries in Dahu Township, Miaoli County, yesterday. Tso I-ting, third left, came first, Chan Chia-i, third right, second, and Chen Hui-min, second left, was third.
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Wu pushes US on China's flight route
CREEPING FORWARD:
Taiwan has accused Beijing of seeking to alter the 'status quo' across the
Strait by turning the corridor into its domestic waters in piecemeal fashion
STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA
Sunday, Jan 27, 2008, Page 3
"Some of Taiwan's diplomatic allies have expressed their deep concern to
Beijing in this regard and Taiwan is deeply appreciative of their
support."－Joseph Wu, representative to the US
Although China has yet to announce a planned flight route 4.2 nautical miles
(7.8km) to the west of the tacit median line dividing the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan
must stay on top of the issue, Taiwan's top representative to the US said in
Washington on Friday.
Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office
in the US, said that China had not made the new route public by Jan. 17 as
expected, but that Taiwan should remain on high alert and push its diplomatic
allies to voice opposition over the issue.
"Some of Taiwan's diplomatic allies have expressed their deep concern to Beijing
over the matter and Taiwan is deeply appreciative of their support," said Wu,
speaking to reporters at a media gathering.
The envoy said that according to information acquired by the government, China
had completed its registration of the domestic Shanghai-Hong Kong route with the
International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) Thailand office.
China has, however, not made an official announcement to the international
community, possibly because of strong international pressure, Wu said.
Wu said China might be waiting for a more "appropriate time" to make the
announcement to avoid sparking international concern and to avoid controversy
that could tip the results of Taiwan's March 22 presidential election.
The Taiwanese government and military have repeatedly expressed concern that
China's new flight route would squeeze the airspace available to Taiwan's
civilian and military airplanes and lead to an armed conflict in the Taiwan
Strait.
Taiwan has criticized China for seeking to alter the "status quo" across the
Taiwan Strait by converting the strait into its domestic waters in piecemeal
fashion.
Taiwan reportedly lodged a protest to ICAO headquarters in Montreal and some
countries in the Asia-Pacific region have supported the protest.
When asked about news that American Institute in Taiwan Director Stephen Young
had told President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) he would be welcome to visit Washington
after his term ends, Wu said he did not know how Washington would react.
However, only five people in the government are not allowed to visit Washington,
he said, and as Chen would be a private citizen after stepping down, a visit
should not be a problem.
Ma's
promise of peace
Sunday, Jan 27, 2008, Page 8
A person should always be wary of a politician's words and more so of their
promises. One hundred years of peace can only be offered either in the knowledge
of assurances from China not to threaten Taiwan or based on sheer hope. Either
way, it resonates unfortunately with the late British prime minister Neville
Chamberlain's "peace in our time."
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said
he would not negotiate on unification during his term in office, but that does
not mean policies that would serve as foundations for such an eventuality cannot
be passed.
A Ma presidency, combined with a KMT led legislature, could and most likely
will, pass a significant amount of legislation that creates the institutional
relationships and infrastructure necessary for, at first, full economic
integration. Just as President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) abolished the National
Unification Guidelines, so too a KMT Cabinet could set a timetable for
negotiations to begin, thereby ensuring a momentum that succeeding governments
would find hard to reverse.
Ma's approach to the issue of Taiwan's sovereignty is inconsistent. In February
2006 he said that if elected, "the main goal will be to shape domestic
conditions for unification and plant the unification idea deep in every sector
of society in order to move from an anti-independence strategy toward a
pro-unification push." Later in the same trip, he said that reunification could
not proceed without the consent of the Taiwanese people.
In March 2006, Ma ran adverts saying independence was an option, yet he now
takes another position of ruling out independence and unification. Speeches like
this have resulted in many otherwise intelligent people believing Ma to be
anti-unification, proof that spinning his message to create a broad tent appeal
has thus far been a successful strategy.
This is not a phenomenon restricted to Taiwanese politics. Many people in the UK
thought that they were voting for a social democrat in former British prime
minister Tony Blair only to be confronted with a pious neo-liberal social
authoritarian.
If the KMT now boycotts its referendum on rejoining the UN under a practical
title, then Taiwanese will know clearly that Ma and the KMT have no stomach to
fight for the Republic of China or Taiwan, instead choosing to inseminate in the
Taiwanese a "China or bust" psychosis while offering the false hope of economic
"recovery" through all but official unification with China.
So far, the pan-blues -- in charge of most local governments and with a majority
in the legislature for more than four years -- have delivered discontent,
disillusionment and benefited from voter apathy, with only 57 percent of voters
showing up during the Jan. 12 legislative elections.
The KMT is aware that with its dominant hold on the legislature, it can no
longer avoid responsibility for the economy and quality of life -- the basis of
its criticism of Chen.
A possible US recession may suddenly deliver the KMT into a real crisis, not the
one it has manufactured for the elections.
One can only hope that if the KMT fails to deliver, Taiwanese will be as
unforgiving as they were in the recent legislative elections.
Ben Goren
Tainan