ARATS sorry
for melamine scandal
THORNY MATTER: chinese food
products have become a sensitive issue in bilateral relations after local
consumers reacted angrily to melamine-tainted milk powder
By Ko Shu-ling
and Rich Chang
STAFF REPORTERS
Tuesday, Oct 28, 2008, Page 1
“The incident has been confirmed as illegal dealing by some people. We will
not appease anyone who sabotages the health of consumers on both sides of the
Taiwan Strait.”— ARATS statement
China’s cross-strait agency yesterday apologized to the
Taiwanese public for the scandal over melamine tainted food, a move that seems
aimed at easing tension ahead of the meeting between top cross-strait
negotiators next month.
The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) issued a statement yesterday saying it had
received a letter from its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations
Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), asking the foundation to convey an apology to
Taiwanese consumers and distributors for causing them trouble and losses.
“The incident has been confirmed as illegal dealing by some people,” the
statement said.
“We will not appease anyone who sabotages the health of consumers on both sides
of the Taiwan Strait,” it said.
The statement said ARATS would make every effort to mete out severe punishment
to those held responsible and protect the rights of all consumers.
SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) said that although the apology was a little
late, it would have a positive impact on the meeting between him and ARATS
Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
The SEF has established a service center for consumers and distributors who wish
to file a complaint or seek compensation from China, Chiang said, encouraging
those affected to take advantage of the service.
Local consumers reacted angrily after 25 tonnes of milk powder imported from
China in June was found to contain the industrial chemical melamine.
The government has asked China for compensation for Taiwanese consumers from the
companies responsible. Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) has also demanded that
Beijing apologize, unsuccessfully until yesterday.
The scare over Chinese food products has become a sensitive issue in bilateral
relations ahead of a planned visit by Chen.
MAC Vice Chairman Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) yesterday said that the government would
like to see Beijing take concrete action following the apology. Although it was
made by ARATS, Liu said it carried the weight of an official apology.
SEF Secretary-General Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉), who led a delegation to Shenzhen for
a preparatory consultation yesterday, told reporters after the four-hour meeting
that Chen was scheduled to arrive in Taiwan next Monday for a five-day visit.
It will herald the first cross-strait negotiations held in Taiwan since both
sides engaged in bilateral talks in 1992.
Kao said Chen would lead a 60-person delegation consisting of government
officials and experts. Chen is expected to sign four agreements with Chiang.
The agreements would include direct aviation routes, direct sea transport,
direct postal services and a food safety mechanism.
In addition to inking the accords, Kao said two forums would be held to discuss
the impact of the global “financial tsunami” and other economic issues.
Liu said that Chen would also meet some government officials, but it was not yet
clear if he would meet President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
If the two are to meet, Liu said, how Chen would address Ma would be “properly
arranged.” Ma has said that he would not mind Chen calling him “Mr. Ma.”
While Chen would stay at the Grand Hotel, Liu said it was unlikely Chiang would
meet Chen at the Taipei Guest House as the media have speculated.
Chen would also do some sightseeing, but he would not have time to visit central
or southern Taiwan, Liu said.
Following incidents last week during a visit to Taiwan by ARATS Vice Chairman
Zhang Mingqing (張銘清), Kao yesterday said every effort would be made to ensure
“negotiations are conducted in an environment that is safe and comfortable.”
Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said it would hold a
large-scale “Nightwatch for Taiwan, say no to China” rally to protest Chen’s
visit.
“The site, time and activities of the rally will be decided after the government
releases the details of Chen Yunlin’s visit,” DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang
(鄭文燦) told a press conference.
He said the party had also proposed an evening rally to be held in Kaohsiung
after Chen leaves.
The DPP, which co-hosted a rally on Saturday with the Taiwan Solidarity Union
and a number of pro-localization groups, said that more than 600,000 people
attended the rally.
The DPP said the rally had been a success and that it would continue to use
“people power” to express its opposition to Chen’s visit and the government’s
China-friendly policies.
Cheng said Saturday’s rally showed that Ma’s measures to weaken Taiwan’s
sovereignty and his “one China” policy were not mainstream public opinion in
Taiwan.
Wrong track
to sovereignty
Many Taiwan supporters like Michelle Wang (“Lesson 1: Which one is our country?”
Oct. 24, page 8) continue to believe that drafting a new constitution will help
Taiwan on the road to normalization and boost international recognition for the
Taiwanese republic. However, the burning issue of non-recognition of Taiwan is
the diplomatic centerpiece of the Shanghai Communique and “one China” policy,
which remains the political bane of Taiwan supporters.
The general consensus is the Republic of China (ROC) is nothing more than a
Chinese government-in-exile and the ROC on Taiwan has been a putative state of
the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Taiwan since 1949. If we treat the ROC in
this manner, then we can see how international non-recognition factors into the
Taiwan dilemma.
But how can anyone support the ROC on Taiwan as a proxy for the Taiwanese
republic? That is a political conflict of interest and does not allow for the
impartial prosecution of the KMT for war crimes under the San Francisco Peace
Treaty. This co-opts the pan-greens and cannot be supported in the interest of
bringing justice to the people of Taiwan.
We must hold the KMT accountable for 1947’s atrocities and its stolen assets
must be brought under the treaty’s judicial process of redress. The pursuit of
justice under the San Francisco treaty can lead to the legal extinction of the
exiled ROC on Taiwan without disrupting the current “one China” status quo.
Popular sovereignty is an overextension of the ROC putative state and entirely
ignores the treaty. The ROC constitutes a secret codeword for the Taiwan
republic in the pan-green camp, but Retrocession Day is a fraudulent conveyance
of Taiwan’s territory.
Territorial sovereignty for Taiwan is only derived from a treaty. The organic
law of Taiwan’s cession should be rewritten in accordance with US military
government regulations that can legally transform the “governing authorities”
from the ROC martial law era into a true “civil government” in the post-1952
period.
By closely following the treaty’s regulations and supporting the rule of law, we
could ultimately see the KMT held fully accountable for its actions. Japanese
decolonialization is an ongoing process and it remains incomplete, but removing
the ROC governing apparatus is a perk of the treaty’s redress. This is just the
beginning of the end.
Jeff Geer
Olympia, Washington