A storm is
gathering in the Strait
By Li
Thian-hok 李天福
Friday, Apr 03, 2009, Page 8
‘The greatest threat to the US’ homeland security is not a terrorist attack
with a dirty bomb; it is an unexpected, nuclear Pearl Harbor.’
Given the increasingly dangerous and fluid situation in the Taiwan Strait, on
the 30th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) it is important to remind
US President Barack Obama and Congress to reaffirm the spirit and letter of the
TRA both in word and deed.
On Dec. 15, 1978, then-US president Jimmy Carter announced his decision to
normalize relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and de-recognize
Taiwan. It was expected that Taiwan would then seek an accommodation with the
PRC.
Congress was incensed that the administration would abandon a longtime ally
without providing any security commitment, so it drafted and passed the TRA with
an overwhelming majority. The act was signed into law on April 10, 1979.
The TRA declares that the preservation and enhancement of the human rights of
all the people on Taiwan are objectives of the US. To continue commercial,
cultural and other relations with Taiwan, the American Institute in Taiwan, a de
facto embassy, was established. The Act provides for Taiwan to be treated under
US laws the same as a foreign country. It covers Taiwan and Penghu only and does
not apply to Kinmen and Matsu.
The security provisions in Section 2(b) of the TRA are of the utmost importance
and worth reiteration:
“It is the policy of the United States ... to declare that peace and stability
in the area are in the political, security, and economic interests of the United
States, and are matters of international concern; to make clear that the United
States’ decision to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of
China rests upon the expectation that the future of Taiwan will be determined by
peaceful means; to consider any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by
other than peaceful means, including by boycotts or embargoes, a threat to the
peace and security of the Western Pacific area and of grave concern to the
United States; to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character; and to
maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or
other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or
economic system, of the people on Taiwan.”
The TRA is a unique US domestic law that governs foreign policy. It blends US
interests and values. The wisdom of Congress in crafting the act 30 years ago is
commendable.
Under the protective umbrella of the TRA, Taiwan was able to achieve its
economic miracle. In 1979 Taiwan’s annual per capita GDP was US$1,300. That
figure is now US$17,000, a 13-fold increase. Taiwan’s GDP ranks twenty-first in
the world. Taiwan is the world’s largest producer of computer components and is
rapidly moving into the production of telecommunications equipment. Taiwan acts
as a crossroads on the global high-tech market supply chain.
With aid and encouragement from the US, Taiwan has also peacefully transformed
itself from a one-party dictatorship into a democracy, holding its first popular
presidential election in 1996 and peacefully transferring power in 2000 and last
year. Taiwan’s democracy is a beacon to other societies seeking peaceful
political liberalization.
On March 24, the House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution
reaffirming Congress’ unwavering commitment to the TRA.
Representative Howard Berman, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said:
“I am confident that the Taiwan Relations Act will remain the cornerstone of our
relationship with Taiwan.”
Shelley Berkley, co-chair of the Taiwan Congressional Caucus, said: “We must do
everything in our power to continue protecting Taiwan and assuring its
survival.”
While such show of support is gratifying, we must be mindful of adverse changes
in the international environment that make faithful implementation of the TRA
difficult and the preservation of Taiwan as a de facto independent democracy
increasingly challenging.
Due in part to massive investment from Taiwan, China is now the world’s
third-largest economy. Its trade surplus with the US is fast approaching US$300
billion per year. China is the US’ largest creditor, holding US$1 trillion worth
of US Treasuries and other assets. The Obama administration is looking to China
for help in addressing the global financial crisis. The US also hopes for
Beijing’s assistance in dealing with the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and
Iran.
After years of double-digit increases in China’s military budget and intensive
efforts to modernize the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), China now has the
capacity to invade and overwhelm Taiwan in the absence of US intervention.
But the US is preoccupied with the financial crisis and the intractable wars in
Iraq, Afghanistan and now Pakistan. The US military is stretched thin —
especially in East Asia. The Taiwanese government, meanwhile, has been feckless
in its national defense efforts for more than a decade.
China is now Taiwan’s largest export destination. Most of Taiwan’s high-tech
manufacturing has moved to China. The resultant outflow of capital, technology
and manpower is hollowing out Taiwan’s economy. Yet the administration of
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is determined to sign an economic cooperation
framework agreement to turn Taiwan’s economy into an appendage of China’s
economy. This would not only erode the standard of living in Taiwan but
irreparably damage US-Taiwan relations.
James Lilley, former US ambassador to China and Taipei, has observed: “Although
the Taiwanese love freedom, they love money more.”
So what are the practical implications of the above developments? While the TRA
stipulates that the “President and the Congress shall determine the nature and
quantity of such defense articles and services based solely upon their judgment
of the needs of Taiwan,” in practice Beijing’s reaction is now one of the main
considerations.
While the TRA imposes on the US a moral obligation to come to Taiwan’s aid in
case of Chinese military aggression, William Murray, a professor at the US Naval
War College, wrote in a celebrated paper last fall that if China attacks Taiwan,
the US should hold back, observe the war’s progress and take its time in
deciding whether to intervene. His reason: The US may risk a strategic failure,
in other words, the US may be defeated if it tried to rescue Taiwan.
Today there is a gathering crisis in the Taiwan Strait that seems to escape the
attention of much of Washington’s policy establishment. A vast majority of the
people on Taiwan would reject Chinese communist rule, yet the Chinese
Nationalist Party (KMT) government is pursuing a policy of incremental
capitulation by reducing the budget and size of Taiwan’s military, deepening the
dependency of its economy on China and downgrading Taiwan’s international
status. Economic integration measures negotiated by the Chinese Communist Party
and the KMT are implemented by the Executive Yuan without public debate or
approval by the Legislative Yuan. Taiwan is in danger of being delivered into
Beijing’s hands by stealth.
While most observers believe there has been an easing of tension in the Taiwan
Strait because of the concessions the Ma administration has made to China, China
has in fact added another 100 missiles to its arsenal targeting Taiwan since Ma
took office. The PLA’s preparations for war against Taiwan have not slackened.
Because of declining exports, more than 20 million migrant workers in China have
lost their jobs. Ann Marie Slaughter, chief of the US State Department’s policy
planning staff, has pointed out that China could launch a military venture
against a neighbor (meaning Taiwan) to divert attention from growing social
unrest at home.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) wants to visit Taiwan and Premier Liu
Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) has said that Wen would be welcome. Such a visit could trigger
massive, bloody protests. The resulting chaos could provide the PLA with a
pretext to invade Taiwan.
Taiwan is facing double jeopardy: an external military threat from China and
internal subversion by the Ma government, which is dominated by radical elements
in the KMT who are collaborating with Beijing to demolish Taiwan’s sovereignty
and democracy as expediently as possible.
If Taiwan were to fall by PLA coercion or internal subversion, the US would
suffer a geostrategic disaster. The sea lanes and air space around Taiwan are
critical to the survival of Japan and South Korea. Once in control of Taiwan,
China would be in position to pressure Japan and South Korea to become its
vassal states. Given Japan’s unstable domestic politics and its aversion to
nuclear weapons, chances are Japan would cave once the credibility of the US as
keeper of peace in East Asia had been lost. With the demise of the US-Japan
military alliance, the US would be forced to retreat all the way back to Hawaii.
Using coercion against Taiwan would mean that China had irreversibly forgone the
path of development that would lead to a humane, democratic society in favor of
keeping its authoritarian model. This would inevitably bring it into conflict
with the US.
The greatest threat to the US’ homeland security is not a terrorist attack with
a dirty bomb; it is an unexpected, nuclear Pearl Harbor.
The basic US national security strategy is misdirected. In order to keep the
peace in East Asia and ultimately to protect homeland security, the US must
continue to support democracy and uphold the Taiwanese people’s legitimate
aspirations for freedom.
To keep the peace in the Taiwan Strait and to encourage China to pursue peaceful
development, we urge the US president and Congress to take the following steps:
First, reaffirm the US policy that the future of Taiwan must be determined by
peaceful means and that the US opposes any unilateral action to change the
status quo;
Second, deploy at least two aircraft carrier task forces in the Western Pacific
and secure basing rights in the Philippines and the Ryukyu Islands as part of US
efforts to maintain the capacity to resist any resort to force or other forms of
coercion;
Third, develop a contingency plan to empower an international commission to
conduct and supervise a plebiscite on Taiwan under the right circumstances to
allow the Taiwanese people to exercise their basic human right to decide their
future without outside pressure or internal subversion.
The US can and must continue to support Taiwan’s freedom because Taiwan’s
security is ultimately vital to US homeland security.
Li Thian-hok is a freelance commentator
based in Pennsylvania.