Source says Ma in the clear over gondola
　

By Shih Hsiu-Chuan And Ko Shu-Ling
STAFF REPORTERS
Friday, Oct 23, 2009, Page 1

The Control Yuan is close to concluding its investigation into the Maokong Gondola and has found President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) not to be responsible for problems with the project, a Control Yuan member said on condition of anonymity yesterday.

The gondola, which has been suspended since Oct. 1 last year after mudslides eroded the ground beneath a support pillar, was one of Ma’s major projects when he was Taipei mayor.

Control Yuan members Tu Shan-liang (杜善良), Chen Yung-hsiang (陳永祥) and Ger Yeong-kuang (葛永光) are in charge of the probe.

The anonymous member said that Ma did not make mistakes in his decision to build the gondola.

Before the system was suspended, the gondola brought great benefits to the Muzha area, attracting more than 5 million visitors in a year, he said.

However, the anonymous official said that the Taipei City Government under Ma’s administration was found to be partly at fault for an incomplete evaluation of the geology of the tower sites, inadequate project design and insufficient testing.

He said the Control Yuan might censure the Taipei City Government led by Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) as it gave inconsistent accounts for the weakened Tower No. 16 (T16) and failed to explain clearly to the public how it was going to address the unsafe tower.

The Control Yuan is expected to hold a plenary meeting next month to discuss the report.

The Presidential Office yesterday said it respected Control Yuan decisions.

Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said that since January it has been saying that the decision to go ahead with the construction project was justified. The system had brought 5 million tourists to Maokong, Muzha and southern parts of the capital and created many business opportunities, he said.

It has also reiterated that there was nothing wrong with the safety of the T16 pillar, he said, adding that the construction process was legal and free of irregularities. The Control Yuan’s investigation report substantiated those claims, he said.

Regarding the Control Yuan’s criticism of the planning of the project, Wang said the Presidential Office fully respects the Control Yuan, which exercises its power independently, and did not interfere with the investigation process.

Meanwhile, Hau said the city government was happy to accept any corrective measures.

“However, we can assure people of the safety of the gondola, as engineers have examined the system and confirmed its safety,” Hau said.

He said the plan to reopen the gondola by the end of this year remained unchanged.

When asked for comment, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said the result of the investigation was “illogical,” adding that the problems had much to do with poor design and construction completed during Ma’s mayoral terms.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said the former Ma administration should take responsibility for avoiding an environmental assessment and rushing construction.

“But the Hau administration did not have the courage to correct Ma’s wrong policy. It continued risking people’s lives and lied about the safety of the gondola,” Chuang said.

“All major municipal projects, from the Maokong Gondola to the Neihu MRT Line, have proved disappointments for Taipei residents and Mayor Hau needs to clean up the mess left by Ma,” he said.

DPP Taipei City Councilor Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) condemned the Hau administration for insisting on reopening the gondola this year without a thorough environmental assessment and warned that it was still unsafe.

Bus station neighbors protest
　

FOUR STRIKES: Noise and air pollution persist around the station night and day, while limited capacity and only one exit failed to ease traffic congestion in the area
　

By Mo Yan-chih
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Oct 23, 2009, Page 2
　

Shouting “we are the biggest victims,” about 30 people who live near the recently opened Taipei Bus Station yesterday protested against what they called serious air pollution and non-stop noise generated by heavy traffic around the station, urging the Taipei City Government to improve the situation.

Several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Chen Yu-mei (陳玉梅) joined the protesters in front of the Taipei City Council to challenge the design of the station.

“Residents and city councilors warned the city government about the problems long before the station opened, but the station still functions poorly and affects the lives of local residents,” Chen said.

Traffic volume at the station exceeds 5,000 vehicles per day, with the exhaust gas and sound of engines affect Huayin Street day and night, damaging the quality of life of local residents and forcing many to seek medical help, she said.

Local borough chief Chen Cheng-hsian (陳正賢) demanded that the city government install noise and air quality monitors inside and outside the station, prohibit buses from entering the Huayin business circle, ban scooter parking on Huayin Street and offer preferential parking to residents as compensation.

Accepting the petition from the borough chief, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the city government had been working with the station operator to decrease noise and air pollution.

The city government and the contractor will move the taxi waiting area to an underground floor of the station next month, and complete sound-proofing by next March, Hau said.

Located at the intersection of Chengde Road and Huayin Street, the station opened in August and serves as the main transportation hub for 10 bus companies running 39 routes to Ilan County and cities, as well as counties south of Hsinchu.

Five other bus companies providing 10 routes to Taoyuan County and cities and counties north of Taoyuan will continue to use the old bus station on Chongqing N Road.

Local residents have been protesting against the noise and air pollution around the station since it opened.

DPP Taipei City Councilor Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) and Lee Wen-ying (李文英) also urged the city government to resolve the issue of insufficient capacity at the station.

The bus station was built to ease traffic around Chengde Road and Civil Boulevard and solve the problem of illegal parking on Chengde Road as all major bus stations were located there before.

However, the situation has only worsened since the bus station opened because there is only one exit for all the buses, and the station can only accommodate about 400 buses an hour, Chien said.

Hau acknowledged that the capacity of the station was insufficient, and promised to present solutions as soon as possible.

China protests will be heard: top cop
　

FLY THE FLAG: National Police Agency Director-General Wang Cho-chiun said that legitimate demonstrators would be protected during cross-strait talks in Taichung
　

By Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Oct 23, 2009, Page 3

National Police Agency Director-General Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞) said yesterday law enforcement personnel would protect legitimate demonstrators during the upcoming cross-strait high-level talks.

During the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee meeting yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator William Lai (賴清德) told Wang that police were over-zealous during demonstrations at the last cross-strait meeting in Taiwan, which took place in Taipei last November. Police confiscating protesters’ flags and illegally entering a road-side store during the demonstrations were two examples, Lai said.

Wang told Lai that police did not confiscate any national flags during demonstrations over the meeting between Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and his Chinese counterpart Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) last November.

“It will not happen in the future either,” Wang said.

“The order we received is to let protesters be seen and heard,” he said.

Wang said he hoped what happened last year would not be repested, but when pressed by Lai, Wang said he was resolute that he would handle the matter better this time around.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chi Kuo-tung (紀國棟) proposed moving the location of the meeting to Yunlin County, which is governed by the DPP, so that a DPP county commissioner would have to take care of the protests held by the party and its supporters.

DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) sarcastically proposed holding the event on Kinmen or Matsu, so the DPP and its supporters would be discouraged from staging any protests because of the inconvenience of traveling to the islands.

Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Chairman Liu Te-shun (劉德勳), however, said it would be difficult to change the location as both sides had reached a preliminary consensus on holding it in Taichung City in mid to late December.

Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), when asked by Chiu whether people would be banned from accessing the hotel that Chen stays at, waving national flags or chanting political slogans, said the government would not ban people from accessing the hotel or limit their freedom of speech or action “as long as they apply [for a permit to demonstrate] in accordance with the law.”

Chiu, who was struck by police during the last Chiang-Chen meeting, said she would like to know whether she would be hit again and branded a troublemaker if she went to the hotel to have a cup of coffee.

She also criticized the excessive deployment of police officers at the last meeting.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Chia-chen (盧嘉辰) urged the National Police Agency to fully prepare for the meeting, saying he did not want to see violence again because it would create a bad image for the administration, and mislead the public and the international community.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Office said it would be happy to see both sides of the Taiwan Strait engage in benign interaction, saying it would be conducive to peaceful development in the strait.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office head Wang Yi (王毅) said in Macau on Wednesday that the office would make efforts to expand and deepen cross-strait economic cooperation. Wang said he would push for an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) to normalize and institutionalize economic relations.

Toughen up passport issuance, AIT’s Stanton says
　

By Jenny W. hsu
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Oct 23, 2009, Page 3
　

Taiwan’s inclusion in the US visa-waiver program would be more likely if it toughened up passport issuance procedures, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director William Stanton said yesterday at his first press conference since assuming office in early August.

Stanton, a seasoned US diplomat of more than three decades, was instrumental in helping South Korea obtain the visa-waiver courtesy during his term as deputy chief of the US mission.

Last Friday, Stanton said he believed Taiwan’s inclusion was “doable,” but the country’s lax travel document issuance process was a major hindrance.

Stanton yesterday said there were other criteria, such as sharing information on lost passports, and stressed the decision to grant visa-waiver access was a legal, not a political, one.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said the goal of its consular services was to provide convenience to the public and that it would hesitate to add the requirement that all passport applicants must appear in person. The ministry is scheduled to conduct public hearings on the issue in the coming months, MOFA spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said.

Stanton, who was also part of the US effort to persuade Seoul to reopen its market to US beef, did not give a specific time line for its reintroduction to Taiwan, except to say US meat meets international standards and the timing would be decided based on sensitivity to public sentiment.

Despite heavy public protests, the South Korean government lifted its five-year ban on US beef in May last year. Five months later, the Bush administration announced that South Korea was one of the countries to be added to the visa-waiver program.

In related news, Department of Health (DOH) Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) said yesterday that Taiwan will lift its ban on importing US bone-in beef in the next few days.

The announcement on importing US bone-in beef will be made before the end of the month, he said, adding that the import of US bone-in beef will be carried out in two stages and under strict supervision.

When asked about US President Barack Obama’s trip next month to China, Stanton said major topics such as climate change would top the agenda, but “the Taiwan issue would arise” amidst talks on regional matters. Taipei, he said, does not need to be worried about the visit and neither the opposition nor the ruling party have expressed concern over the trip.

Stanton did not give a direct answer when asked about the US sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, simply saying the US was committed to Taiwan’s security and Taiwan-US military exchanges remain robust.

“A year ago in October, we made a decision on US$6.4 billion in arms sales to Taiwan,” he said. “It included a range of defensive equipment, including Apache helicopters, Harpoon missiles, Javelin anti-tank missiles, upgrades for E-2 surveillance aircraft, spare parts and other equipment ... The question of further arms sales is still a matter of ongoing review. It will be made in accordance with our assessment of what Taiwan’s self-defense needs are. That will be the principal criterion for any decision.”

Meanwhile, Stanton shrugged off local news reports regarding a possible visit by US Secretary of Veteran Affairs Eric Shinseki next year, saying no government channel had reported on the visit. Stanton, however, confirmed that former US labor secretary Elaine Chao would visit next week.

Time is running out
　

Friday, Oct 23, 2009, Page 8

Sovereignty is the most supreme authority exercised by an independent country. There can be no ambiguity. However, ever since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took power and started his unilateral “ceasefire, no diplomacy,” the sovereignty of the Republic of China (ROC) has been compromised and Taiwan has been reduced to an affiliate state of China.

Slowly but surely, Ma has attempted to lock in Taiwan’s fate to China through the deception of economic prosperity and the proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), even if this means the termination of the ROC’s sovereignty and the end of Taiwan’s freedom and democracy. Ma, with his “great China complex,” appears unconcerned.

Based on the co-called “1992 consensus,” Ma has advocated a unilateral “no denial of coexistence” policy for cross-strait issues. He proclaims “no unification, no independence and no war.” But these have all been proven false, like so many of his other sugarcoated lies.

The truth is there is a big conspiracy behind the gentle face of soft-spoken Ma. He is selling out Taiwan and, for that matter, the ROC, and fast.

The reality is that China continues to obstruct Taiwan internationally and threaten Taiwan with its 1,500 missiles, while speeding up its peaceful take over of Taiwan.

If Taiwanese continue to remain silent, the day that Taiwan succumbs to China’s rule will arrive faster than anyone can imagine.

YANG JI-CHARNG
Columbus, Ohi

Obama, Ma leave Taiwan flatfooted
　

By Emerson Chang 張子揚
Friday, Oct 23, 2009, Page 8

A joint session of the US Congress recently passed the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act. In an unusual move, Section 1226 was removed, despite the fact that it had cleared the Senate and the House of Representatives three months ago. Since this section was related to the strengthening of Taiwan’s air force, its abrupt removal has overshadowed Taiwan-US relations and may have a profound influence on East Asian security.

Section 3 of the Taiwan Relations Act states that either the US president or Congress can initiate a proposal of US arms sales to Taiwan. It is less common that Congress would do so, and it has only happened once in this century with the 2002 National Defense Authorization Act, which clearly stated that the US was to sell four Kidd-class destroyers to Taiwan.

This year, Congress has once again proposed selling weapons to Taiwan after the Department of Defense’s 2009 Military Power of the People’s Republic of China called for a response to the cross-strait military imbalance and the new challenges to Taiwan’s security posed by the development and deployment of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Although the proposed bill did not clearly specify the types and quantity of defense weapons to be sold to Taiwan, it required the US president to submit a report on the state of Taiwan’s air force to Congress within 90 days of enactment.

The report had to detail the types, quantity, age and combat capabilities of Taiwan’s military aircraft and include an assessment of weapon systems and platforms Taiwan needs to maintain control of its own air space “in the face of a full-scale concerted missile and air campaign by China.”

Options for the US to assist Taiwan in achieving those capabilities and a five-year plan to provide Taiwan with self-defense assistance were also to be included in the report.

However, before passing the bill, the congressional conference removed Section 1226 from the final version, which will come into effect upon approval by the president. The move was probably the result of the White House acting out of strategic and diplomatic concerns.

US President Barack Obama reiterated at the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in late July that he had high hopes for cooperation between Washington and Beijing in the areas of finance, trade, environmental protection, health, military, anti-terrorism and anti-nuclear proliferation.

As a result of his first presidential visit to China during his trip to Asia next month, Obama deliberately put off the sale of three proposed arms items to Taiwan — submarine designs, universal helicopters and two sets of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles — refused to meet the Dalai Lama and blocked Congress from initiating an arms sales to Taiwan proposal. All this ran in the same groove as it was an attempt to build an atmosphere conducive to cooperation between the US and China.

Although these actions did not exclude the possibility that Obama will initiate a proposal for arms sales to Taiwan next year, his move to discourage pro-Taiwan elements in Congress from doing so has put him in a position where he cannot shirk responsibility for China. In addition, his visit to China is significant and has become an important variable in US arms sales to Taiwan.

If his talks with Beijing run smoothly, Obama may not be willing to ruin the prospects of further bilateral cooperation because of arms sales to Taiwan. Although Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said during his report to the legislature earlier this month that the frozen US arms sales proposals to Taiwan would soon be unfrozen, that has now become more uncertain.

For years, Taiwan’s security has been maintained by the natural barrier provided by the Taiwan Strait, advanced military technology and the US policy of strategic ambiguity.

When former US president George W. Bush took office in 2001, he was inclined to replace “strategic ambiguity” (possible interference) with “strategic clarity” (explicit interference). Although the collision between a US Navy surveillance plan and a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea in 2001 and anti-terrorism needs forced Bush back to square one on the Taiwan issue, the US continued to sell weapons to Taipei during his term of office.

Since Obama assumed office almost a year ago, it has become commonplace to procrastinate on proposals for arms sales to Taiwan and there has been no progress in US-Taiwan relations. This shows that the US seems to be reconsidering and redefining its interests in East Asia.

Obama’s move to block congressional support for Taiwan was not only based on personal concerns — to avoid limiting his negotiation leverage — but also a result of China’s rise and the fact that Chinese cooperation is needed in resolving international issues.

President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) diplomatic policies toward China and the US are also a key factor. It has been important for the Ma administration to gain advantages from both sides and not to get stuck in between. The fact that Obama has not declared his stance toward US arms sales to Taiwan and that he prevented Congress from showing support for Taiwan suggest that he still has doubts on the gravity of cross-strait matters and relations.

If the Ma administration does not take this situation seriously, US concerns will continue to intensify.

Emerson Chang is director of the Department of International Studies at Nan Hua University.

Taiwan’s history has no place in US courts
　

By Chen Yi-shen 陳儀深
Friday, Oct 23, 2009, Page 8

The case of Roger C. S. Lin et al v. United States of America was filed by Roger Lin (林志昇) in the US District Court in Washington on Oct. 24, 2006. On Sept. 23, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) filed a case with the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, via the Formosa Nation Legal Strategy Association, of which Lin is the founder, demanding that the US intervene in his detention case as the “principal occupying power of Taiwan” to seek his release and the restoration of his civil and human rights.

Both these cases were based on the same reasoning — both Lin and Richard Hartzell, who was also involved in the Roger C. S. Lin et al v. United States of America case, are attempting to get the US government to admit that Taiwan’s international status has been that of an “unincorporated territory under the US Military Government (USMG)” after World War II.

My main contention with this idea is as follows: If the Republic of China (ROC) government was only ever a subordinate occupying power in Taiwan commissioned by the US, why then did the US never correct the situation when Japan surrendered Taiwan to former dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) in October 1945 and when Chiang announced that all the people of Taiwan were ROC citizens?

While those involved in the Lin case have pointed to the cases of Puerto Rico and Cuba at the end of the 19th century when they were “unincorporated territories under the US Military Government (USMG)” to help strengthen their argument that Taiwan currently shares the same status, Puerto Rico and Cuba were in fact USMGs for short periods of time and both places went through the process of having a local government being established by local civilians.

These things never happened in Taiwan.

We cannot go back and change history to establish a USMG and claim that Taiwan’s current status is an unincorporated territory under USMG.

While the US recognized and supported the ROC government in exile on Taiwan, at major times such as 1954, 1971, 2004 and 2007, US officials reiterated that the status of Taiwan and the Pescadores (Penghu) was yet to be determined.

Why would they have made these comments if Taiwan really was an unincorporated territory under USMG?

Also, why has the US not dared to refer to our government as the ROC “government” and simply addressing it as the ROC ever since the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) took effect in 1979?

We have to understand the issue of Taiwan’s status in light of the abovementioned background. The Resolution on Taiwan’s Future ratified by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 1999 posed new directions for Taiwan’s future and this was closely linked with democratization and localization actions taken by former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in the 1990s. However, President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) current line is in complete contradiction with Lee-era policies and there really is now a definite need for things to be clearly reviewed and new “resolutions” to be made.

The complicated issues of Taiwan’s status can only be explained clearly by adopting a multi-disciplinary approach that includes topics such as international law, constitutional law, history and political science. To discover the truth and find an answer to the question of Taiwan’s status, we cannot afford to rely on the legal binding power of a certain declaration or the explanation of a certain legal clause.

Chen Yi-shen is chairman of the Taiwan Association of University Professors.