Taiwan a priority in top PLA officer’s visit to US
　

GREAT EXPECTATIONS: Analysts expect No. 2 General Xu Caihou will try to link matters of great importance to Washington with continued US arms sales to Taiwan
　

By William Lowther
STAFF REPORTER , WASHINGTON
Sunday, Oct 25, 2009, Page 3

General Xu Caihou (徐才厚), China’s second-ranking military officer, was scheduled to arrive in Washington yesterday for an 11-day US visit. Among the topics expected to be discussed are senior-level talks on US arms sales to Taiwan.

Xu, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, will have a closed-door meeting at the Pentagon with US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

While the formal agenda remains secret, Qian Lihua (錢利華), director of the Chinese Defense Ministry’s Foreign Affairs Office, said in an interview with China’s state-run China Daily on Friday that Taiwan was China’s core interest and that the handling of the Taiwan question had left bilateral exchanges “shifting like a roller coaster.”

The newspaper said Xu had recommended before his visit to Washington that “the two countries respect each other’s key interests.”

“Each weapons sale between the Chinese island and the US stifles the China-US military relationship. China stopped its military contact with the US because of a US$6.5 billion arms sale to Taiwan in October 2008. The US arms sales to Taiwan leaves relations between the two countries unstable,” the China Daily said.

A Washington congressional source said the tone of the China Daily interview and the way it centered Xu’s visit on arms sales to Taiwan was a clear indication that this issue would be at the top of the general’s agenda.

Another source with close ties to the Pentagon, however, said the US would try to focus the talks with Xu on strengthening the direct US relationship with China’s rapidly modernizing military.

With US President Barack Obama scheduled to make his first visit to Beijing next month, Xu is expected to pressure the US leadership — holding out greater military communication as a carrot — to obtain assurances that weapons sales will be kept to a minimum.

Washington sources said that by way of reply, the Obama administration would argue that Beijing should stop its military buildup across the Taiwan Strait and significantly reduce the 1,500-plus missiles now aimed at Taiwan.

Such a move, they will insist, would improve confidence on all fronts and reduce Taiwan’s perceived need for defensive weapons.

They will also say that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) friendship drive and willingness to make concessions to Beijing deserves some thanks in the form of a reduced military threat from China.

Last week, the Washington Post reported that while Obama wanted to strengthen ties with Beijing on efforts to combat climate change, address the global financial crisis and contain nuclear proliferation in North Korea and Iran, his most important aim was to improve the US relationship with the Chinese military.

The Post said there was concern that US and Chinese forces may find themselves “bumping into each other” without formal mechanisms in place for the two militaries to iron out disagreements.

The newspaper also quoted a senior Chinese diplomat as saying that Taiwan was “the one issue that could jeopardize our relations with the United States.”

A recent Rand Corp study concluded that a Chinese missile attack could now destroy every runway at Taiwan’s half-dozen main fighter bases and damage all aircraft parked on ramps.

“But this strategic shift has not been accompanied by significant talks between China and the United States, which is legally bound to provide for Taiwan’s defense,” the Post said.

Four months ago, Beijing provided Washington with a list of seven major problems they wanted solved in order to improve US-China relations.

The very first item on the list was a demand that the US stop selling weapons to Taiwan.

Early next year, Obama will decide whether to sell Black Hawk helicopters, Patriot anti-missile batteries and 66 advanced F-16 fighter planes to Taiwan.

Some say Obama could get away with selling the helicopters and the anti-missile batteries without severely damaging US-China relations.

But the message Xu is expected to deliver over the next few days is that the sale of F-16s would have a negative impact on a large array of the other issues — including military cooperation — that are of key concern Washington.

During his visit, Xu will tour the US Naval Academy in Maryland, US Strategic Command in Nebraska, Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, the US Army’s Fort Benning in Georgia, the North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego and US Pacific Command in Hawaii.

Protests to coincide with next SEF-ARATS meeting

STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA
Sunday, Oct 25, 2009, Page 3
　

Pro-independence groups in southern Taiwan yesterday announced a plan to stage a demonstration in Taichung in December to express their opposition to the proposed signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.

The organizations, led by the Southern Taiwan Society and Neo Formosa Weekly, said such an agreement had to be blocked because it would have a serious impact on the nation’s industrial sector and exacerbate unemployment.

The demonstration will be held to coincide with the fourth round of talks between Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) President Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), scheduled to be held during the second week of December in Taichung.

Formosa Weekly president Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said that although the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration has said that an ECFA would benefit 700,000 people in Taiwan, another 1.6 million people will see their livelihoods threatened after the pact is signed.

Chen said the agreement would bring more disadvantages than benefits and worsen Taiwan’s economic situation.

He said the groups would mobilize 1 million people.

The Democratic Progressive Party has requested that the government hold a referendum to allow the people to decide whether the agreement should be signed.

Decision on US beef sparks round of meaty questions
　

By Jenny W. hsu
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Oct 25, 2009, Page 3
　

Less than 24 hours after American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director William Stanton said in Taipei that “sensitivity” to public sentiment had to be applied to the issue of reintroducing US beef in Taiwan and that it should be done “gradually,” Taiwan and the US signed an accord in Washington whereby a three-year ban on US bone-in beef and other beef products was lifted.

The controversial move has caused an uproar in Taiwan, with sharp criticism from both sides of the political aisle.

While the government has presented it strictly as a food-safety issue, some analysts said the move was a political measure by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to fix his relations with Washington without giving any regard to expert advice from the Department of Health (DOH).

The US beef saga has been punctuated with multiple openings and closings.

In 2003, Taiwan banned US beef after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) — commonly known as mad cow disease — was discovered in Seattle. The ban lasted until 2005, when the government gave the green light for boneless beef from cattle under 30 months of age.

The ban was reinstated two months later after a second case of BSE was confirmed in the US.

In 2006, the DOH announced on its Web site that it was once again lifting the ban, with the condition that only boneless beef from cattle younger than 30 months produced by certified slaughterhouses were permitted to enter Taiwan. The move sparked criticism, mostly from then-Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛), who accused the government of toying with public welfare to curry favor with Washington.

Since the partial lift three years ago, the US government has pushed Taiwan for a comprehensive opening to a full range of US beef and beef products.

Taiwan’s reluctance, however, resulted in unwillingness by the US to hold regular Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) talks with Taiwan

Hours before the agreement on beef imports was signed, Stanton said in Taipei that beef negotiations were in their final phase and that TIFA talks would most likely be held before the end of the year.

“US beef is definitely a political move. It could even have been made so that the proposed US arms sale to Taiwan would go through more quickly. Perhaps it was timed around [US] President Barack Obama’s visit to Asia so he would have something to bring back home. But it was also a way for Ma to ease the US concerns over his China-friendly policies,” said Luo Chih-cheng (羅致政), a professor of political science at Soochow University.

Luo said he did not believe that Taiwan’s hope of joining the US visa-waiver program was a factor in the decision, because inclusion in the program was a technical issue that hinges on Taiwan’s passport issuance process.

Meanwhile, National Dong Hwa University professor Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒) said that: “Even if we delink the beef issue from politics, it is doubtful that Ma has done a good job safeguarding the health of Taiwanese.”

If the government had treated the US beef quagmire solely on the basis of health, he said, it would have been easier to reject US demands because “who would argue against protecting the health of your citizens?”

If Ma administration had stood its ground, the US would have had no choice but to back off, he said.

“It is safe to say that reopening Taiwan to US beef at this time was Ma’s way to appease the US government, which has been very suspicious of his leadership and intentions because he has been so China-friendly,” he said.

Lai Yi-chung (賴怡忠), a researcher at Taiwan Think Tank, said he suspected Ma was using US beef as a salve to mollify his image in Washington.

“From being slow in accepting US offers of assistance during Typhoon Morakot to Ma’s eagerness to create rapprochement with Beijing, these actions have made Washington and countries in the region question his ultimate strategy,” said Lai, who once served as deputy of the Democratic Progressive Party’s International Affairs Department. “One can speculate that relaxing the ban on US beef could expedite the arms sale or Taiwan’s inclusion in the visa-waiver program. But the root of the problem is that this shows us that Ma is losing his grip on the bottom line.”

Alexander Huang (黃介正), a professor at the Graduate Institute of the Americas at Tamkung University, said the Ma administration must release the country’s standards on US beef so that the public can compare national standards with those in Japan and South Korea.

South Korea was the latest Asian country to abolish the ban on US beef — on the condition that only boneless meat from cattle under 30 months of age would be permitted to enter the market.

“If the meat truly meets our standards and is also acceptable in other countries, then it should not be a big issue,” he said, adding that whether the move was a political gambit by either government had yet to be determined.

Luo and Shih said the DOH was ignored in the process and that the decision was made by the upper echelons of the government.

“Judging from DOH Minister Yaung Chih-liang’s [楊志良] comments, it is clear that he disagrees with the government — he even feels that Taiwan has conceded too much,” Luo said, referring to the minister’s comments during a press conference, where he said he was “unsatisfied” with the outcome and that opening Taiwan’s market to US beef offal was beyond what he had anticipated.

Yang did not sit at the negotiation table with the US. The talks were led by DOH Deputy Minister Hsiao Mei-ling (蕭美玲).

While Yang yesterday offered to resign, Luo said this would be the wrong person to step down because it would mean that the official who made the decision would remain in office.

More is needed to end KMT’s bribery culture
　

THE FIX: Bribery was especially serious in this year’s CSC elections, as the importance of the committee is expected to increase now that President Ma is party chairman
　

By Mo Yan-chih
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Oct 25, 2009, Page 3

A new election for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Standing Committee (CSC) is expected after a majority of committee members offered to resign over the party’s selective investigation into electoral bribery.

The wave of resignations, sparked by KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) and 27 other members, came amid claims by some party delegates that almost every CSC member had bribed delegates with gifts during election campaigns, highlighting the bribery culture in the CSC election.

The CSC used to be the center of the party’s power structure, its members meeting once a week with most senior party officials to discuss party matters and approve major policies.

Prior to a directive by then-KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in 2005 for a direct election of CSC members and the implementation of a district voting system, the CSC was elected by the 210 members of the Central Committee, which itself was elected by more than 1,600 party delegates.

Sean Lien (連勝文), son of former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and who is among those who resigned from the CSC, said the district voting system — which allows party delegates to cast votes at local branches — encouraged bribery during CSC elections.

“Vote-buying is getting worse because the system makes it easier for candidates to get a hold of the number of votes in a district,” he said.

Chen Ting-yun (陳釘雲), who also resigned, said the district voting system was the main reason behind the bribery problem.

“Gift-sending in the CSC election is a historical glitch and revoking the election status of two members will not solve the problem,” he said.

The KMT on Tuesday revoked the election status of Yang Chi-hsiung (楊吉雄) and Chiang Da-lung (江達隆) for giving gifts to party delegates. The move, however, was confronted by a group of party delegates, who said they received gifts from almost all the candidates.

“Candidates for the Central Committee and CSC elections send all kinds of gifts — from moon cakes to handbags. We were also invited to endless banquets during the election campaigns. It’s an open secret,” a delegate said on condition of anonymity.

The competition for CSC seats remained intense even though the function of the committee was weakened after Ma set up of the Zhongshan meeting in 2005 as a preparatory meeting with top KMT officials. This left the committee with little power and turned it into a rubber-stamp mechanism.

Election bribery was especially serious in this year’s CSC election, as the importance of the committee is expected to increase after Ma took over the chairmanship this month.

KMT Legislator Ho Tsai-feng (侯彩鳳), who did not offer her resignation until yesterday, said a by-­election alone would not change the bribery culture.

“If it is determined to reform, the KMT Evaluation and Disciplinary Committee should continue the investigation,” she said.

Sean Lien said the party should scrap the district voting system and start a single election with all voting booths centralized.

Greens unite, protect and besiege
　

By Paul Lin 林保華
Sunday, Oct 25, 2009, Page 8

The battle is on for the year-end mayoral, county commissioner and city and county councilor elections. The government’s plan to upgrade several cities and counties to special municipality status may have brought a certain level of disorder to the electoral process, thereby highlighting the importance of the year-end elections.

Only by preparing well for the year-end election campaign will it be possible to pave the way for next year’s special municipality elections. Just as in the recent Yunlin legislative by-election, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the green camp must unite to achieve the results they want.

The DPP has made this year’s election campaign slogan “Green rule is the best quality assurance.” While it may be an old slogan and although the DPP underperformed in some ways during its eight years in power, a comparison with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) reveals that the slogan embodies several of the party’s past strong points.

I believe the DPP should amend that slogan by adding “Protect local areas and besiege the central government.” More directly, “protecting local areas” means retaining local government control. There are lots of other things we need to protect — like water, soil and other environmental resources as people have learned following the Typhoon Morakot disaster. The residents of Penghu (澎湖) set a good example for the rest of us by opposing the opening of casinos there.

This protection should of course also include the economy. Many rural areas rely on agriculture, which is often associated with being backward. This is one of the negative effects of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) view that they would only be brief guests in Taiwan.

They overdeveloped certain areas while ignoring others, which increased the gap between urban and rural areas.

However, agriculture still needs to be emphasized, for it is counties like Yunlin that are based on agriculture that have experienced the biggest increases in the cost of living, exemplified by price increases after Morakot. Furthermore, the cost of basic living items is not rising in Taiwan; but the government is arbitrarily raising taxes to benefit big businesses and certain cities. This could set off a new wave of inflation and public suffering.

In addition, we must find new methods to protect Taiwan’s small and medium enterprises to prevent the lifeblood of Taiwan’s economy from being washed away by China once the KMT throws the doors wide open to Chinese businesses.

“Protecting local areas” also involves protecting local culture. Without Taiwan’s languages, music, opera and movies, Taiwan would be a spiritual void. The vitality of songs in Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese) has given birth to a group of excellent musicians such as Ye Chun-lin (葉俊麟) and Tyzen Hsiao (蕭泰然). What does China’s Fujian province have to offer? Many local governments in Taiwan still preserve buildings reflecting Taiwanese history. Tainan excels in this respect. However, in a pan-blue controlled area like Miaoli, people are willing to spend huge sums to build a Ma museum while they don’t think twice about knocking down the chimney of a kiln tied to the long history of Taiwanese pottery.

If we are unable to retain control of local governments, we will be unable to protect Taiwan. If we can retain local government control, we will be able to come up with solutions to trip Ma up even if his administration submits to China. In addition, we need to tap into the energy in local areas to support the special municipality elections next year as well as future legislative and presidential elections. We must regain government power lest Taiwan remain a temporary dwelling for a few highly privileged Mainlander “agents” who are “helping” China look after this place for the time being.

By “besieging the central government” I mean forming a resistance that will stop Taiwan from being handed over to China on a silver platter and keep Taiwanese free of enslavement by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Rule with the threat of violence is not peace. And removing the missiles the CCP has aimed at Taiwan does not constitute peace either because those missiles can be replaced any time China wants.

When Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) visited Taiwan last year, Taiwanese showed their strength by protesting and surrounding Chen and his entourage and by distracting members of the KMT-CCP forum from collaborating to sell out Taiwan. This time around, they don’t dare hold the meeting in Taipei, Kaohsiung or Tainan. Instead, they have chosen a place under pan-blue rule — Taichung. We must not allow the communists a chance to gain a foothold in Taiwan. This is the only way we can protect Taiwan’s national security and guarantee the rights of our people.

Paul Lin is a political commentator.