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Keating impressed by visit to Taiwan
By Richard Halloran
Wednesday, Jan 27, 2010, Page 8
Just after Admiral Timothy Keating retired from the US Navy as head of the
Pacific Command, the largest of the USˇ¦ combatant forces, he climbed into a
civilian airplane and flew to Taiwan, where he had been forbidden to visit while
on active duty.
The admiral and his wife, Wanda Lee, who were guests of the government, did a
bit of sightseeing during their visit last month. Then he embarked on a
three-day round of meetings with President Ma Ying-jeou (°¨^¤E), other senior
officials and top officers of the armed forces.
As serving officers, Keating and other US admirals and generals have been
prohibited by successive administrations in Washington from traveling to Taiwan
out of deference to the political sensitivities of Chinese leaders. The reaction
in Beijing to any hint of US support for Taiwan has ranged from indignant to
belligerent.
Those restrictions, plus the absence of diplomatic relations between Taipei and
Washington and the lack of robust military relations that US armed forces
experience in many other nations, makes first-hand observations of officers like
Keating all the more useful. He has reported them to Pacific Command and the
Pentagon.
ˇ§The leaders I met in Taipei repeatedly expressed a desire to see senior US
active duty military officers and high level diplomats come visit Taiwan to see
for themselves,ˇ¨ Keating said by telephone from his home in Virginia.
The centerpiece of his visit was the meeting with Ma, who spoke with him in
English.
ˇ§President Ma ˇĄgets it,ˇ¦ˇ¨ Keating said, ˇ§with a longer range and wider view of
the opportunities for statesmanship across the [Taiwan] Strait.ˇ¨
ˇ§I was surprised at the lack of rancor in discussions about China and Taiwan,ˇ¨
he said.
When Ma took office in May 2008, he set policy on China as ˇ§no unification, no
independence and no use of force.ˇ¨ The first of those ˇ§three noesˇ¨ meant Taiwan
would continue its self-governing status quo. The second meant Taiwan would not
provoke China by declaring independence while the third called on Beijing to
renounce its military threat to Taiwan.
Keating said he came home convinced that ˇ§there has to be a way to resolve this
dispute. We should continue to seek a solution.ˇ¨ He suggested, however, that he
did not have a proposal.
Ma told Keating that he saw a need for four parties to resolve the 60-year-old
dispute, according to US officers. The first two are the governments in Beijing
and Washington because the Taiwan Relations Act requires the US to help the
people of Taiwan to determine their own future.
The third party was, obviously, the government in Taiwan. The fourth, Ma said,
would be the opposition parties that must have a say if a lasting solution is to
be found. That was seen as a political reality in Taiwanˇ¦s evolving democracy.
Meantime, however, Keating said the government and the people of Taiwan ˇ§are
acutely aware of the armaments 80 to 120 miles [129km to 193km] away,ˇ¨ across
the Strait. China has been reported as having 1,500 missiles aimed at targets
all over Taiwan.
ˇ§Itˇ¦s a mismatch,ˇ¨ Keating said, with the Taiwanese lacking a similar force.
ˇ§But they are hardly shaking in their boots.ˇ¨
Keating seemed impressed with Taiwanˇ¦s forces.
ˇ§I went aboard a submarine they had acquired from the US after World War II. She
was immaculate. I was taken aboard a frigate of which any US commanding officer
would have been immensely proud,ˇ¨ he said.
But he expressed mild dissatisfaction with US diplomatic delegation in Taipei.
ˇ§The American Institute in Taiwan is like an embassy except our people there
donˇ¦t fly the American flag. Thatˇ¦s something that should be reconsidered,ˇ¨ he
said.
Richard Halloran is a writer base in Hawaii.
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