|
EDITORIAL: Failing to
look into the blind spot
Since the inauguration of President Ma Ying-jeou (°¨^¤E), the national defense
budget has plummeted. Taiwan¡¦s arsenal is aging and defense capabilities are
weakening, while China is spending more than 10 percent of its annual budget on
defense every year. The cross-strait military imbalance is a clear concern for
many countries, with even US and Japanese military experts shaking their heads
in disbelief.
A cable from the US embassy in Bangkok recently released by WikiLeaks shows that
former minister of foreign affairs Francisco Ou (¼ÚÂEÁå), in a conversation with
AIT Chairman Raymond Burghardt on March 20, 2009, said that the Ma
administration would make three commitments to the US: Taiwan would not request
that the US sell specific weapons systems to Taiwan simply to prove that the US
would do so; Taiwan would not request any special transit arrangements just to
show that the US supports Taiwan, and Taiwan would not insist on the use of
specific names based on political concerns.
The cable answers many questions. The Ma administration never intended to ask
the US for advanced weapons; it has pinned its national security strategy on
reconciliation with China ¡X so long as Beijing does not attack Taiwan, it does
not matter if this nation¡¦s weapons are out of date because they will never be
used anyway.
Peace talks are indeed one way to protect national security, but unilaterally
suing for peace will, in the short run, only create a sense of false security
and the mistaken impression that the current peaceful situation is sustainable.
Unfortunately, the current reality is not necessarily so rosy. If China were
dissatisfied with the progress of its unification attempts and decided to turn
to a military solution, where would Taiwan turn for security if its military
proved incapable of defending against even the first attack? The government¡¦s
blind pro-China policy is a sugarcoated poison pill.
The government might say in its own defense that Ma has called on the US to sell
Taiwan F16C/D aircraft on several occasions, and that he did so again when
meeting with Richard Bush, director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy
Studies at the Brooking Institution, on Wednesday.
However, Taiwan has been urging the US to sell fighter jets for seven years. The
previous Democratic Progressive Party administration asked for a price quote
three times without receiving a response. Ma blamed the US for his decision to
refrain from asking for a price quote, implying that the US did not want Taiwan
to ask for a quote.
Another look at the cable, however, shows the Ma administration¡¦s requests were
just feints to convince the public that the government feels strongly about
national defense and to convince US experts and academics that Taiwan has not
given up on self defense and will not join China, showing that there is no need
for the US to change its view of Taiwan as an ally.
China has more than 1,000 missiles aimed at Taiwan, Taiwan is within reach of
Chinese fighter jets and China¡¦s first aircraft carrier is about to go into
service. Regardless of whether a strong military is a defense necessity or a
backup force in case peace talks go wrong, Taiwan is in urgent need of advanced
weapons. As commander-in-chief responsible for the lives, property and safety of
23 million Taiwanese, Ma must understand that national security is not about
talking big, but walking small.
|
