"China needs a reality check on Taiwan"

Washington Times

August 9, 2002

The article "China rejects vote on Taiwan's fate" (World, Tuesday) misses one important point. Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's speech this past weekend did not mark a change in policy but rather a reaffirmation of principles that the United States and Taiwan have shared for years.

     Both the United States and Taiwan have long recognized that the Taiwanese people have a fundamental right to choose their own destiny. Despite China's threats to invade Taiwan if it should declare independence, former President Clinton declared in 2000: "The issues between Beijing and Taiwan must be resolved peacefully and with the assent of the people of Taiwan." Current legislation before the House and the Senate contains even more emphatic language, while President Bush's expressions of support for Taiwan have been equally strong.

     Given that past American and Taiwanese presidents have echoed the same sentiment, Mr. Chen's remarks were hardly radical. His call for legislation that would allow the Taiwanese people to make decisions for themselves through nationwide referendums merely voices the shared democratic beliefs of the United States and Taiwan.

     Also, Mr. Chen's declaration that China and Taiwan are separate countries is less a radical idea than a statement of the obvious: Taiwan has existed as a de facto independent country for the entire history of the People's Republic of China. Both the United States and Taiwan saw long ago that there is nothing revolutionary about allowing the 23 million citizens of this democracy to choose their own fate, nor in recognizing that it exists as a separate country in everything but name.

     China refuses to recognize this reality. Despite statements from both Taipei and Washington that each nation's policies remain unchanged, China said that Mr. Chen's remarks "will seriously sabotage relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and affect peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region." Having said so, China immediately decided to fulfill its own prophecy, announcing new military exercises near Taiwan.

     It goes without saying that Taiwan's safety and security are of ongoing concern to the people of Taiwan and to Taiwanese Americans. It is therefore all the more important that section 1202 in the House version of the National Defense Authorization Bill for 2003 (now in conference committee) about interoperability and military cooperation between Taiwan and the United States become law.
    
     MING-CHI WU
     President
     Formosan Association for Public Affairs
     Washington