Tom Plate on Chen Visit to the US

Tom Plate, the syndicated columnist who writes on Asia, was present when President Chen swung by LA on his way through the US. He wrote a great column on the visit.....

Word of the unfolding melodrama reaches a secret international VIP waiting-room at a conference area at LAX, where a crowd of pro-Taiwan well-wishers was gathered. Among the supporters included a raft of Taiwanese-American businessmen, pro-Taiwan China scholars and several Los Angeles officials (including LA Mayor Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa) -- not to mention one syndicated newspaper columnist. The tension mounts with speculation about the Presidential party’s arrival and safety.

Up in the air, the China Airlines crew manoeuvres the jetliner far out over the Pacific Ocean so as to avoid Mexican airspace (and an attack by the Mexican air force?), then swings the jumbo jet back eastward for a safe landing. The president’s party hits the Los Angeles tarmac hours late, but deplanes safely into the protective cocoon of American and Taiwanese security teams. As President Chen finally enters the VIP area, the worried crowd releases a collective sigh of relief and erupts into spontaneous and heartfelt applause. The president bows, and then proceeds to shake the hand of everyone present in the large room -- maybe a hundred or so.

One would have thought that Chen would look tired and defeated. But he did not. Instead, this controversial politician whose family had been accused by Taiwan prosecutors of corruption and who personally has been accused by Beijing of provocative "splitism" seemed unruffled, deeply calm and defiant.

It took me a few hours to piece together why he was so happy, why his own personal "Twilight Zone" experience hadn't unnerved him and why he seemed more resilient than ever. The answer is that Chen understands that Taiwan gains whenever Beijing reveals itself as a bully. He knows that a democracy never looks more necessary than when a non-democratic state acts as if it finds democracy threatening. China, by literally trying to force the president's plane out of the air and into some "Twilight Zone" of non-existence, had shown the world that at times it goes too far.

Yep...Taiwan's democracy is an enormous headache for China.

[Taiwan] [US] [China] [Chen Shui-bian]