Major stir this week when it was revealed that a high ranking police official from the Chinese Empire visited Taiwan this month and the visit was kept from the public:A visit to Taiwan by Chinese Vice Minister of Public Security Chen Zhimin (陳智敏) and his delegation earlier this month was shrouded in secrecy and intentionally unpublicized, even as talks were held with senior government officials, an investigation by the Taipei Times showed yesterday.What's to be scared about? "This could be the first time in the nation’s history that a visit by senior Chinese officials was covered up by Taiwan’s own government agencies" says the Taipei Times, but it does not seem very likely that Chen's has been the only such visit kept from the public. What did the Administration say? It added:
Chen, who is believed to be the second-highest-ranking Chinese official to visit the nation in the past 12 years in an official capacity, was in Taipei from Sept. 13 through Sept. 18 and met representatives from the Ministry of the Interior, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and the Ministry of Justice.
“We had a tacit understanding with [China] … we weren’t going to release this trip to the media because of the upcoming [November] elections,” he said. “The request [for this] came from China, and as the host, we accepted.”This offhand description seems to suggest that this sort of thing has happened before (and how can a "tacit understanding" be "a request"?). A friend of mine just got back from Beijing, where he watched a TV show devoted entirely to Taiwan, with intelligent and insightful statements from a military official on the island's electoral politics. This little clarification shows that Beijing is becoming quite savvy in intervening in the island's politics on behalf of its allies, the KMT, and also demonstrates the tight coordination between the two. It is also another example of the many ways in which the KMT uses the China relationship to further its own position in Taiwan.
Consider also that the use of official secrecy for partisan political purposes is an undemocratic abuse of power. Let us hope the party responsible pays for it at the polls.
One must also ask of the KMT media: what did they know and when did they know it? Surely in a case like this the local pan-Green media is the last to get hold of the story. This case may also show how national security and policy, along with democratic media behavior, are subordinate in pan-Blue media reporting to the needs of the KMT.
The visit coincided with the Ma Administration decisions to send Taiwan coast guard vessels to confront Japan in the Senkakus, and with the joint Coast Guard exercises. It seems unlikely that there is a connection to the former event since it must have been scheduled weeks in advance. It also coincided with a big media blitz over other visiting Chinese officials.
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If China and Chinese are so popular and welcome in Taiwan, why would they need to cover it up? Wouldn't it serve the Ma administration better to demonstrate to the Taiwanese that Ma's conciliatory policies toward China are giving Taiwanese the results he promised and insists the Taiwanese people are requesting?
ReplyDeleteOh, wait!
Michael, just in case the PRC invades Taiwan tomorrow will you serve in the army, marines , navy or air force?
ReplyDeleteRicha
"Consider also that the use of official secrecy for partisan political purposes is an undemocratic abuse of power. Let us hope the party responsible pays for it at the polls."
ReplyDeleteNot good enough, Turton. The damage (intelligence gathering, recruitment and mechanisms for playing hardball over political dissidents) will already be underway right now and is not reversible at the polls.
Michael, just in case the PRC invades Taiwan tomorrow will you serve in the army, marines , navy or air force?
ReplyDeleteWhere do you think I'd be the most effective?
@ mike
ReplyDeletedude, would it hurt to refer to Michael by his first name? aren't we broadly on the same side here?
Richa,
ReplyDeleteI think the point is that pretty soon, the PRC won't have to invade. Ma will be rolling out a welcome mat.
Secrecy for high level security talks between police / security departments of various countries is standard operating procedure everywhere. It's not exactly cause for concern. Unless you're a right wing conspiracy nutjob, it's not exactly cause for concern.
ReplyDeleteSecurity for the sake of national security is fine. But as the government itself averred, the reason the visit was kept secret was to engage in partisan politicking. Secrecy had nothing to do with security.
ReplyDeleteMichael, just in case the PRC invades Taiwan tomorrow will you serve in the army, marines , navy or air force? Richa
ReplyDeleteWhat a stupid comment. Why don't you ask the Taiwan government first if they will change their immigration laws to allow dual citizenships? The Taiwanese are allowed this, you know.
IMO, Taiwan's only hope is to vote KMT out of the office, not because DPP is the savior but because KMT just sucks big time.
ReplyDelete"It's not exactly cause for concern. Unless you're a right wing conspiracy nutjob, it's not exactly cause for concern."
ReplyDeleteYou're a short sharp little pencil aren't you O'Brien?
@ Non Anon.
ReplyDeletePeople often claim that these types of meetups are usually secret but it's simply not true as any Google search will reveal. High level security meetings are commonly reported in newspapers and on TV. Actual missions involving foreign agents or military personnel are of course kept secret. It's astonishing how many people repeat what you have said. If it were so commonly known the Ma admin would have simply shrugged of criticism by saying "everyone keeps these things secret."
The reason for the secrecy was to protect KMT election interests. Why was this necessary? Because of what Chen Zhimin might have said to reporters. For a glimpse of that see news reports of his visit to Nepal (which was not a secret) two months earlier. Among other unsavory things, he upbraided the Nepalese for allowing human rights concerns over Tibetan refugees to override Chinese sovereignty. It's standard Beijing boilerplate that would go over like a lead balloon in Taiwan. I think the KMT are getting smarter at simply hiding the unpalatable parts of warming ties.
The reason the visit was covered up was because Taiwan was negotiating the "handing over" of democratic freedoms and legal protections of its citizens. The CCP is demanding that it arrest and imprison political dissidents before the handover of political power can begin. These arrests must be seen to be "beneficial to Taiwan democracy and the Two Nations One China policy." It is a silent invasion, and began the moment the KMT took power. Have you not noticed that Taiwanese news does not seem to report the news? Just silly stories about cats being rescued from trees - or sensationalistic gossip and sex scandals. It is also important to realise that most Taiwanese no longer care for democratic freedoms. What they are concerned about is financial security. The failure of western economies has driven a final nail into the coffin of democratic idealism in Asia. When the Chinese come, there will hardly be a whimper. And no one will talk about the thousands that will simply... disappear.
ReplyDelete