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Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Taiwan Responds to the ICAO
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7 comments:
The US State Department's statement of "support" was little more than lip service
"In keeping with our one-China policy, we support Taiwan's membership in international organizations that do not require statehood," Choi said. "In organizations that require statehood for membership (such as the ICAO), the United States supports Taiwan's meaningful participation."
That is a wonderful, pointed and poignant video. Taiwan's treatment at ICAO and the weak-kneed reaction of the western democracies to China's belligerent behavior in this case is indeed disgraceful. Stand the hell up guys!
I used to operate an airline over-flying Taiwan and occasionally landing in Taiwan, in either case interacting intensively with Taiwanese Air Traffic Control professionals, who were (a) first class and (b) essential to integrate into any international flight paths between N. America / NE Asia and points south and west, from Hong Kong and SE Asia and beyond.
If Taiwan is going to be treated like a rogue state, perhaps it should start behaving like one.
I just think it's time for the US to put up or shut up. The US needs to start delivering on tangible and meaningful goals to advance Taiwan's "meaningful participation" or it should be fired. It's not like Obama Inc. has delivered much in eight years.
The government in Taiwan could be proactive and slap hefty landing charges on all aircraft coming from China. The basis would be that as China has worked to exclude Taiwan from the ICAO, then Taiwan has extra costs to meet in order to ensure the safety of air passengers. It might even help to persuade those willing participants in the brain drain to China that their costs will rise in the future to the point that they will have to decide which side of the strait their future really lies.
Simultaneously, passengers arriving from China could be handled with the same careful (indeed, obsessive) security as all cross-border passengers in Europe - while allowing all other passengers to benefit from the conventional measures currently used. No discrimination - except dependent on origin.
Hi Michael,
In this post you state that ‘western democracies’ have let down Taiwan. I remember you’ve criticized along the same lines before. Somewhat spineless, I think, are the words you might not have used, but which sums up your criticism of, among other continents, Europe? I tend to agree, albeit not without the following thought.
Have you ever put yourself into the average European’s skin (or any ‘outside’ skin for that matter)? How do Europeans perceive a country that holds back on calling itself just that, the country of Taiwan? To people I spoke to in Europe, the name ‘Republic of China’ causes just as many misunderstandings now as it did some 20 years ago when I first came to Taiwan. Are Europeans solely to blame for that?
Most of Europe has fought wars, civil and proper, over territorial claims. Other countries (like mine, tiny Belgium) have endured centuries of foreign hegemony. I don’t want Taiwan to fight any war, but trying to maintain a ‘status quo’ with an antagonistic country has, I believe, never been in Europe’s historical lexicon.
Friends and other interested souls who bother to listen to my explanations have trouble grasping Taiwan’s ambiguous political stand vis-à-vis China. Could be due to the way I tend to explain things to them, or to things I might have inadvertently left out, of course…
But I think you will agree that European politicians (pragmatic as they seem) are indeed well informed on Taiwan’s status. But most of their electorate doesn’t understand - or bothers to understand - Taiwan’s unique geo-economic situation. Why, then, should those politicians stick out their neck and possibly suffer negative consequences from a bullying China that might affect the livelihood of their voters?
Wouldn’t Taiwan need to become more assertive if it truly wishes to be better understood by the West? I'm afraid that the political fight for a vibrant democracy within Taiwan will not enough to earn outside support. Taiwan would have to stand much taller at any international event, however far and between such occasions might be.
And yet, a number of Taiwanese still seem to be hesitant to, for instance, proudly hold their flag at international sport events. Even doing so in home games might draw criticism. You and I might understand, but don’t count on a similar understanding of average Europeans or others who’ve never been to Taiwan.
Lastly and on a rather political footnote, could it be that the DPP is currently acting too much in the spirit of: "Oh world, why do you forsake us?... But hey, don’t expect us to rock this political status quo with China"
Thanks for the work you put into your informative blog, Michael.
Johan
Great comment, Johan. Many thanks.
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