American Enterprise Institute on Taiwan & Bush Admnistration

Late last month the American Enterprise Institute, the conservative think tank with old ties to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), editorialized on the Bush Adminstration's stance toward Taiwan in the Wall Street Journal:

After nearly five years of the global war on terror, you'd think the Bush administration would understand the importance of military preparedness. But apparently some lessons are harder to learn than others. U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld last month wrote to the U.S. Congress opposing a measure calling for upgraded military exchanges with Taiwan. Mr. Rumsfeld argued it would interfere with the "President's authority to conduct diplomatic, intelligence, and military activities."

Many years ago when I worked in Washington, I used to think Congress was of limited usefulness on the Taiwan question, but as an AIT staffer pointed out to me, Congress holds regularly meetings on foreign policy issues, is accessible to the public in a way that the administration is not, sends Congresscritters out to visit foreign policy posts, and can, as we see above, provide a much-needed push to a recalcitrant administration. Here the Taiwan caucus has pushed for upgraded military links to Taiwan.

The need for these is obvious. As AEI puts it:

The present situation, under which only more junior military officers, such as colonels and captains, are allowed to visit Taiwan, doesn't work. Only generals and admirals command joint land, sea and air operations, have experience in comprehensive military planning and the bureaucratic authority within the Pentagon to push through new initiatives to help Taiwan.

It is negligent to prohibit American officers with this essential knowledge from familiarizing themselves with the military they may be fighting alongside and the island they may be asked to help protect. Regular visits by senior U.S. military officers would allow them to work with the island to improve its capabilities in threat analysis, force planning, logistics, and operational tactics and procedures.

Current US policy essentially curbs US cooperative exchanges with Taiwan, but then expects that in time of war, we'll be able to carry out coordination of military activities. Anyone remember ABDA?

Four navies, Australian, British, Dutch, and American, were gathered under the command of Dutch Admiral Doorman. Throughout February 1942, Doorman and his command fought a series of battles that were never in the Allies favor, and resulted in the destruction of ABDA as a major threat to the Japanese. Doorman himself was killed during the Battle of the Java Sea (February 27, 1942.)

ABDA suffered from a lack of modern ships, but more so from a lack of coordinated training as a unit. All of the capital ships were lost: HMS Exeter, the cruiser that chased the Nazi pocket battleship Graf Spee to extinction in 1939; USS Houston, HMAS Perth, and the Dutch Navy’s Java and DeRutyer. The Japanese only suffered damage to several destroyers and lost a transport.

The moral of the story is clear: hastily formed mixed commands don't work well and result in needless casualties and military reverses. AEI also points out that the Bush Administration's rejection of increased Taiwan-US military contacts is largely the result of bureaucratic inertia:

Neither international law nor any agreement with China requires this ban, which was first imposed through "guidelines" issued by the U.S. State Department after then-President Jimmy Carter switched formal diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. Moreover, it is a restriction that runs contrary to the logic of the Taiwan Relations Act, which mandates the U.S. to enable Taiwan to "maintain a sufficient self-defense capability," and with the exception of formal diplomatic ties, treat the island as a state in virtually every other respect.

It's almost too easy, but it is hard to avoid writing on US Taiwan policy without mentioning its sad ironies:

It is a strange calculus that drives the U.S. relationship with Taiwan today. In spite of the fact that the island is a fully fledged democracy, a valued player in the global economy, and a partner in the war on terrorism, America treats it with less diplomatic decorum than a country like Syria--all in the name of placating Beijing.

I look forward to enhanced US Taiwan military exchanges. And sell us those F-16s!

[Taiwan] [AEI]

Daily Links, September 5, 2006

Plenty of stuff out there in the blogosphere today:

Don't miss David's post on Constitutional Issues at Jujuflop. Extremely informative.

The Levitator searched out the links between organized crime figure Chang An-lo, and Lin Cheng-chieh, who beat up a pro-democracy commentator on a talk show last month. I was so inspired by this great post that I wrote up some More on Chang, the "White Wolf", at Taiwan Matters, our new political blog on Taiwan.

Also at Taiwan Matters Feiren commented on the rhetorical potency of Taiwan nationalism .

For those of you into tea, Authentic Tea From Taiwan has some very nice pics and comments.

Ni Howdy says it's That time again for NFL football pools here in Taichung

[Taiwan]

AmCham Editorial Creates Miniflap

Locals news orgs are reporting on the spat between the American Chamber of Commerce and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), the more radical of the pro-independence parties. The China Post reports:

The executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (AmCham) Richard Vuylsteke yesterday stood by an editorial in the chamber's magazine critical of the hard line pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) -- despite a strong backlash from the minority party.

The editorial in AmCham's latest issue of TOPICS magazine criticizing the TSU's opposition to closer economic ties with the mainland yesterday infuriated TSU politicians, who warned the chamber against interfering in Taiwan's internal politics.

The editorial even provoked comments from former President Lee Teng-hui according to local news reports.

Vuylsteke said the chamber's stance on closer ties with China was similar to views held by the majority of the public. He warned that too much economic isolation would make Taiwan a nation similar to North Korea or Burma.

The AmCham editorial is online. The nasty bit is here:

The second dose of reality is that the conference – even given the limitations of its awkward structure – could have accomplished far more to assure a brighter economic future for Taiwan. Unfortunately politics got in the way when the tiny Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) held the meeting agenda hostage to the party’s ideological bias against closer economic ties with China. As a pan-green ally, the TSU commands more influence with the government than the number of its supporters warrants, and the party’s “spiritual leader,” ex-President Lee Teng-hui, still has a following because of his past contributions to building Taiwan’s democracy.

But on purely economic grounds, Lee and the TSU are off base. Without an ability to tap fully into the regional and global business activity that flows through China, Taiwan will be just another medium-sized market of limited interest to international corporations (and to their business-minded governments). By deferring to the TSU and failing to adopt further opening to China through expanded industrial investment and the opening of banking connections, the government is weakening, not safeguarding, Taiwan’s competitiveness.

It's comical to accuse the TSU of having an "ideological bias" while remaining silent on China's ongoing campaign to crush the island's independence and democracy. The TSU has one of those weird and unexplainable aversions to being shot at, bombed, and invaded. It also has a strange and inexplicable desire to make Taiwan's economy grow, and to grow Taiwan using Taiwan's capital, not to develop the island's worst enemy. It looks churlish -- nay, ideological -- of AmCham not to at least concede that the TSU has a point. Such writing wins no hearts and minds. Quite the opposite -- it has needlessly caused a flap. Imagine if AmCham had instead written:

The second dose of reality is that the conference – even given the limitations of its awkward structure – could have accomplished far more to assure a brighter economic future for Taiwan. We understand that many in Taiwan fear that more openness to China will result in the "hollowing out" of Taiwan's economy. However, we beg to differ. Taiwan cannot begin to move up in the international supply chain until it becomes part of that chain. It cannot develop more global, international outlook unless it joins the international economy. And for better or for worse, that economy will be focused on China in the future. With its lingustic and cultural affinities, physical proximity, and decades of experience in international trade, Taiwan is ideally poised to grasp another kind of economic future, one that involves it closely with China. Taiwan businessmen know this; that's why there are a million of them just across the Strait.

The way to deal with fear is by facts and reassurance, not contemptuous dismissal and accusations of closemindedness. The TSU may be a minority party, but it represents a large segment of the populace that fears closer ties with China, and for good reason. You catch more flies with honey.....

If it couldn't forthrightly acknowledge uncomfortable facts (I thought businessmen were realists), AmCham would have been better off to remain silent and instead concentrate on things like Taiwan's entirely unreasonable visa laws, the lack of international schools for the children of expats, and sundry other issues that make Taiwan so painful to the outside world. It is pointless to open up to China if foreign businessmen cannot settle here with ease and assure themselves of schools for their children.

AmCham's topical writings are often highly informative, if you can get past the right-wing bias (the well-known right-wing nut poster at Forumosa, "Fred Smith", is actually an AmCham official), and I recommend reading the back issues. The cover story of the most recent issue, Power Supply Blues, for example, does offer a few facts about Taiwan's power situation, but evinces that unreasoning real-men-love-nukes passion for nuclear power that causes people to write all sorts of nonsense about them while denigrating renewables. Also interesting is the advertizement/editorial on the problem of fake fertilizers in Taiwan (If You Don’t Penalize the Infringers, You are Penalizing the Law-abiders), a problem I was not aware of. Also of interest is their take on a US-Taiwan Free Trade Agreement, which seems unlikely at the current juncture.

[Taiwan]

Taiwan Communique Out

Gerritt van der Wees passed around the info on the latest Taiwan Communique.

+++++++++++++++

We are pleased to let you know that the next issue of Taiwan Communique is off the press.

We focus on a number of important issues, such as the Taiwan-into-the-UN campaign, the sad story of Shih Ming-teh, the Irivine Sister City saga, the Senate High-level resolution, and more.

We also present a book review of Prof. Jerome Keating's excellent new book, The Struggles of a Democracy.

Below you find the Table of Contents. The full issue can be found on our website www.taiwandc.org/twcom

Best regards,

Gerrit van der Wees
Editor, Taiwan Communiqué


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


CONTENTS Taiwan Communiqué no. 110

September / October 2006

Taiwan into the United Nations

What's in a name? .................................. 1

Pan-blues continue campaign against President

Half-truths, lies, hearsay, and innuendo ........... 3

The sad story of Shih Ming-teh ..................... 4

China's military threat

Chinese missile hits Israeli naval vessel .......... 7

Beyond the special arms budget by Mark Stokes ........ 8

The Irvine sister-city Story .......................... 11

British Parliamentary Report on East Asian ties ....... 12

A Free Trade Agreement for Taiwan by Kin-ming Liu ..... 14

Commemorating the death of Prof. Wen-cheng Chen ....... 17

Report from Washington

Senate high-level contacts Resolution introduced .. 18

Douglas Paal's misconceptions ..................... 19

Paal has forgotten China's real motives............ 19

Book Review

The Struggles of a Democracy by Jerome Keating ...... 21

[Taiwan] [Chen Shui-bian] [Democracy] [DPP] [KMT] [Taipei]

Prez to stop in Guam

I've been waiting patiently to announce it: the US isn't snubbing Chen at all. Guam news stations are saying that Chen will be stopping there on his way through. Thanks, America, for this tiny favor.

Taiwan president Chen Shui-Bian is expected to make a brief visit to the island on Wednesday. According to wire reports, the Taiwan president's spokesperson David Lee confirmed Chen will pass through immigration to hold a banquet and meet people during the four-hour stop. Chen is currently in Palau for a summit and will leave to Nauru on Tuesday and then stop on Guam before his return to Taiwan.

[Taiwan] [Chen Shui-bian]

Rounding up the News....

Financial Times reporter Kathrin Hille, who usually churns out anti-Green, pro-Blue screed, didn't do a half-bad job this time...writing on the anti-Chen campaign, Hille observes:

Participation in the sit-ins appears largely limited to opposition supporters, although it is led by Shih Ming-teh, a former chairman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, and a dissident who spent 25 years in jail before Taiwan’s democratistion.

Mr Shih has over the past few years distanced himself from the DPP but failed to build a separate following or a strong moral authority.

"Participation in the sit-ins appears largely limited to opposition supporters...." "...failed to build a separate following or a strong moral authority." Not too shabby. It would have been nice if she had forthrightly pointed out that Shih has allied himself with the Blues since the late 1990s (an op-ed piece in today's Taipei Times snarkily opined that he is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome), but this is a vast improvement over some of the stuff she has written before about Chen ( Financial Times Anti-Chen screed, Ma the Coolly Pragmatic, Financial Times: Still MORE anti-Chen screed, Hille Again: Rampant Corruption).

Also, I should offer the Financial Times some serious kudos for regularly reporting on Taipei, even if their reporter here can't find an objective tone and point of view. Not many papers do that.

++++++++++

Meanwhile, in news of the way cool, Taiwan has discovered massive gas deposits right offshore:

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan geologists have confirmed the existence of more than 500 billion cubic meters of gas hydrate off the southwest coast, enough to meet the island's gas needs for over 60 years, a government geologist said on Monday.

But commercial extraction is likely much more than a decade away as techniques to tap the gas are still being developed, Wang Yunshuen, section chief of the mineral resources section, at the Central Geological Survey.

"For gas hydrate, every country in the world is still in the investigative stage and cannot yet produce it commercially," Wang said. "There are still many technical difficulties that must be overcome .... it will take more than 10 years," Wang said.

Hydrate formations exist under hundreds of meters of water in places like the Gulf of Mexico and closer to the surface in permafrost areas of the Arctic.

Reuters

[Taiwan] [Chen Shui-bian] [Democracy] [DPP] [KMT] [Taipei]

Shih: Just one More Tool

As the anti-Chen campaign of former DPP Chairman and former Taiwan democracy activist Shih Ming-te gears up for protests to begin Sept 9 in Taipi, Shih's previous spokeswoman, Ho De-fen, was canned a couple of days ago What does this mean? Well, Ho understood that Shih's protest could not be seen as a pro-Blue campaign -- never mind that it essentially is -- she understood that it would discredit it completely if it became perceived as too obviously partisan or became heavily commercialized. The Taipei Times reported on the conflict between Ho and Jerry Fan, another spokesman (why does it need or have two?):

"Following the first "trial" protest on Friday night, the camp's spokeswoman Ho De-fen (賀德芬) yesterday shared her concern about the "commercialization" of the protest.

Ho challenged another spokesman, Jerry Fan (范可欽), over his ideas for the rally, including wearing red clothes to show anger and playing classical music during the protest.

Fan yesterday defended his ideas and said they were the product of a collaborative effort by the camp's think tank, and not his alone."

With Ho, who had fought to make it a Blue/Green initiative, now out, the Blues are going to get more open about turning this into a pro-Blue campaign. Mark the exit of Ho as the point when the Shih campaign train left the tracks and veered into overt and eager pro-China/Blue partisanship.

One might also ask who is in the 'think tank' governing the campaign. Shih was/is the convener for the so-called Shanmeng, the "Mountain Alliance", a pro-unification think tank that also includes turncoats Hsu Hsin-liang and Sissy Chen. Hsu has his own protest going at the same time as Shih's.

In case anyone has forgotten, this is not the first time that the Blues have gone after Chen using public protests as their weapon, nor is it the first time that Chen was attacked by fellow DPPers over a protest issue. When Chen was mayor of Taipei he went after the city's enormous prostitution complex, shutting down brothels by the score and forcing many to move out to more congenial places in the 'burbs. He also yanked the licenses for the few legal prostitutes in the city, and the response was a series of protests that were well-organized and went on for more than a year and half -- protests even the local sex workers on whose behalf they were conducted saw as suspiciouly political:

"The conflict between government and city council deepened with every month the closer the year-end elections for the Taipei city mayor came. In the City Council many KMT (Nationalist Party, Kuomintang) councillors but also DPP members fought against Chen Shui-pien and DPP members loyal to him, so the problem did not seem to be so much the question of the women’s welfare but rather a political struggle between the two opposing parties. Finally, in the mayoral elections Chen Chui-pien was defeated in favour of the KMT’s member Ma Ying-jiou who promised to grant the two-year grace period once he took up office. However, the DPP — in the role of the opposition party and voted out of power only four years after they had gained one of the most important posts for the first time in their history — started to retaliate and hamper the announcement with threats and delay tactics. It took until January 25, 1999 before Ma was able to reinstall proper legal procedure and proclaim the installation of the two-year grace period."

Laurie Underwood at Asia Times had this to say on the issue in 1998:

"This was no ordinary protest. For one thing it was suspiciously well-organized and media-savvy. Indeed, Chen insists few of the protesters were actually prostitutes. "Licensed prostitutes are not well-educated. How can they can create those slogans?" he asks. "They claim their financial situation is not good. How can they afford to carry on these protests month after month?" According to Chen and his backers, this is not about prostitution but about wrecking his political career -- not an idle charge from a man many expect to unseat the Kuomintang in presidential polls two years hence."

And impeachment is not new either. Remember this threat?:

"Councilors say Chen has created all the trouble for himself by being stubborn on the issue of legal prostitution. "Mayor Chen is acting as a dictator, with no sense of humanity," says council speaker Chen Chien-Chih of the KMT. "The council needs to protect underprivileged groups." He says the council reinstated licensed prostitution to allow the women time to pay off debts and prepare for mainstream vocations. "How can we ask them to suddenly go from making $5,000 a month to $1,000 a month," he asks. If the mayor does not formally recognize the new law within a one-month grace period, the council will try to get him impeached.

It's always the same KMT game -- make wild and insane accusations against Chen (he's a dictator, he had himself shot), demand that he be impeached, forment public protests. These tactics work because they do not require anything concrete -- just willing tools like Shih Ming-te or city prostitutes, and a complacent media with no sense of history, little restraint, no interest in serious investigative work, and a profound pro-Blue bias.

[Taiwan] [Chen Shui-bian] [Democracy] [DPP] [KMT] [Taipei]

Hsinchu BBQ

Getting the fire going.

Yesterday I went off to a multicultural BBQ in a beautiful factory setting up in Hsinchu with friends from India, the Philippines, Taiwan, and the US at the invitation of the talented New Hampshire Bushman.

My wife and I try to keep up with demand.

Michael and I take a break from the hard business of cooking.

My daughter poses as our Taiwanese hosts converse in the background.

As we waited for the food to cook, Michael, a professional musician and recording artist who runs his own casting consortium, got out his 12 string guitar and regaled us with songs out of our misspent youth.

Saumen, a brilliant PHD student in nanotech at a local university, enjoys a laugh in the late afternoon shade. Saumen needed a laugh; his parked car was slammed into by a drunken scooter rider the other night. Bummer.

[Taiwan]

China Confiscating Lonely Planet Guides because of Taiwan Issue

filination reports:

Oooo… there's a weird story for you. Apparently, some Israeli tourists going to travel in China with the latest Lonely Planet book were asked to hand in their very expensive book at the border-crossing due to its 'political nature' showing maps of China which color Taiwan in a different color suggesting that Taiwan is not a part of China.

[Taiwan] [China]

Daily Links, Sept 2, 2006

Lots of stuff to burn today...

Battlepanda is invaded by the Taiwan press without so much as a howdy-do. There's a reason I keep a baseball bat handy...

Kerim muses on the relationship between party policy and economic evolution. Is the DPP so different from the KMT on economics? Doesn't seem to be a great difference between them...

As Scott Sommers notes, the Asian blog awards are up for Taiwan.

The Real Taiwan finds out that pearl milk tea is the favorite drink of foreigners.

[Taiwan]

Airport Name to Change?

When in doubt, strike a blow against the regime -- the vanished one, that is. The Chen Administration has proposed doing what it should have done 5 years ago when it first got into office: changing the name of the airport, Chiang Kai-shek International, to Taiwan Taoyuan.

The government wants to change the name of the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport to "Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport," pending approval during next Wednesday's weekly Cabinet meeting.

"It is difficult to change the name, but it is definitely not impossible," President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said.

The president announced the proposed name change at a ceremony at which soldiers received awards for outstanding service ahead of Soldier's Day tomorrow, although his remarks were not directly related to the military.

In addition to promoting the name change, Chen said that the four Kidd-class destroyers which the Navy bought from the US would be given names that are relevant to Taiwan.

"These destroyers should be named after cities in Taiwan," Chen said. "In the past, the navy named its vessels after historical heroes or cities in China."

It's definitely the right move -- but it is simply years too late, and provides fodder for the "look how little Chen can do" criticisms of the current administration. The Taipei Times pointed out the fallacies of the "Mad Chen" thesis:

Some analysts have predicted that Chen will feverishly use the remainder of his term to fortify his legacy, thus potentially destabilizing the region with theatrical actions that would infuriate Beijing.

This danger is grossly overstated. Any meaningful legacy involves fortifying domestic support not for him personally but for the integrity of the nation. There are many things he can do in attempting this, but the pragmatic nature of Taiwanese is such that the extent of his reach is limited by local power structures -- which is exactly why he had to consult with the Taoyuan County commissioner on the renaming of an international facility.

Good move -- but years late. I was talking about the vanished statues of Chiang Kai-shek, which had disappeared when the DPP came to power, with a longtime democracy activist here. When I opined that this was a good thing, it was pointed out to me that with the statues gone, there are no reminders of the past, with its slogans and political cultism, and so it is that much more easily forgotten. The government needs to find a way to hold free itself of the colonial past, in such a way that it can be remembered as a lesson for future generations.

[Taiwan]

The Politcs of Fifth Grade

My daughter went up to fifth grade this year. Taller and more beautiful and sweeter with each passing year, she was delighted to go to school this year.

Each year the school has an arrangement. The government places strict limits on class size, which is 35. If enrollment for a given grade exceeds 35 students, then there must be two classes. What our school does is enroll several students who are homeschooled, and persuade others to register who actually intend to go to another school. The result is that it can turn in enough names to permit two classes to be hosted, thus preserving at least two jobs, and much higher educational quality. Meanwhile some kids move on to the big schools, where we are always being urged to send our kid, since they really crack down on the kids there, and class sizes are huge. It's an article of faith among the parents that bigger must be better, and at PTA meetings the parents and old graduates complain that the school is too small. We love it....

Last year was a social nightmare for my daughter, stuck in a class with only one friend and ignored and abused by the other girls. This year the classes were mixed up again, and she got in with all her friends. A new teacher came as well, who, as my daughter put it, yelled at everyone, kicked a table, and then apologized for his behavior.

Looking forward to much blogging on the politics of fifth grade again...

[Taiwan]

Washington Times: US to deny F-16s

The article speaks for itself:

Inside the Ring

By Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough
September 1, 2006

Punishing Taiwan
Pentagon officials tell us President Bush has been advised to deny new sales of F-16 jets to Taiwan.

The advice is said to have originated from White House National Security Council (NSC) staff, who convinced the president not to approve new F-16 sales to Taiwan to avoid upsetting China. It would also signal disapproval with Taipei for its failure to procure submarines, surveillance aircraft and missile defenses offered for sale since 2001.

The official response we received from NSC spokesman Frederick Jones is that: "We have not to date received a request from the Taiwan Government for F-16s. If we do, it will be considered in keeping with our Taiwan Relations Act commitments."

Other officials tell us what really happened is that Taiwan's chief representative to the United States, David Tawei Lee, was told privately that now is not the time to submit a request for F-16s, to avoid the negative publicity of turning it down. Mr. Lee is close to the acting NSC Asia director, Dennis Wilder.

News of the rejection will be greeted with toasts in Beijing as a great propaganda victory, and another example of how China uses its influence over U.S. academics, policy-makers and intelligence officials to skew U.S. policy. Chinese military officials recently pressed the Bush administration and the Pentagon to halt all arms sales to rival Taiwan.

Taiwan's government confirmed earlier this week that it plans to buy up to 66 new F-16C/D models to replace F-5s. The deal was estimated to be worth $3.1 billion.

Press reports from Taiwan also stated that the Bush administration has rejected a request from Taipei to allow Taiwanese leader Chen Shui-bian to make a transit stop on the U.S. territory of Guam during an upcoming South Pacific visit.

The snub on Guam follows a visit to the island by several Chinese military officials who were given a tour of Guam, a major hub for the U.S. military buildup in Asia, during a recent military exercise.

The short-sightedness of this response to an F-16 procurement request is everywhere evident. If the Bush Administration is serious about checking China, and Taiwan is an important link in that containment chain, then Taiwan. must. have. fighters. Either the US will have to sell them now, or it will have to come up with fighters in a hurry to oppose China when it finally moves on Taiwan -- a possibility that becomes ever more real each time the US fails to aid Taiwan. Control of the air is imperative in either taking or holding Taiwan, and 60 modern fighters would go a long way toward insuring that the good guys control the air, and reducing the US need to intervene, and the size of the commitment when it actually does.

Further, by stifling the sale, the US also rewards the KMT and its allies, the pan-Blue coalition, in two important ways. First, it rewards the Blues for blocking the arms package. And second, it shows that their strategy of blocking the arms package to create trouble between the US and its natural ally, the DPP, is effective. If the US wants to discourage further Blue obstructionism and get the arms purchase package passed, rewarding such obstructionism is hardly the right strategy. Additionally, with Japan moving closer to Taiwan, the Bush Administration is also ignoring Japanese interests (somebody in Taipei ought to consider enlisting Tokyo to plead their case in Washington). This decision serves no long-term US interest -- not the US economy, not democracy, not regional stability, not its alliances, and not its commitment to the people of Taiwan.

If this is truly the Administration response, it is immature, shortsighted, and self-defeating. I hope that either the report is wrong, or the Administration changes its mind. Time for Taiwan to put that Congressional Caucus to work by pointing out just how many jobs will be generated by a $3.1 billion fighter sale...

[Taiwan] [US] [China] [DPP] [F-16] [KMT] [Taiwan Relations Act (TRA)] [US Foreign Policy]

NY Sun: Good article on Shih, Lin, and Political Assaults on President Chen

The NY Sun had a good article today discussing recent political developments on the island...it's not often the foreign media shows a real understanding of the island...

Mr. Chen has rejected the mounting calls for him to step down, two years before his second four-year term expires. And for good reasons, I believe. Yes, Mr. Chen's image has been tainted by recent developments. His son-in-law, Chao Chien-ming has been indicted on charges of insider trading. First Lady Wu Shu-chen has been questioned about accepting department store gift vouchers. His former deputy chief-of-staff, Chen Che-nan, faces corruption charges. And Mr. Chen himself is being investigated for an under-documented portion of his state affairs budget. I'm all for the downfall of Mr. Chen if he's to be found guilty of any violation of the law by the judiciary. However, the president hasn't even been charged yet and there's no credible indication of such an outcome.

Politics is politics and the opposition is under no obligation to be nice to Mr. Chen. In a democracy, the opposition has every right to make life miserable for the ruling party, as along as they're doing it within the existing channels to play the game. However, they have tried their hands to evict Mr. Chen from office and failed — a vote on a possible recall referendum on the president was defeated at the Legislative Yuan, or parliament, two months ago. The Pan-Blue camp now is trying to mobilize the people to topple a democratically-elected government. This is not the way to address your grievances — the ballot box is.

And if you haven't read it, former AIT Chairman Nat Bellocchi's commentary yesterday in the Taipei Times should not be missed:

These days, Taiwanese media spend almost all of their energy on producing stories about the need for President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to step down, despite the lack of judicial evidence that he has committed any illegal act. The purpose of all this is not primarily to destroy the president, but to keep him and his government occupied on this issue while the pan-blue opposition prepares for the forthcoming elections.

The opposition has failed to have Chen legally recalled and now is turning to political means. The difference in the present effort is that it is being made by non-governmental organizations and individuals, based primarily on information that has not been proven.

Nonetheless, it has generated a large number of supporters, mostly pan-blue of course, but also some intellectuals and dissatisfied pan-green followers. However, increasingly we now see more of the intellectuals, some of whom were originally gung-ho with their anti-Chen rhetoric, questioning the wisdom of bringing Chen down.

[Taiwan]

Daily Links, Sept 1, 2006

All the colors of the rainbow today...

Bala Daily reviews Warburg's new novel about a US-China conflict over Taiwan. See also his link to a 5 part Japanese documentary about the High Speed Rail boondoggle and his review of future directions for the Taipei MRT. Sure wish we had one in Taichung.

Wandering to Tamshui blogs further on the Caffiene Wars.

Karl finds out that Jane booted Sergio, kicked the habit, and went to Spain.

Wannabe killer Jon Karr was once here on the Beautiful Isle.

Prince Roy finds yet another example of silly Taiwan t-shirts.

Pinyin News blogs on a Festschrift for John DeFrancis, author of many important books and articles on Chinese language.

[Taiwan]