By Lesroy W. Williams Observer Reporter
” (Tapei, Republic of China)- The missiles pointed at the Taiwan by the People’s Republic of China remain, signaling that an imbroglio still exists between the two.” But, relationship between the two countries is growing warmer since the election of Taiwan’s President Ma-Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang Party on May 20 of this year. Nothing more speaks to this than the visit of Chen Yunlin, a top Chinese official, whose visit turned a historic page since the 1949 Civil War that drove the two countries apart. It was the first such visit since the war almost 60 years ago.” China remains communist and Taiwan, democratic. Top officials from China, led by Yunlin and top officials from Taiwan, led by P.K. Chiang, met for high level talks in Tapei on Nov. 4, in which thirteen agreements were signed, most of them having to do with flights and cargo between the two countries. The agreements would triple China-Taiwan charter flights, bringing it to 108 per week and making flights daily instead of four days a week. Routes would also be shortened and private business jets would be allowed to fly. There would be direct cargo shipments between 11 Taiwan seaports and 63 in China, tax free. This follows demands from Taiwanese investors with factories in China. Before, direct cargo shipments were previously banned due to issues of sovereignty involving vessel flags and crew nationalities. This resulted in costly detours through third countries or regions. Most flights between China-Taiwan would either stop in Hong Kong or Macau. Deals would also permit 60 direct cargo flights per month and expand direct postal links to save delivering time, which at present takes 10 days. It would also establish mechanisms for ensuring food safety by alerting each other of threats. The knotty political issues were not discussed at the meeting and it was decided to have talks every six months. Both parties indicated that the next round of talks in 2009 would focus on joint criminal law enforcement; legal protection for Taiwan’s investors in China and more food safety in light of the tainted milk powder scandal. Talks in the future would also include weathering the global financial crisis by “normalizing,” ‘tightening,” and ‘systematizing” cooperation, Chen said. The talks would iron out banking, securities and future markets by letting banks from each side set up banks in either place. President Ma, who has adopted a position of “flexible diplomacy”, has long been viewed as favoring unification with Mainland China, a position that Beijing has long held up to this day. Ma’s predecessor on the other hand, Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who adopted a “pragmatic diplomacy” policy, was vilified and shunned by Beijing because he favored the independence of Taiwan during his eight years in office. China, who regards Taiwan as a renegade province, has time and time again made its position clear that Taiwan has two choices: eventual unification or a devastating attack. On October 3, Taipei hailed one of the biggest arm sales to Taiwan in the history of ROC-US relations. The US$6.43 billion weapons package includes Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles, AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters, aircraft spare parts, an upgrade of E-2T airborne early warning and battle management air-craft, submarine-launched Harpoon anti-ship missiles and Javelin ant-tank missile systems. President Ma welcomed the decision and said that it indicates a new era of mutual trust between Taiwan and the United States. Ma is quoted in the Taiwan Journal as saying that “The sale will be conducive to the development of cross-strait relations and stability and peace in East Asia.” Minister of National Defense, Chen Chao-min, is quoted also as saying ‘the most obvious political guideline set by Ma is pronouncing that we have no intention of seeking conflict or confrontation with mainland China. Avoiding confrontation should never be interpreted as renunciation of basic principles or be seen as a total surrender.” President Ma is walking a thin line between helping Taiwan’s economy by tying it more to the booming markets in China. An economic unification is much easier than a political one. The high level talks and agreements by the Chinese and Taiwanese officials have led to thousands of demonstrators of the DPP, who took to the streets of Central Tapei with loudspeakers, banners and ribbons, to show their outrage and disgust for President Ma’s warm policies with China. They have accused President Ma of a sell out. The DPP favors putting distance between the island and China. Since the Civil War of 1949, Communist China has claimed sovereignty over Democratic Taiwan. Mao Zedong’s forces won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek’s KMT fled to Taiwan. Since then Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan under its rule, by force if necessary. Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations and they have been pleading for years to be a part. They only have 23 allies in the world, of which St. Kitts and Nevis is one. Taiwanese Ambassador to St. Kitts and Nevis, Rong-chuan Wu has maintained his position against the “One China” policy and has often said that “Taiwan is Taiwan, China is China.” “Because of the Cold War, Taiwan was recognized as the sole legitimate government representing both Mainland China and Taiwan in the UN until the UN gave in to communist demands. In 1971, Taiwan was expelled from the United Nations and replaced by China. China has adopted a policy of refusing diplomatic relations with any nation that recognizes Taiwan, Ambassador Wu said. “Through this practice of mutually exclusive diplomacy, China has successfully managed to isolate Taiwan in the international community,” Ambassador Wu said. However, Ambassador Wu sees the recent development between China and Taiwan as a positive one. The agreements would serve functional purposes and have nothing to do with the political status of the two sides, Ambassador Wu said. “It is a purely functional one in trading affairs, nothing to do with politics,” he said. When asked if this was a step towards unification with China, Ambassador Wu said no. “You cannot say that he (President Ma) is favoring unification. He doesn’t want to irritate China; he wants to engage with China; he doesn’t want to cry independence all day long. It doesn’t mean he is favoring unification with China because the unification with China is not the jurisdiction of the President; it’s the jurisdiction of the whole people. The President cannot do anything on the unification issue. It must go through the constitutional process,” Ambassador Wu said.
