社論：It is time to rally the support for Taiwan(2009-12-02)
It is time to rally the support for Taiwan
In the past twelve months, Oversea Taiwanese, especially those living in the North America, were very concerned about the future of Taiwan as an independent country as there are forces pulling Taiwan away from the course set by former Presidents, Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian. Instead of moving toward a de jure independent country, Taiwan is veering closer and closer to China which claims Taiwan is a part of China.
Internally, Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou and his administration spared no effort to speed up the process of the reunification with China. Since May 2008, Mr. Ma and Kuomintang (KMT) has enjoyed absolute power in Taiwan and there is very little can be done to stop Ma and KMT from pushing their reunification agenda. Facing with his dire economic performance, Ma is using the economical integration with China as a panacea to revive Taiwan’s economy. Right from beginning of his presidency, Ma has accepted China’s “One China Principle” as the basis to improve Taiwan’s relationship with China. As a result, the sovereignty of Taiwan has been eroded very rapidly. Most recent example is that Taiwan’s delegation to Copenhagen’s Climate Change Conference was listed under China. In the conference all NGO’s from Taiwan were listed as from “ Taipei, China” and “Hsinchu, China”, etc.
Externally, China has stepped up its effort to further insolate Taiwan on the international stage. Just two weeks ago, in the joint statement between US President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao, United State for the first time agreed with China to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. In essence, the United States for the first time publicly supports China’s claim on Taiwan, though indirectly. On the surface, the statement seems innocuous, to Taiwan this statement is a giant step away from the US long-held strategic ambiguity on Taiwan sovereignty which was embodied in the Taiwan Relation Act. Granted, weakened by a brutal recession and fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan United States though still is the security guarantor for Taiwan, has only limited capability- economically, politically and militarily- to deter China from taking action against Taiwan. Yet, we still feel President Obama went too far to placate China.
In the past fifty years, the Taiwanese American communities as well as the Taiwanese Canadian communities have been in the forefront to support rights of the people in Taiwan to democracy, self-determination and freedom from Chinese military intimidation. We all believe that a democratic, secured and prosperous of Taiwan is the foundation for the peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, which is vital to the interest of the United States. The time has come for all oversea Taiwanese to take necessary actions to assure the security of Taiwan. As Thomas Paine stated in his “ Common Sense” in 1776, “ these are the times that try men’s souls”. At this moment, Taiwanese Americans and Taiwanese Canadians do not have the luxury of lamenting on how bad and hopeless the situation in Taiwan is; we have to take actions and write to President Obama, members in the US Congress and the Canadian Parliament. Let them know that once Taiwan falls to China, so will the entire Pacific region. As warned by Singapore’s patriarch Lee Kuan Yew, if the United States does not hold his ground in the pacific, America can not be a world leader. We should tell President Obama that the way he yielded to China on critical issues such as Taiwan, Tibet, and human rights is totally against America’s interest. We should write to President Obama to urge him that it is time to stop giving China a free run in Asia.
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