'We Believe in Democracy'
By CHEN SHUI-BIAN
Page A14
Over the past quarter of a century, the emergence of Taiwan as a democracy and
the emergence of China as an economic and military power have added new
dimensions to the dynamics in the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwan people have
struggled, with some success, to adapt in an era of globalization while building
institutions that guard against one man, a single party or an outside power from
imposing its will on them without their assent. Our progress is continuing, but
we have much to be proud of.
China's government has struggled, with some success, to sustain high economic
growth rates and significant military expansion while maintaining stable
relations with the major global powers and avoiding liberalization of domestic
(especially political) institutions. Unfortunately, China's success has
unleashed forces that challenge Taiwan's political and economic development, as
well as its security.
One cannot talk about cross-Strait issues without considering the defining
trends in Northeast Asia. Changes in two major regional powers, Japan and China,
have lead to further complications in their bilateral relations as well as their
relations with neighboring countries. Despite China's growing importance to the
regional and global economy, its rapid military buildup has raised concerns from
the international community. As for Japan, the key points of interest are its
constitutional revision and the fact that, after recovering from a decade-long
economic recession, it has expressed a desire to play a leading role in world
affairs by becoming a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. Japan's
moves have raised concerns from other countries in the region, especially China.
But these concerns are misplaced, given the strategic importance of Japan's
democratization, which irreversibly moved the nation away from the militarism
and expansionism of its past.
In recent years, China has criticized and tried to marginalize Japan. It has
formed a closer relationship with Russia, though certain problems remain to be
tackled. In the six-party talks, China's perceived influence over North Korea
provided it with additional leverage. Meanwhile, China has worked hard to
improve relations with South Korea. Last year, there was high-profile debate
about whether South Korea could serve as an honest broker between China and
Japan, and between the U.S. and China, thus playing a role as a balancer to
prevent conflict and clashes in the region.
Under such circumstances, Taiwan's relations with China must be handled with
extra caution. However, China's approach to Taiwan seems to err on the side of
aggression rather than caution.
Politically, Beijing has refused to interact with Taiwan's democratically
elected government for the past six years. By inviting Taiwan's opposition party
leaders to visit, Chinese leaders attempted to undermine the ruling Democratic
Progressive Party. These visits were very cynically timed to draw attention away
from the passage of China's so-called "Anti-Secession Law." The Taiwan people
can never forget that, despite skepticism and criticism from the international
community as well as strong public opposition in Taiwan, the Chinese government
deliberately proceeded to unilaterally change the status quo by passing
legislation codifying non-peaceful measures against Taiwan. In the face of such
pressure, consultation and coordination among ruling and opposition party
leaders is crucial. Separate negotiating channels expose divisions within Taiwan
without narrowing differences with China.
China has also spared no effort in squeezing Taiwan's international space,
blocking us from participating in each and every international organization.
Taiwan's humble application for World Health Assembly observer status is one
example, to our regret. Moreover, even though Taiwan is now a formal member of
the World Trade Organization, China has done everything possible to downgrade
our status, not to mention buying off our diplomatic allies to sever ties with
us.
In the military dimension, China has deployed more than 800 missiles targeting
Taiwan, and that arsenal is still increasing by 100 to 125 per year. This
information came out as Beijing defended its recent announcement of another
double-digit increase -- 14.7% -- to its annual military budget. This radical
expansion of China's military strength has the potential to upset not only the
delicate balance between China and Taiwan, but also the overall strategic
equilibrium in a region increasingly vital to U.S. interests, as Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld noted at a security conference in Singapore last year.
Economically, we understand that continued trade and investment across the
Taiwan Strait is an inevitable trend. Bilateral trade has increased dramatically
over the past decade. As a result, China has surpassed the U.S. as Taiwan's
largest trading partner. Statistics show that Taiwan's total trade volume with
China rose to $71.7 billion in 2005 -- a 16.3% increase from 2003. This
phenomenon of increasing economic reliance on China has put Taiwan's economy at
risk by causing structural unemployment and stagnation of wages.
China's growing influence in all of the above-mentioned areas underscores the
complexities confronting Taiwan and others in Northeast Asia. For Taiwan, the
situation has become antagonistic and has created an incremental change of the
status quo in the Taiwan Strait that my government can not afford to ignore.
While we may not be able to curb this trend completely, we still strive to
maintain a peaceful status quo in the Taiwan Strait. As the president of Taiwan,
it is my responsibility to find viable ways to prevent this trend from tilting
further to the detriment of the interests of Taiwan's people. Taiwan also has an
interest in helping to maintain a strategic balance in northeast Asia and
safeguarding the cross-Strait status quo, thus ensuring our democracy, freedom,
human rights and economic prosperity.
It is unfortunate that the process of shoring up such efforts has been
interpreted by China as evidence of moving toward formal independence. At times,
I also hear concern from the U.S. and the international community suggesting
that developments in Taiwan -- in particular, our struggle in dealing with
governing institutions established before human rights, multiparty democracy,
and economic globalization were a reality -- are aimed at changing the
cross-Strait status quo or worse, provoking confrontation with China.
That certainly is not the case. Our actions are intended to bring the situation
back to a stable middle ground. To reassure friends who share an interest in
preserving the status quo, I stated on Feb. 27 that Taiwan has no intention of
changing the status quo and strongly opposes its alteration by non-peaceful
means. I must point out that it is China -- not my government -- that is
determined to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and Northeast Asia.
Since regional security responsibility is shared by all involved, Taiwan is
willing to cooperate with Japan, the U.S. and even China to seek a peaceful
solution.
We believe in democracy and uphold the principle of popular sovereignty, which
means that Taiwan's future and our relations with China can only be determined
by the will of Taiwan's 23 million people. We oppose the non-democratic approach
that Beijing has taken against its own people and against the people of Taiwan.
Meanwhile, we continue to seek better relations with the people in China through
economic and cultural exchanges, in the hope that eventually, democracy could
become a reality in China -- which the whole world would benefit from.
My government remains open to direct cross-Strait dialogue without
preconditions. As for functional issues such as charter flights, tourism and
investment protection for Taiwanese businessmen in China, we are willing to
engage in dialogue and consultations with China about peaceful solutions through
peaceful means. Our people continue to invest unprecedented amounts in China and
are a factor in its economic success. Many in Taiwan wonder what China is
prepared to do to reassure us that it respects the aspirations of the people of
Taiwan.
Meaningful reduction of the military threat and dealing directly with Taiwan's
duly elected leaders would be a good foundation on which to start. Meanwhile, we
recognize, as President Bush has noted, that the survival of Taiwan's democracy
depends a great deal on the success of liberty elsewhere. Thus we hope to
achieve more than simply getting our own house in order. Taiwan is prepared to
be a "responsible stakeholder" and "a defender for democracy, freedom and peace"
in the international system and supports U.S. efforts that encourage China to
rise to these standards as well. I urge the leaders in this region to take
responsibility to promote universal values of democracy in northeast Asia. Only
by doing so will peace and stability in this region be preserved.
Mr. Chen is president of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
【Source: Office of the President】