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Taiwanese News
Summary and Analysis, October 27 2004

A. Powell’s Trip to China

B. Taiwanese Response to Powell Trip

C. Political Scandal Regarding International Donations


-Powell’s Trip to China

US Secretary of State Colin Powell recently traveled to Beijing to discuss with his Chinese counterparts the situation in the Taiwan Strait, the human rights situation in China, North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, and a number of other topics. Unfortunately, he was entirely unsuccessful on the Taiwanese question. The US delegation tried to persuade the Chinese government to recognize Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian’s National Day Speech as conciliatory and to move towards a cross-strait dialogue. In his speech, Chen had subtly made a reference to an alleged agreement between Taiwan and the mainland reached in Hong Kong a decade ago, in which the basis for negotiations lay on each side adhering to a “One China” principle, but maintaining separate interpretations of what this meant. However, according to one senior US diplomat, the Chinese were “uniformly downbeat” about Taiwan and possibilities for talks. Powell remarked to the press that the Chinese leadership was, “still concerned about President Chen Shui-bian’s actions and they did not find is statement that forthcoming,” while Chinese paramount leader Hu Jintao responded, “The Taiwan independence forces' activities aiming at splitting the country remain the root of the cross-straits tension and the greatest threat to peace and stability in the region.” In sum, nothing moved on this front.
Another point worth noting about Powell’s trip was that he spoke in harsher terms than ever before about Taiwanese independence. In Beijing, Powell affirmed that Taiwan was not independent and simply a part of China. In an interview with the Far Eastern Review, Powell said, “In response to certain churnings about independence, we made it very, very clear that we do not support independence.”The Taiwanese government was angered and surprised by these comments. Although Powell’s words were not technically a change in policy, his statement about Taiwan not existing as a nation were stronger words than used before. US officials normally say they simply hope for a peaceful solution to the crisis. Furthermore, the Taiwanese government was not informed of what Powell would say to his Chinese counterparts before reading about it in the news(see below for political repercussions).
Powell used these strong words for three reasons. The US felt it necessary to retaliate for the Taiwanese government’s failure to inform the US about Chen’s decision to change the Taiwanese constitution before he mentioned his plans in a speech. The second reason is that Powell felt it important to make sure the Taiwanese understood that American support for Taiwan was not guaranteed, implying that Taiwan should purchase the weapons deal currently in discussion in the Parliament to show good faith. Finally, by using such harsh words against Taiwan, Powell was trying to play down PRC worries about US meddling in the region and to quell complaints about the military deal.

-Taiwanese Response to Powell’s Trip

Secretary of State Colin Powell’s remarks about Taiwan not being a sovereign state have caused an anti-US political firestorm in Taipei, even leading to a food-fight in a committee in the Taiwanese parliament. Foreign Minister Mark Chen said that although some foreign ministry officials were briefed about Powell’s trip to China, it was not in great detail. Chen said that Powell’s words “breached mutual trust” and were a complete “surprise.” Chen continued, saying, “The US has told us not to give them surprises, but this time it is the US giving us a surprise. This is unfair.”
President Chen Shui-bian and Premier Yu Shyi-kun in response to Powell quickly made statements about Taiwan clearly being a sovereign nation with no connection to the PRC. When Foreign Minister Chen was questioned in the Parliament about Powell’s words, he said he was not entirely sure whether the US position on Taiwan had changed. FM Chen said he asked Taiwan’s representative in the US to formally enquire about US policy. State Department Spokesperson Adam Ereli said that no change in policy had taken place, but that Powell had only made “an objective statement.” Chen said that the US State Department has said that Powell meant to say “resolution” instead of “reunification” as the goal to resolve the cross-strait tensions.
The situation in the Taiwanese parliament was at times chaotic. Kuomintang lawmakers chanted, “Powell doesn’t love Taiwan” and “We are not intimidated.” The KMT and People First Party said that if the US did not recognize Taiwan as sovereign, then Taiwan should consequently not buy the US weapons package. KMT lawmakers accused Democratic Progresssive Party member Cheng Tsung-yi (the DPP supports the weapons purchase) of lacking testicles in a committee discussing the US weapons, and KMT lawmaker Chu Feng-Chih lost his patience and threw lunchboxes and books at the DPP, who responded in kind. Tsai Huang-liang, the DPP whip, ordered his party to leave the room to protest the KMT’s refusal to discuss the weapons bill, and the session ended in chaos. Tsai, despite supporting the weapons package and in favor of strong US-Taiwan ties, said that it seemed that Powell was “ignorant of the facts,” showing that anger at the US was across the political spectrum. Both parties are trying to use Powell’s words to their political advantage. The KMT and PFP (known as pan-blue) say Powell’s words show that President Chen’s steps toward formal independence were backfiring, while also criticizing the US as being a bully. At the same time, pro-independence parties say that Powell’s words could only be expected, since Taiwan has not declared independence or formerly changed its name from the Republic of China.

-Taiwanese Political Scandal

Other than Secretary of State Colin Powell’s trip to China, the biggest story in Taiwanese politics this week has been President Chen’s alleged illegal political donations to South American countries, and Chen’s lawsuits against the accusing individuals. Two People First Party politicians, Liu Wen-hsiung and Tsay Chung-han, as well as a television talk show host, Jaw Shau-kong, accused Chen of giving a million dollar birthday gift to Ex-Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso. The money was allegedly intended to quite Moscoso about Chen’s sexual advances (in Taiwanese, “eat her tofu”) and to ensure continued Panamian support for Taiwanese policies.
Because the accusations were so outrageous, they made front page headlines in many Taiwanese newspapers. The situation was exacerbated by Moscoso’s threatening to sue the PFP members for libel, and Chen himself also threatened a lawsuit. The offenders ultimately partially apologized, but said that slush funds do exist with the intent of waging “dollar diplomacy,” a term that refers to Taiwan giving money to governments so that they continue to recognize Taiwan instead of the mainland. The accusations would not have received so much attention if this was not such a sensitive topic in Taiwanese politics. Being forced to give money for international recognition is seen as an act that causes Taiwan to lose face, but some feel it is a dirty need necessary for Taiwan to compete with the PRC. Articles about Taiwan being betrayed by another country despite monetary donations, or a former friend blackmailing Taiwan, appear regularly in the news and contribute to the sense of frustration.

posted by Joseph @ 6:24 AM