Guatemala faces China's wrath
Taiwan has described China's veto of a UN plan to send peace monitors to Guatemala as "extremely irrational", but that is not quite accurate. The veto may have been churlish, but it was all too rational. Except for balloting for UN chiefs, it was the first time China has used its Security Council veto since 1972.
It decided on the move to punish Guatemala for maintaining ties with the province of Taiwan, which, rightly or wrongly, it regards as renegade.
It was disingenuous of Taiwan's vice premier, Hsu Li-teh, to say that the veto was an insult to Guatemala's sovereignty and an abuse of its right to manage its foreign affairs. Since when has Taiwan been so concerned about the rights of small nations?
Its pronouncements in support of Nicaragua's right to manage its own affairs during the 1980s, when the United States was funding the Contra rebel movement, were few in number, if indeed anyone in Taipei contemplated expressing such sentiments.
Guatemala's error was that in inviting Taiwan's foreign minister to attend the signing of the U.S.-brokered peace agreement on Dec. 29, it failed to appreciate the extent to which the Taiwan issue is one of central importance to the politburo in Beijing.
The issue, it should be clear, is one that is capable of exciting annoyance and even anger in the Chinese leadership. Guatemala backed UN membership for Taiwan -- it is one of just 30 countries that have diplomatic relations with the province. The message from Beijing is that there is a heavy price to pay for supporting Taiwan.
It is likely that Guatemala will reconsider its position, since it has already shown great flexibility in domestic affairs. Its congress has without difficulty passed a law removing the possibility of prosecution of most of the crimes -- including horrific massacres -- perpetrated by the security forces and guerrillas during the course of the civil war.
The mission that Beijing has decided to kill was aimed at bringing to a final conclusion 35 years of brutal conflict in which more than 100,000 people have died since 1960. The new law of blanket forgiveness means that killers on both sides have been pardoned.
Guatemala has shown flexibility in another respect: the principle of accountability has been jettisoned in the interests of convenience. The truth commission that is to be established will, in a nominal fashion, investigate crimes committed during the dirty war. Handily, the law prevents the commission from identifying the culprits or bringing criminal charges against them.
All this, says Guatemalan President Alvaro Arzu Irigoyen, is a step toward national reconciliation. His most urgent task now is to achieve reconciliation with an aggrieved China.
-- The Bangkok Post