Taiwan president trip draws U.S., China attention

Taiwan president trip draws U.S., China attention

Jane Macartney, Reuters, Singapore

Long on symbolism and short on substance seems to be the view of Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's recent U.S. stopover. And substance is what matters to the leader of a small island sliding into obscurity on a U.S. agenda dominated in Asia by a resurgent China.

After Chen's return to Taiwan from a rare overseas trip for an island that now has diplomatic ties with only 26 countries -- and that may soon be 25 if Panama falls away -- Beijing will be breathing a sigh of relief that the president came home with so few concrete achievements.

"The visit itself was long on symbolism but short on substance," said Su Chi, a former head of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council that handles relations with China and is now a professor at Taiwan's Tamkang University.

Chen did succeed in prising permission from Washington for a brief stopover in New York to make a speech at the International League of Human Rights -- but he was allowed barely a day in the city compared with two days on his last visit.

That may sound insignificant, but counts for much in the intricate realm of diplomacy where every moment matters.

It was a sign that while U.S. President George W. Bush may be committed to defending Taiwan in case of attack it is also firmly determined to recognize Beijing as the government of a single China and has little sympathy for Chen's dabbling with moves toward independence.

"Bush is sending a signal that he is not pleased with Chen's rabble rousing," said Ralph Cossa, head of the Pacific Forum CSIS think-tank in Hawaii.

Chen's priority is re-election next year -- at all costs including taking the risk of angering his most important ally, the United States, analysts said.

"He has managed to bite the hand that feeds him... He keeps making promises and then breaking them," Cossa said, referring to Chen's drive to introduce the right to hold referendums and rewrite the constitution -- moves that China fears could lead to a declaration of independence.

"Taiwan doesn't have time on its side and all trends are toward it slipping out of the international spotlight," said Ron Huisken, defense analyst at the Strategic and Defense Studies Center at the Australia National University in Canberra.

"Chen Shui-bian is unmistakably creating a distinctive stance and may be testing the boundaries of U.S. support."

Taiwan media have lauded Chen's trip -- its highlights including the rare public speech on U.S. soil and a public handshake with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Panama -- as a landmark.

The United States, wary of offending China, has long insisted on Taiwan politicians keeping a low profile as a prerequisite for gaining visa approval for such trips.

China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that must be reunified, by force if necessary.

But Chen's provocative moves on the constitution may backfire, angering not only China but testing U.S. patience.