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.