Eastern Bloc Countries See Through China's Patronizing Efforts at Control
Friday November 09, by Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.
[A French translation by Jerome Besson is available at Taiwan 1st!]
I have just returned from a trip through seven capitals of Europe (Brussels, Paris, Prague, Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and London. There with four other scholars and advocates of Taiwan we presented the message that the 23 million people of Taiwan deserve the rightful recognition of their voice in world matters. We dialogued and talked with think tanks, leaders, politicians, professors, students, and anyone who would listen. It was exhausting but an informative and exhilarating trip.
By far, the most receptive countries to our message were the eastern bloc countries of the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. Why? The reasons are obvious. These countries had endured almost fifty years of repression under authoritarian Communist regimes. These countries knew what it was to be under regimes that were not transparent, that controlled the media and violated basic human rights. These countries could not be easily bought out by the shallow promise and short-term gain of "economic prosperity" by going along with China and its dictate that Taiwan should not be heard or recognized.
The experience of the eastern bloc countries has almost an exact parallel with that of Taiwan. The Czech Republic had its "Velvet Revolution" in 1989 and the hold of the Communist Party was broken; free elections were held in 1991. In Hungary the Communist Party was disbanded in 1989 and multiparty elections were held in 1990. In Poland, in 1989 Solidarity was legalized and won elections then in 1990 the Communist Party was disbanded. In Taiwan, Martial Law under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) ended in 1987 and a multi-party system was allowed. In 1991 KMT legislators had to give up their iron rice bowl positions held for nearly a half a century and submit to free elections by the people. In 1992 the Garrison Command was disbanded and finally in 1996 free elections of the President were held. Communist or KMT, the results were the same, oppression, favoritism, the seizure of state assets by one party and one party control. Taiwan was just a step behind these countries.
Countries like the Czech Republic and Hungary have a population that is half that of Taiwan; they know what it is like to be the little guy struggling to have his voice heard. For this reason, it was all the more satisfying to learn that on May 14, 2007 in anticipation of the World Health Assembly meeting of May 16-25, 82 members of the Hungarian National Assembly went on record in an open letter to Dr. Margaret Chan Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) "supporting that the Republic of China should have the right of participation of the international community." On September 13, 2007, Jozef Ekes a Member of the Hungarian Parliament also wrote Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations that "It would be necessary for the forthcoming UN General Assembly meeting to include this issue again in its agenda, it should admit Taiwan and involve it in the activity conducted by the UN for all the people of the world."
Upon my return, I had a final satisfying experience. I have long railed against the hypocrisy and narrow focus of the world as it kow-tows and contributes to the building of China, the bully of Asia. I had castigated the Unites States State Department as it played games between realpolitick and principle in my posting of October 3rd 2007. So it was with great pleasure that I further learned of a recent editorial in "Haaretz," a leading paper and the oldest one in Israel. I put it here in its completeness for your reading. It says it all.
Our moral nakedness
By Adar Primor
Haaretz, Jerusalem, Tue., November 06, 2007
This is a story about a country that (nearly) everyone recognizes de facto and whose existence (again, nearly) everyone denies de jure; a country that is battling a cynical world controlled by a regime of international hypocrisy, where Realpolitik defeats the values of justice and morality.
This country - most people know it as Taiwan, while the Republic of China (ROC) is its official name - has a small request: to join the family of nations. For 14 years now, it has been trying to fight international alienation and has been supplicating at the gates of the United Nations, which rejects it every time with routine nonchalance. The president of Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian, is fed up. With a flaming torch in hand, he just finished an 11-day relay race around the island. The idea: to promote a referendum to bring the country into the UN, under the name Taiwan. The background: the civil war of 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists were defeated by Mao Tse-tung's Reds, in the wake of which two Chinese republics were born - Mao's People's Republic and the Nationalist ROC in Taiwan, where the defeated Chiang Kai-shek had retreated. After the war, most countries recognized Taiwan as the legal government of all of China. However, in October 1971, the UN passed a resolution ejecting Chiang's representatives from the organization. The Chinese seat was transferred from Taipei to Beijing, which for most other countries became "the real China." Taiwan, which since then has undergone an impressive process of democratization and is now considered "the freest country in Asia," remains outside.
President Chen's initiative divests itself of Chiang Kai-shek's legacy and the pretensions of representing China, and rests on the dramatic development of national identity in Taiwan. If a decade ago more than 70 percent of the island's inhabitants defined themselves as "Chinese" and only 20 percent as "Taiwanese," current opinion polls show that now about 70 percent define themselves as "Taiwanese," and only 13 percent as "Chinese."
For Beijing, Chen's initiative is a step toward a declaration of independence by what it considers a "rebel province." In other words, a casus belli that has everyone trembling. The UN secretary general, who received Chen's official request to join, has not even bothered to send it for discussion in the Security Council, as is required. He preferred to return it to the sender. Europe, for its part, has informed Chen that his initiative is "not helpful" and is "liable to undermine stability." The administration of United States President George W. Bush, which whole-heartedly praises liberty and democracy, has declared the initiative a "mistake" and has contributed a typical "diplomatic pearl" to the discussion: "Taiwan cannot join the United Nations, as at the moment it is not a state in the international community."
And Israel? It has no choice but to go with the flow, as they say in Jerusalem. At least this is what Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni did during her visit to Beijing last week, when she praised the "shared values" of China and Israel. Some in Taipei wondered exactly what the minister was referring to - values like democracy, human rights and freedom of speech? The insult to the Taiwanese is particularly harsh in light of their identification with Israel: two small and effervescent "real democracies" engaged in their own security-existential troubles, exposed to threats from a huge external enemy and dependent on American protection and aid. Some call Taiwan "the Israel of the Pacific" and "the David of the Far East."
Chen is not naive. He knows his initiative will fail. He knows the "regional Goliath" is also a "global Goliath" and that "might makes right" turns the wheels of international diplomacy. His role boils down to showing the world its moral nakedness.