THE RISING EAST
Taiwan seeks to dismantle 'one-China' principle
By Richard Halloran
In an anxious attempt to defend its faltering "one China" principle, Beijing broke diplomatic relations with the tiny mid-Pacific nation of Kiribati yesterday but thereby lost a vital space tracking station.
Advertiser library photo • Mar. 17, 2000
China's official news agency, Xinhua, said the Chinese ambassador to Kiribati, Ma Shuxue, had informed the government in Kiribati that Beijing would not countenance Kiribati's opening of diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Beijing contends that the island belongs to China and refuses to have diplomatic ties with any nation that recognizes Taiwan.
Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's pro-independence government established relations with Kiribati this month. In a storm of anger, China accused Kiribati — a recipient of Chinese aid — of "open betrayal."
That ended three weeks of diplomatic maneuvering and political pondering in Beijing. Kiribati said it wanted to have ties with both China and Taiwan but for Beijing to have accepted that would have eroded the one-China principle and set a precedent for others seeking relations with the two rivals.
On the other hand, Kiribati was the site of one of China's three tracking stations that communicated with China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, in space in October; another is in China and the third is in Namibia in Africa. Given China's ambitions in space, Beijing did not want to lose its Pacific post.
This struggle over one-China began on Nov. 7 when Kiribati permitted Taiwan to open an embassy in Tarawa, the capital that was the scene of a fierce battle in World War II. Leaders in Kiribati indicated they expected economic aid from Taiwan even as they hoped to retain diplomatic ties with Beijing.
China responded furiously, accusing Kiribati of "open betrayal." For three weeks, they pressed Kiribati to renege on its recognition of Taipei and began to dismantle the tracking station. China also withdrew doctors on a medical mission and officials from economic aid projects.
In the end, politics prevailed over practicality. Xinhua said Ambassador Ma had asserted that Kiribati had "obstinately acted to make 'two Chinas'" and that all agreements between the two government would stop immediately.
The one-China principle that has long governed China's relations with the world has been steadily fading. A nonprofit research organization, the International Crisis Group, concluded in a report that one-China "is no longer by itself an adequate device for containing the emerging new tensions" between China and Taiwan.
The principle had become so worn, the group contended, that it is "on the point of final fragmentation."
Taiwanese led by President Chen Shui-bian have asserted since his inauguration in 2000 that the nation is sovereign and independent. That was reinforced last week when the legislature voted to begin work on a new constitution and to adopt the referendum to resolve essential national issues.
President Chen, leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), has been abetted by former President Lee Teng-hui, another Taiwanese and a member of the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT), until he was expelled for advocating Taiwanese independence.
Lee set up Taiwan Advocates two years ago to promote Taiwanese identity at home and lobby for Taiwan's causes abroad.
Politics in Taiwan is mostly rooted in ethnicity. About 85 percent of the population is Taiwanese while 15 percent are related to the Chinese who came from the mainland in 1949.
In his bid for re-election in March 2004, President Chen has pushed the vision of Taiwanese sovereignty.
In the U.S., President George Bush, while paying lip service to one-China, has opted for Taiwanese self-determination. In particular, the U.S. has quietly enhanced its military ties with Taiwan. The retired commander of the Pacific Command, Adm. Dennis Blair, has visited Taiwan privately to give advice. A U.S.-Taiwan hot line has been established. Taiwanese defense officials have been welcomed in the U.S. Taiwan has been negotiating the purchase of eight submarines.
Politically, both houses of Congress have organized Taiwan caucuses; the House of Representatives recently adopted a pro-Taiwan resolution 416-0. President Chen, who once would have been barred from the U.S., was welcomed in New York on his way to Panama where he had a brief meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell. The substance of such visits was thin but the symbolism spoke volumes.
More evidence of slippage in the one-China principle has come from Beijing itself. The government there, which had been relatively calm for many months, suddenly erupted early this month with slashing assaults on President Chen, suggesting that the Chinese, too, saw the one-China principle dipping below the horizon.
They have renewed the threat of force if Taiwan formally declares independence. As Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told the Washington Post last week: "The Chinese people will pay any price to safeguard the unity of the motherland."
