DATE=4/12/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43090
TITLE=TAIWAN RELATIONS CONFERENCE
BYLINE=MIKE O'SULLIVAN
DATELINE=LOS ANGELES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: IN 1979, THE UNITED STATES ESTABLISHED FORMAL RELATIONS
WITH THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND CUT OFF OFFICIAL TIES
WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF TAIWAN. YET INFORMAL RELATIONS CONTINUED,
AND IN APRIL OF THAT YEAR (1979) THE "TAIWAN RELATIONS ACT" WENT
INTO EFFECT. A CONFERENCE IN LOS ANGELES EXAMINED THE STATE OF
THE RELATIONSHIP TWENTY YEARS LATER, AS WE HEAR IN THIS REPORT
FROM MIKE O'SULLIVAN.
TEXT: /// OPT ///
RETIRED REAR ADMIRAL JAMES LINDER WAS THE LAST MEMBER OF THE U-S
MILITARY TO LEAVE TAIWAN IN 1979. AND HE WAS ONE OF THE
PARTICIPANTS AT THE LOS ANGELES CONFERENCE, WHICH WAS SPONSORED
BY THE CLAREMONT INSTITUTE, A PRIVATE ACADEMIC ORGANIZATION. AS
HEAD OF THE U-S-TAIWAN DEFENSE COMMAND, ADMIRAL LINDER HAD
DEVELOPED A GOOD WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH TAIWAN OFFICIALS. HE
RECALLS THAT THE MONTHS BEFORE HIS DEPARTURE WERE HARD FOR
EVERYONE.
/// LINDER ACT ///
WE HAD A LOT OF DISCONTENT, AND THE PEOPLE WERE VERY
UNHAPPY AND PRESUMED THAT WE WERE GOING TO GO AWAY AND
THEY WERE GOING TO BE IN DEEP TROUBLE. AND WE SORT OF
FELT THE SAME WAY. THERE WERE SOME RIOTS AND THERE WERE
DEMONSTRATIONS, AND THERE WERE PEOPLE INJURED. BUT THE
MILITARY AND THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, THE SECURITY
PEOPLE AND THE POLICE WERE ALL VERY ACCOMMODATING TO
AMERICANS AND THE PEOPLE THAT WERE OUT THERE, AND THE
DISCONTENT WENT AWAY RATHER QUICKLY.
/// END ACT ///
/// END OPT ///
THE U-S RELATIONSHIP WITH TAIWAN WAS CODIFIED IN THE TAIWAN
RELATIONS ACT, WHICH WENT INTO EFFECT APRIL 10TH, 1979. THAT U-S
LAW STILL GOVERNS RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES.
DESPITE THE CUTOFF IN DIPLOMATIC TIES, ECONOMIC RELATIONS BETWEEN
TAIWAN AND THE UNITED STATES HAVE EXPANDED OVER THE YEARS.
TWENTY YEARS AGO, THE TWO COUNTRIES HAD SEVEN BILLION DOLLARS IN
BILATERAL TRADE. TODAY, THAT FIGURE HAS JUMPED TO 52 BILLION
DOLLARS.
JASON YUAN, WHO HEADS TAIWAN'S ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL OFFICE IN
LOS ANGELES, SAYS TAIWAN HAS DEVELOPED INTO A FULL DEMOCRACY,
WITH 85 POLITICAL PARTIES, AN ACTIVE FREE PRESS AND OPEN MARKETS.
HE SAYS THE SECURITY PROVIDED BY THE TAIWAN RELATIONS ACT HAS
PERMITTED THAT LIBERALIZATION.
THE TAIWAN RELATIONS ACT AFFIRMS THE "ONE-CHINA" POLICY OF THE
UNITED STATES. JASON YUAN SAYS TAIWAN ALSO SEES ITSELF AS AN
INTEGRAL PART OF CHINA, AND LOOKS FORWARD TO A PEACEFUL
REUNIFICATION.
/// YUAN ACT ///
IT IS IMPORTANT, BECAUSE WE ARE ALL CHINESE, EITHER
MAINLAND OR TAIWAN, WE ARE THE SAME PEOPLE. WHAT WE (IN
TAIWAN) ENJOY NOW IS TOTAL FREEDOM OF SPEECH, TOTAL
FREEDOM OF TRAVELLING, FULL DEMOCRATIZATION, FREE MARKET
OF OUR ECONOMY, THIS IS WHAT WE ARE PROUD OF. WE HOPE
DOWN THE ROAD, IN THE LONG RUN, THE WHOLE OF CHINA, THE
WHOLE CHINESE PEOPLE CAN ENJOY EXACTLY THE SAME AS WE
PEOPLE IN TAIWAN ENJOY. THAT'S THE HOPE.
/// END ACT ///
PROFESSOR RICHARD BAUM, A POLITICAL SCIENTIST AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES, SAYS THE TAIWAN RELATIONS ACT
EXPRESSES U-S CONCERN FOR THE SECURITY OF EAST ASIA. BUT HE SAYS
ITS LANGUAGE IS IMPRECISE, ALLOWING ROOM FOR INTERPRETATION OF
THE THREE-WAY RELATIONSHIP INVOLVING THE UNITED STATES, CHINA AND
TAIWAN. HE SAYS ITS LACK OF PRECISION WAS A GOOD THING IN THE
PAST, BUT MAY NOT BE IN THE FUTURE.
/// BAUM ACT ///
THE PROBLEM WITH THE CURRENT SITUATION IS ITS VERY
AMBIGUITY LEADS TO DOUBTS ABOUT ITS ULTIMATE VIABILITY.
FOR AN INTERIM PERIOD OF YEARS, TWO DECADES ALREADY, AND
PERHAPS ANOTHER DECADE OR TWO (IN THE FUTURE), THE FUDGE
FACTOR (VAGUENESS PERMITTING DIFFERING INTERPRETATIONS)
CAN BE VERY USEFUL IN PREVENTING CONFLICT, IN PROVIDING
WIGGLE ROOM FOR THE AMERICANS AND THE CHINESE AND THE
TAIWANESE. BUT AS CHINA BECOMES STRONGER, AS ITS
ECONOMY DEVELOPS, AS ITS MILITARY MUSCLE DEVELOPS
FURTHER, THEY MAY -- WE PRESUME -- BECOME LESS TOLERANT,
LESS PATIENT, AND MAY BEGIN TO PRESS MORE FORCEFULLY FOR
WHAT THEY CONSIDER TO BE A DELIVERY ON THE PROMISE OF
ONE CHINA, AND NO SEPARATE STATUS FOR TAIWAN.
/// END ACT ///
THE TAIWAN RELATIONS ACT SAYS THE FUTURE OF TAIWAN SHOULD BE
DETERMINED BY PEACEFUL MEANS. CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS AGREE THAT
IS ESSENTIAL. BUT THEY NOTE THAT TAIWAN'S STRATEGIC POSITION OFF
THE COAST OF MAINLAND CHINA MEANS ITS STATUS WILL BE IMPORTANT TO
BOTH CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES FOR MANY YEARS TO COME, AND THAT
IT WILL REMAIN A POINT OF CONTENTION BETWEEN THE TWO NATIONS.
(SIGNED)
NEB/PT
12-Apr-99 5:53 PM EDT (2153 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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