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Washington urged to rebuild bilateral agenda with Taiwan

ROC Central News Agency

2008-02-23 17:33:02

    Washington, Feb. 22 (CNA) The United States should re-establish a positive bilateral agenda with Taiwan by helping it expand its international participation in order to maintain regional stability, according to a report released Friday by the U.S.-based American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI).

    The report suggests that Washington help Taipei re-orient its foreign policy to emphasize its role as a peaceful, vibrant member of the international community, so that "Taiwan will strengthen its international identity as a responsible stakeholder and face less temptation to press issues that cannot now be resolved." "A more integrated Taiwan that can share its successes with the rest of the world will be less inclined to force the thorniest cross-Taiwan Strait disputes to the fore, " contends the report titled "Strengthening Freedom in Asia: A Twenty-First Century Agenda for the U.S.-Taiwan Partnership, " which was worked out by the Taiwan Policy Working Group that was formed by AEI and Armitage International, an organization that assists companies in the global marketplace.

    While admitting that it will be difficult for China to accept a Taiwan with a higher international profile, the report says Washington should nevertheless end Beijing's expectations that it can "deliver" Taiwan. "Beijing should talk directly to Taipei about its disagreements and not pressure Washington to pressure the Taiwanese government, " the report says. "America should make clear to Beijing that it has interests in the continued freedom of the Taiwanese people to decide their own fate and the peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences."

    The report argues that the issue is urgent now that U.S.-Taiwan relations are "dangerously drifting, " with Beijing using diplomatic isolation and the threat of military force to pressure Taiwan into an unfavorable settlement and Taiwan reacting by forcing intractable disputes to the front of the debate.

    Describing Taiwan's democracy as a beacon to other societies seeking peaceful political liberalization, the report warns that if Taiwan is coerced by China into a settlement against the wishes of the Taiwanese people, the United States will lose a valuable international partner and suffer a severe blow to its interests and regional position.

    In the event of China taking control of Taiwan, the United States and its allies could be denied access to critical sea areas during conflict and China would also significantly extend its reach in the Asia-Pacific region, it says.

    While a U.S.-Taiwan common agenda requires better, more routine high-level contact, the Bush administration has taken a step backward in its exchanges with Taiwan, with not a single Cabinet member or other high-level official having visited Taiwan in the past several years, the report points out.

    It suggests that the U.S. secretary of state should be able to call his or her counterpart in Taiwan to clarify American positions, understand Taiwan's policies firsthand and create a climate of mutual trust.

    Also, the Department of Defense should use all the tools at its disposal to help Taiwan improve its defense capabilities rapidly and to improve interoperability in case the two militaries ever need to operate together, it continues. "Taiwan is a flashpoint for war, and the United States must use all means of communication, diplomacy, training and exchange to avert such a catastrophic prospect," the report concludes.

(By Jorge Liu and Y.F. Low)

ENDITEM/J