American Institute in Taiwan chair Raymond Burghardt made his tenth official trip to Taiwan to brief leadership of the Republic of China in-exile on Hu Jintao’s recent trip to Washignton, D.C.
Hu Jintao is the head of the People’s Republic of China and called Taiwan’s status an internal Chinese issue and part of the PRC’s “core interests” in a speech before business leaders.
Burghardt was quick to tell his Taipei hosts that nothing had changed as a result of Hu’s visit and that Taiwan was largely off-limits during the summit talks between Hu Jintao and Barack Obama.
There were the usual references to the Taiwan Relations Act and the so-called Three Communiqués that outline Washington’s stance on Taiwan. The cloudy “one China” mantra was repeated and future arms sales were left undetermined.
Once again the United States avoided a showdown over the ultimate controlling document governing American responsibility to the Taiwanese people, the San Francisco Peace Treaty.
Under terms of the treaty, ratified in 1952 and still binding, the United States is the “principal occupying Power” of post-World War II Taiwan. Because of Cold War politics President Harry Truman decided to allow the beleaguered regime of Chiang Kai-shek to control the island.
All presidents since Truman, including Barack Obama, have continued to oppose Taiwanese independence and denied the islanders self-determination. Caught in a diplomatic limbo, which the District of Columbia U.S. Court of Appeals calls “political purgatory”, Taiwan remains under military threat from China.
Although Ma Ying-jeou’s Kuomintang government in Taipei claims it is a sovereign nation, it has been denied membership in the United Nations and is kept out of membership in international bodies like the World Health Organization. Not recognized by the United States or a majority of the world’s nations, the Republic of China in-exile is dependent on U.S. weapons purchases to defend the island from China.
The U.S. failure to honor its treaty obligations to the people of Taiwan keeps the San Francisco Peace Treaty out of the spotlight and left off the State Department’s list of official documents governing Taiwan’s status. The strategy of uncertainty has protected Taiwan from invasion for decades but is quickly becoming outdated by Chinese military advances.
Hu Jintao’s claim in Washington that Taiwan belongs to China is a loud message that the strategic ambiguity is wearing thin while the military arms race continues across the Taiwan Strait.
Burghardt did not tell ROC officials when, or if, their latest weapons purchase order of advanced fighter planes and submarines will be filled.
Aside from mouthing support for the “one China” doctrine, President Barack Obama has largely been silent on the future of Taiwan and has never acknowledged the San Francisco Peace Treaty in a public statement.
Source: Michael Richardson - Boston Progressive Examiner
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