Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Taiwan’s system will never mesh with China

James Wang 王景弘

While China is attempting to achieve “most favored nation” status with the US, it has refused Washington’s pressure to improve its human rights record, saying that China and the US have different social systems and ideologies and that they should not interfere in each other’s internal affairs. China stresses “two systems for two different countries and peaceful coexistence.”

If former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) had been more broad-minded and farsighted by emphasizing the differences between Taiwan and China and respecting the actual situation, then the ideal of “two systems for two different countries” would have resulted in peaceful relations between Taiwan and China while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was in power.

Realism does not mean inhumanity

J. Michael Cole 寇謐將

As the world adjusts to the rise of China, a growing number of political commentators have proposed that to avoid an arms race with Beijing and to secure its cooperation on various challenges, the US should “cede” Taiwan by revising its long--standing security commitment.

Most recently, Charles Glaser, writing in the establishment Foreign Affairs, made such a case, approaching the matter from what he described as a realist, albeit not pessimistic, perspective.

For genuine freedom, a clean break is needed

Yang Liu Hsiu-hwa 楊劉秀華

After reading the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) article by Lee Min-yung (李敏勇) on Feb. 19, I agree with his view that “because of the remnants of the Republic of China [ROC], the illusion of existence within another government’s system, Taiwan has yet to complete the construction of a sovereign independent state. Supporters of the ROC need to look at this plight.”

The ROC government-in-exile has occupied Taiwan for more than 60 years, resulting in great harm to Taiwanese.

Time to start defrosting US-Taiwan relations

Walter Lohman

The US-Taiwan relationship today is all but frozen, increasing the level of anxiety in Taiwan as it tries to cope with a rising China. One hears this anxiety in conversations with officials in Taipei and in the flurry of public exhortations recently offered by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) concerning Taiwan’s defense needs.

Taiwan’s outreach to China is predicated on strong US-Taiwan ties. Ma has delivered on the outreach; it is the US that is failing to do its part. And that makes Taiwanese nervous.

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