Marching Toward the World or Solitude Is a Matter of Tsai Ying-wen’s Whim

  Marching Toward the World or Solitude Is a Matter of Tsai Ying-wen’s Whim

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)

May 5, 2017

 Translation of an Except

The international situation changes all the time in the era of globalization; bilateral relations are closely knit, a nation’s actions or incidents often impact other countries. Maintaining dynamic diplomacy and alliances is the standard for securing a nation’s highest benefits. In order to avoid being marginalized by the international community, passively a nation must not limit itself to a locality, shrinking its own strategic space; actively, the only golden rule is to create sustainable and irreplaceable status and values.

Since taking office on May 20 last year, the Tsai government has refused to accept the "1992 Consensus," official cross-Strait exchanges ended across the board, while private sector exchanges, also being impacted by populist atmospherics, have been deteriorating, not improving. In view of the enormous national strength and far-reaching influence of the Mainland, the Tsai government's strategic space has been reduced to tilting all the way to the United States and Japan, even at the price of selling out territory, sacrificing people's health and economic interests.

When he was campaigning and first elected, US President Trump was keen to smack Mainland China in the head; his words and deeds brought beautiful scenarios for the Tsai government’s tilting toward the United States. Unexpectedly, this fantasy was a flash in the pan; after the Trump-Xi hotline conversation in February, he has returned to the one China track. Following the US-China summit last April, bilateral relations turned a new page; Trump also accepted Xi Jinping’s invitation to visit China. Later, in an exclusive interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump lavished praise on Xi Jinping; the Wall Street Journal believes the deepening development of US-China relations has become the trend, signaling a caveat for Taiwan: for the various possible situations between the United States and China in the future, Taiwan has to be prepared for the worst. During this period, the Tsai government enthusiastically proposed a request that the nomenclature of the "Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office" be renamed as the "Taiwan Representative Office" was declined by the United States; and the hope for a second "Tsai-Trump phone call" was also immediately declined by Trump.

Let’s examine cross-Strait relations. Cross-Strait economic and trade relations have met some obstacles, placing Taiwan virtually outside of the global economic-trade value chain. Secondly, in as far as Taiwan-US economic-trade relations are concerned, the pressure that the United States will impose on Taiwan will increase, not decrease, including on exchange rates, market opening for US pork and beef, trade deficits, etc. Moreover, the United States uses the Taiwan-US consultation platform to force Taiwan to lower import duties, open markets for tobacco and alcohol, increase our purchases from the United States, and even invoked the Special 301 Clause concerning intellectual property rights to threaten Taiwan, bringing us to our knees

As to the New Southward Policy which the Tsai government has been pushing with all efforts, on the one hand, the 18 countries in the New Southward Policy are mindful of their relations with the Mainland, and on the other hand, lacking platforms for economic and trade cooperation, such as FTAs, will produce results not worthy of our efforts, or even an exercise in futility. In the matter of the South China Sea question, the new government of the Philippines sworn in last year eschewed the question, opting for a pro-China path, and the Mainland quickly lifted the ban on imports of agricultural products from that country and other measures of reprisal. In 2012, Sino-Japanese relations hit rock bottom because of sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands; Japan spent nearly two years to amend the situation; Mainland tourism to Japan recovered to its former glory as a result, and the performance of Japanese automobile plants on the Mainland also made improvements. The deployment of THAAD missiles in South Korea led to the deterioration of Sino-Korean relations; an opening for a breakthrough is actively being sought.

In other words, various countries have been striving to strengthen their relations with the Mainland; only the Tsai government walks in the opposite direction, which would further isolate Taiwan in international relations, toward a path of darkness for its economy and trade. Cross-Strait relations hold the key to Taiwan’s march toward the world. Whether Taiwan marches toward the world or toward solitude is a matter Tsai Ing-wen’s whim. 

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