China And Taiwan

While international attention might have focused on the political aspects of the matchup between China and Taiwan, coming after a sometimes frightening year of tension between Beijing and Taipei culminating in Chinese missile tests off Taiwan in March, the atmosphere on Friday was decidedly business-like. The Chinese, who took second place in the 1994 world championships, shut Taiwan out, 1-0, almost assuring an eventual matchup against the United States in the finals.

Ma Ying-jeou, the incumbent president of Taiwan, has now won his hard-fought battle for reelection. What does it mean for the United States? To state it plainly, Ma's victory means one less headache for any U.S. administration, Democratic or Republican. China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949. The U.S. ended its formal treaty commitment to protect Taiwan from a Chinese attack in 1979, but it continues to be committed to the island's security through legislation. Ma is seen as the candidate least likely to provoke China or otherwise put the U.S. in an uncomfortable position.

Re "U.S. Shouldn't Indulge China's Taiwan Fantasy," Commentary, Feb. 14: Right on! As Daniel C. Lynch points out, the collective identities of the Taiwanese and the Chinese are too distinct to forge a natural political unification. It defies logic to think that a country of 23 million people with a democratically elected president can be pressured to forgo its hard-earned freedom and democracy to become part of the largest holdout communist country in the world. Once the Chinese government becomes disillusioned with its "natural unification" fantasy, only a show of solid public support to the Taiwanese democracy from the U.S. can head off a dangerous military confrontation in this game of chicken.

Ever since Taiwan's democracy took shape in the 1990s, elections have revolved around relations with mainland China. But the hot-button issue of independence from China was bumped from the top of the campaign list in recent months as incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou and main challenger Tsai Ing-wen vied for votes ahead of the presidential election Saturday. Both major candidates sought to establish themselves as leaders with fail-proof strategies for helping a vast lower-middle class.

Tom Plate's April 9 commentary, reprinted in the April 13 China Post, contains some reasonable and timely suggestions about how to reduce the tension between China and the U.S., among them that Beijing officials should learn how the U.S. Congress works and vice versa, and members of Congress have more contact with and try to better understand China. In the same article, however, Plate also discusses the present conflict between China and Taiwan and uses language and insinuation which, I'm afraid, could seriously misinform readers.

For decades, Taiwan has maintained a strict policy of refusing to allow any letters or telephone calls between its citizens and the Chinese mainland. Taiwan government spokesmen said this prohibition was one aspect of its policy called the "three nos": no negotiations, no compromise and no contact with China under its Communist leadership. But in an era of advanced communications technology, Taiwan's policy has become increasingly difficult to enforce, at least with respect to phone calls.

President Obama will have a lot on his agenda when he visits China this week as part of his four-nation Asia trip. He wants to strengthen ties with Beijing in an effort to resolve the global financial crisis, foster collaboration on climate change and curb nuclear proliferation in North Korea. China's cooperation is also essential on a wide range of other pressing problems, including terrorism, threats to public health and dwindling energy supplies. Most analysts agree, however, that Beijing's chief concern is the United States' continued military support of Taiwan.

CHINA AND TAIWAN HAVE BEEN feuding for so long that outsiders often lose track of what the dispute is actually about: whether Taiwan is a part of China. On such a touchy issue, a minor move by either side can ignite a fiery reaction. On Monday, Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian announced that he was closing his National Unification Council, which is intended to oversee political steps toward a potential future merging of China and Taiwan.

Ma Ying-jeou, the incumbent president of Taiwan, has now won his hard-fought battle for reelection. What does it mean for the United States? To state it plainly, Ma's victory means one less headache for any U.S. administration, Democratic or Republican. China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949. The U.S. ended its formal treaty commitment to protect Taiwan from a Chinese attack in 1979, but it continues to be committed to the island's security through legislation. Ma is seen as the candidate least likely to provoke China or otherwise put the U.S. in an uncomfortable position.

Re "China, Taiwan Move 95 Miles Closer to Political Cooperation," by Robert Manning, Opinion, Feb. 4: Having lived in Taiwan for about 30 years during the highly confrontational period between China and Taiwan, I was delighted to read that the two bitter political rivals were "95 miles closer" politically, realizing that mainland China and the main island of Taiwan were only 100 miles from each other geographically. But my dream of seeing the two former archenemies reunite under mutually acceptable terms was short-lived.

Derek Ma was feeling pretty good after successfully co-hosting a banquet for China's National Day with more than 600 guests, a 10-course dinner, a parade of entertainers and more than $10,000 in prizes. Then he got a call from the top local representative of Taiwan, who put a damper on his mood. "He basically said, 'We are supposed to be old friends. Why did you guys do such a nice job helping the other side? It makes us look bad,'" said Ma, a restaurateur who used to be president of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Assn.

Japan released the Chinese fishing boat captain Saturday whose detention after straying into disputed waters had enraged Beijing and sparked the worst diplomatic crisis between the long-contentious neighbors in years. Zhan Qixiong flew out of Ishigaki airport in southern Japan after mounting pressure and threats from Beijing had stirred fears of serious economic repercussions for the island nation. The announcement came as mounting pressure and threats from Beijing stirred fears of serious economic repercussions for the island nation.

The euro declined on world markets Monday, nearing a nine-month low against the dollar, on a revival of worries about debt woes in Greece and Dubai. But stocks in Europe and emerging markets gained. U.S. markets were closed for Presidents Day, and exchanges in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia were shut for the Lunar New Year holiday. Brazil's market was closed for Carnival festivities. Metal prices rose after Goldman Sachs said China's growth was fast enough that the government might let the yuan strengthen as much as 5% to curb inflation.

Re "How a few F-16s can buy peace in the Taiwan Strait," Opinion, Nov. 11 In recommending that the United States leverage not selling F-16 jets to Taiwan for better U.S.-China-Taiwan relations, professor Dennis V. Hickey overlooks three key points. First, the U.S. has formally assured Taipei that Washington will not hold prior consultations with Beijing regarding arms sales to Taiwan. Second, although it would be a significant and welcome gesture if China pulled back missiles aimed at Taiwan, Beijing could easily redeploy those missiles whenever it wanted.

President Obama will have a lot on his agenda when he visits China this week as part of his four-nation Asia trip. He wants to strengthen ties with Beijing in an effort to resolve the global financial crisis, foster collaboration on climate change and curb nuclear proliferation in North Korea. China's cooperation is also essential on a wide range of other pressing problems, including terrorism, threats to public health and dwindling energy supplies. Most analysts agree, however, that Beijing's chief concern is the United States' continued military support of Taiwan.

The Dalai Lama is expected Monday in Taiwan for his first visit in eight years, injecting a volatile element into the political fallout from a killer typhoon. Tibet's exiled spiritual leader -- reviled as a separatist by Beijing -- was invited to Taiwan by officials in southern communities hard hit by Typhoon Morakot. Despite having staked his presidency on closer ties with the mainland, Taiwanese leader Ma Ying-jeou had little choice but to agree to the visit because of the uproar against his government for its sluggish reaction to the storm.

A Chinese national who last year participated in the kidnapping of a 17-year-old San Marino youth was sentenced Monday to more than seven years in prison. The case, in which a team of seven kidnappers in the United States and China tried to collect a $1.5-million ransom from the youth's father, a Taiwanese developer, led to unprecedented law enforcement cooperation among the United States, China and Taiwan. Xue Han Wang, 26, was sentenced to 85 months for hostage-taking.

China and Taiwan are not about to go to war, despite persistent news reports of increased tension between the two countries, Taiwan's president said Sunday. But on the same day that President Lee Teng-hui made the comments at a political rally, the military said a boat believed to be Chinese shot at a Taiwanese cargo ship, a newspaper reported Taiwan has increased its defense budget and another newspaper said Taiwan will hold a naval drill to improve anti-submarine skills.

This sprawling industrial park south of Nairobi was supposed to be a centerpiece of a Clinton-era U.S.-Africa trade program designed to make "Made in Kenya" almost as familiar as clothing labels from China and Taiwan. Well-known American brands, including wrinkle-free Dockers, Gloria Vanderbilt jeans and Izod polo shirts, roll off sewing assembly lines here before being shipped to Target, Sears and other U.S. retailers.

China and Taiwan have agreed to open the first permanent offices in each other's capitals and to regularize flights between their territories in the biggest diplomatic breakthrough between the historic rivals in a decade. Although the details were still being hammered out in two days of talks here scheduled to wrap up today, negotiators said that as many as 3,000 Chinese tourists per day would be permitted to take chartered weekend flights to Taiwan.