Edited by Janie Boschma
For Ma Ying-jeou’s inauguration ceremony marking his second term as president, the United States sent Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), chairwoman of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, to lead a congressional delegation to Taiwan to congratulate him. It was the highest ranking and largest well-wishing delegation ever to attend a presidential inauguration in the Republic of China.
From a narrow perspective, that only indicates America’s support for Ma. However, I would rather read it as America once more placing importance on Taiwan’s strategic value. Aside from the level and scale of the delegation, I am most interested in the fact that they came to Taiwan on a military flight. This is the second time in Ma Ying-jeou’s two terms as president that U.S. military planes have come to Taiwan. Even during last year’s 3.11 earthquake in Japan, the U.S. chose not to utilize military aircraft in the evacuation of its civilians to Taiwan.
The first time was actually in 2009 during the August floods. On Aug. 8 and 9, the General Headquarters of U.S. Forces in the Pacific via the American Institute in Taiwan offered assistance, which was refused both times by the Ma administration; however, the PLA launched strange military exercises on Aug. 11, and Foreign Affairs Minister Francisco Ou went to Hong Kong to discuss arrangements for Chinese disaster relief efforts in Taiwan. The U.S. then divulged that the Ma administration had rejected American assistance, giving rise to public debate and severe criticism. Ma Ying-jeou was forced to step to the forefront and accept U.S. aid, whereupon the U.S. immediately dispatched Marine heavy transport helicopters to carry disaster relief tools and materials to Taiwan on Aug. 16. Instead of waiting for the Taiwanese military to send personnel for guidance, the U.S. simply sent its aircraft in, taking on the appearance of a race against Beijing. After the event, Andrew Hsia, Francisco Ou and Su Chi all left office in close succession, most likely taking the fall for Ma over the issue.
As a result, the U.S. sending a military flight for Ma’s inauguration this time is a signal to Ma not to overlook America’s presence when dealing with cross-strait affairs, and also that it is able to send military aircraft to Taiwan any time. Another aspect is that it indicates to China that U.S. military planes can land in Taiwan, while China’s cannot. Obviously, this is also connected with the current situation in the East and South China Seas.
The U.S. Congress sending such a high-ranking delegation is also meant to restore the relationship between the American and Taiwanese people. Because Ma pushed strongly for the relaxation of the ban on U.S. beef imports, seemingly having little choice but to do so under heavy American pressure, the image of the U.S. as a leader among democratic nations suffered in Taiwan, while China was pleased to see the rise of anti-U.S. sentiment amongst the Taiwanese population. Concerning this, on Apr. 10 a senior Washington official expressed to United Daily News journalists that the U.S. “will absolutely not” link the beef issue together with arms sales to Taiwan or its visa waiver program, and Taiwan can still expect to obtain visa-exempt status with the U.S. before the end of the year. The same senior official further indicated that the U.S. was taken aback by the Ma administration recently going through Wu Po-hsiung to propose the “one country, two areas” concept to China’s President Hu Jintao and had expressed its displeasure to the Ma administration.
The U.S. government’s reason for seeking out United Daily News naturally lies in said paper’s special relationship with Ma Ying-jeou, which allows it to better convey relevant information to him. Consequently, Ma dares not toot his own horn and claim that U.S.-Taiwan relations are better than ever before; he still shakes in his boots worrying about when his green card issue will get out in the open.
On the other hand, former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Chai Trong-rong also held a banquet for Ros-Lehtinen’s delegation, with several political heavyweights from the pan-green camp in attendance. It seems as if the U.S. must mend its relationship with the DPP for it to be able to rein in Ma on cross-strait relations.
The author, Lin Baohua, is a senior commentator on current affairs.
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