Bush says does not support independence for Taiwan -(Bush Shafts Taiwan, mine)

Reuters ^ | 10-26-02

[tallhappy]

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Friday the United States would use its influence to ensure China and Taiwan settle their differences peacefully and promised to make it clear to Taipei that Washington does not support independence.

In a news conference with Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Bush said the United States stood by the "one China" policy, which acknowledges that Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is only one China and that Taiwan is part of China.

"The 'one China' policy means that the issue ought to be resolved peacefully," Bush said.

"We've got influence with some in the region. We intend to make sure that the issue is resolved peacefully, and that includes making it clear that we do not support independence," Bush added.

Taiwan's president, Chen Shui-bian, has voiced support for a referendum on formal independence from China.

The move outraged Beijing, which views the island as a renegade province and a linchpin in Sino-U.S. relations.

Beijing had hoped Bush would repeat a pledge not to back independence for Taiwan, which China says must eventually be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Nationalists headed by Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists. Washington shifted diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979.

But the United States has offered Taiwan the biggest arms package in a decade and Bush has pledged to do "whatever it takes" to help the democratically governed island protect itself.

Bush did not repeat that pledge at Friday's news conference.

But during a visit to China earlier this year, he said, "When my country makes an agreement, we stick with it, and there is (something) called the Taiwan Relations Act and I honour that act, which says we will help Taiwan defend herself if provoked."

China says it is seriously concerned about the U.S. warming to Taiwan under Bush and has called on Washington to halt military contacts and arms sales to the island.

[dwills]

it's very simple:

we don't openly foment rebellion in sovereign states but we insist that rebels we like are dealt with peacefully

we like the taiwanese but not the chechens any more, and with good reason

[stainlessbanner]

We intend to make sure that the issue is resolved peacefully, and that includes making it clear that we do not support independence," Bush added.

Sounds about right....

[philman_36]

Does Bush know what he has done?
What a very loaded question.
An affirmative answer might imply one thing while a negative answer implies something alse all together.
I believe I'll pass giving an opinion/answer at this time.
That sounds too much like "No comment" doesn't it.

[philman_36]

I don't understand this conclusion.
What should be painfully obvious obviously isn't to some. Think about it, the clues are all there.

[concentric circles]

We need to remind ourselves, sometimes, that in the world of diplomacy and international relations the words that people speak only mean so much and are often intended for a specific audience which is usually not even identified at the time the words are delivered. Actions, on the other hand, are a little easier to read and interpret but they don't always attract the attention that formal remarks do. With that in mind I would like to remind us of the United States Navy's recent announcement that three Los Angeles class attack submarines will now be posted to Guam. Which words do you think the Chinese are paying greatest attention to? And do you think their sleep is ever disturbed by visions of Ohio class subs? Its nice to have a president who understands that peace assured by strength is a durable peace.

[philman_36]

Do you think the author could add the Canada part in somehow?
BWAHAHAHAHA!
What say ye Jeff? Can you?
Bill, you're clueless!

[Jeff Head]

In regards to his question regarding the Canadians and DRAGON'S FURY ...

see my post #166

In regards to the topic of the thread over all ...

see my post #161

Fregrads!

[philman_36]

I read 'em. I wanted to see your views and thus the reason I flagged you.
To me it's as I stated earlier...Goodbye Taiwan, hello Formosa.
When the time comes, and it eventually will, I simply don't see there being a big rallying cry for our boys to fight and die for the Taiwanese.
We'd better watch out with all of these "arms deals" too. Once an enemy is eliminated the first thing one should do is take his weapons. Reverse engineering only hurts us.
I'm still waiting for intel on the first look-a-like P-3. You figure about 2-3 years?

[Jeff Head]

The Ruskies already have had a P-3 look alike for a long time. I am sure the Chinese can buy and license build them if they want. It's called the IL-38 May. Here's a pic with an F-4 "escorting".

We simply must help the ROC defend themselves. They are a liberty loving people who have tried to model their system after our own. They are vibrant and very productive. If we walk away from them ... it ould further punctuate the message we already sent in 1979 under Carter when we abandoned them politically. We would abandon our own Act of Congress and other nations in the region would begin to move away from us.

In addition, if the ROC falls, the PRC then (with the Spratleys) controls oil access to S. Korea and Japan. There would be more hell for us to pay soon thereafter than there would be in helping the ROC IMHO.

Regards.

[Theodore R.]

What good are free elections in China if the Chinese people are as dense as the Americans in choosing leaders! I guess it just makes good copy to call for "free elections." Heck, we don't have free elections in St. Louis, much less China, or on SD Indian reservations, we have recently learned.

[sneakypete]

Only Congress can do that, not the President.

Wrong. If the president doesn't sign a bill,it doesn't become law. When the president's party is the one that controls Congress and the Trade Commission,they don't puit up a bill for the vote unless the president wants it passed.

[dsutah]

I can't believe the knee-jerking going on over this! This is "Reuters", for crying-out-loud! I wouldn't trust them as far as putting out a honest report of the President's polices for nothing! I don't believe G. Bush would go 180 degrees all of a sudden! This is just someone writing this article putting words in his mouth! At least there are a few with cooler heads like you prevailing! Uh, keep it up!

[Thane_Banquo]

Yes, it's true we will go it alone if need be. But Bush would prefer not to. Unlike X42, Bush means what he says.

[reformedliberal]

Good posts.

I read recently that we have sent 3 Los Angeles class subs "deep into the Pacific". While we need China to abstain, at the least, on the Iraq resolution and so we will reiterate the One China policy, we have made it clear we will defend Taiwan from attack or invasion.

One crisis at a time. Remember, all: the President is the face man. The policy is the work of a team. Condi Rice is the strategist at work here, IMO.

[formosaplastics]

Why would Beijing want to shut down shipping lanes in the Western Pacific? Beijing as the second-biggest international trading nation on earth in terms of exports and imports is one of the prime beneficiaries of open shipping lanes worldwide. It's how they make a lot of their money.

[formosaplastics]

In world history, countries that have had the largest economies usually have had the largest militaries for the simple reason that large economies have the most economic assets to protect around the world.

[formosaplastics]

Bush is selling out for $$$.

Since when has capitalism and making money become crimes in Americans' eyes? Are you a Marxist?

[formosaplastics]

Beijing still has the capacity to close down virtually any enterprise

Chinese want to get rich off of capitalism, not kill capitalism. Capitalism is power and the more capitalism, the more power, so there's not really an incentive for China to return to Marxism and become poor and weak again anytime soon.

[formosaplastics]

The more Taiwan's Pres. Chen talks about independence, the more Taiwan's own people and foreign investors get spooked and shift money out of Taiwan and into mainland China. Ever since Chen became President just 2 years ago, more money has left Taiwan than in the previous 8 years combined. Taiwan's population is too small to support much of a domestic economy; its lifeblood is exports which make up around 50% of Taiwan's GDP. But the more Chen talks about independence and screws up Taiwan's economy with high taxes, environmental regulations, and more red tape, the more businesses will continue to flee Taiwan.

[formosaplastics]

The new head of America's unofficial embassy in Taiwan spoke a few weeks and said basically, "The Fortune 500 aren't going to sacrifice their own economic interests in the mainland with its 1.2 bil. people for the sake of Taiwan's democracy. Democracy is nice, but there's only so many Cokes and Boeing airplanes and Citibank loans an island of 22 mil. can consume vs. a continent-sized country of 1.2 bil."

In the end, it's all about economics and capitalism. America's markets are saturated and American firms need new markets to expand into.

George Orwell once criticized Rudyard Kipling for not realizing that the British Empire (like all empires) was primarily a money-making enterprise. Similarly, the purpose of modern democracy is to allow capitalists to run free and make as much money as possible. Remember, America's colonialists had a beef about taxes and the "bourgeoisie" in France led the French Revolution. China's authoritarian rulers are more effective in creating an environment in their country conducive to capitalism than the gridlocked democratic legislatures of today's Third World republics (Russia, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, S. Africa), which if anything seem to require one IMF bailout after another. After each of these countries adopted full-fledged multi-party democracy, capitalism did not flower and these countries didn't become mirror images of bourgeois Western society but rather all these countries experienced massive capital flight (including Taiwan in the past 2 years). Russia's per-capita GDP fell 50%, and Taiwan's per-capita GDP fell 12% in just the last year in addition to a 50% drop in foreign investment. Taiwan thought its economic strength would last forever and it fancied itself as a US-like modern democracy, but it forgot that it gets 50% of its GDP from exports but its exporters are now leaving. As Taiwan's exporters leave, Taiwan's middle-class (the basis of Taiwan's democracy) deteriorates.