Monday, August 20, 2007

Eliminating ambiguity benefits all: ex-U.S. official

Taipei, Aug. 15 (CNA) Eliminating ambiguity in the United States' policy on cross-Taiwan Strait relations would benefit trilateral relations between Taiwan, the U.S. and China, and restoration of full diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Taiwan would be the best way of achieving the objective, said an ex-U.S. official Thursday.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, who is in the middle of his first trip to Taiwan in seven years, reiterated in a press meeting that U.S. recognition of Taiwan would bring stability and certainty, and keep China from misreading the situation.

U.S. President George Bush made a clear commitment that the U.S. would defend Taiwan early in his first term before returning to an ambiguous stance on the status of that commitment, which is "more dangerous" for U.S. national interests, Bolton said.

Bolton admitted, however, that the U.S. State Department will not support the idea of restoring diplomatic relations with Taiwan as "the attitude of the Formosa Problem has never left the State Department" since 1949, when the State Department misjudged the situation in Taiwan, predicting that Taiwan's fall to the Communists was inevitable and urging the Americans to leave the island.

He said that he didn't understand how China has successfully portrayed Taiwan as a troublemaker and Taiwan's U.N. referendum as provocative, given that Taiwan poses neither a military nor economic threat to China.

"But some people in the State Department are buying China's argument, " he said, adding that the best time to change the situation will come at the beginning of a new administration and pointing to the opportunity posed by next year's U.S. presidential election.

"I wish to hear someone [in the State Department] say that allowing people to vote in the referendum is provocative, " Bolton said.

The U.S. had been pressing Taiwan's government for over a decade to be democratic, and the State Department is telling Taiwan "not to be so democratic" at this moment, he said.

Bolton also commented on other issues, including Taiwan's U.N. bid. He suggested that Taiwan should focus on repealing U.N. Resolution 2758 as the objective is to "go back to 1971", when former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. George H.W. Bush proposed "dual representation."

Addressing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's mishandling of Taiwan's U.N. membership application, Bolton said that Ban has made a huge mistake, which will help Taiwan in some ways because it will generate interest in America and bring attention to the case.

He also expects that the U.S. Congress "will react very negatively" to Ban during the September session.