Taipei, June 22 (CNA) It's impossible to untangle the United States' China policy from its Taiwan policy, but in the post-Cold War international arena, Taiwan must make itself "indispensable, " visiting U.S. scholars said in Taipei Tuesday.
"In my judgment, the bilateral relations between the United States and Taiwan are one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world between two governments... and it's difficult to think about China and the U.S.'s relationship with China without thinking about our relationship with Taiwan, " said Scott Lilly, a senior research fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP), a Washington-based think tank founded in 2003.
Lilly was among a group of scholars from the center who attended a forum to discuss the U.S. President Barack Obama administration's foreign policies and priorities, organized by the American Cultural Center under the American Institute in Taiwan, the institution representing U.S. interests in Taiwan.
Speaking on relations between the U.S., China and Taiwan, Lilly said that the U.S. and Taiwan both "have the front row seats" to watch the drama of a rising China unfold and observe whether China will play a responsible and constructive role in the international community or refuse to change with the times.
Lilly, who served for 31 years in the U.S. Congress, said that both sides of the Taiwan Strait should avoid provocation, but that Taiwan should not show weakness when dealing with China. The military balance across the Taiwan Strait should not move significantly in either direction, he said, which means Taiwan should not seek and the U.S. should not provide weapons that go beyond preserving the balance.
"I think Taiwan presents a serious test to China -- is China about peaceful development and improving the lives of its own people? Or does it have a regional and global ambition which would trample 'other countries' along the way?" Lilly said.
Michael Werz, a research fellow at CAP, said that while West Berlin and Taiwan were two of the most important spots in the 1960s and 1970s, the importance of geographic location has been decreasing after the Cold War era.
Nowadays small powers can make a huge impact as elements such as "soft power" and participation in new organizations have become important, he said.
National interests aren't as tied to geographic locations and military power as they used to be, he said, adding that they need to be redefined.
Taiwan should make itself an indispensable part of the world by developing into an information technology (IT) hub or a research and development hub for products made in China, Werz said.
"You have to take care of your own business," he said.
While Taiwan has been a strong U.S. ally, it does not affect the overall China policy of the U.S. government, said Lawrence Korb, another CAP senior fellow.
Citing China's cooperation in voting for United Nations sanctions against Iran, Korb said that "the fact that they did it shows that our policy toward Taiwan does not undermine our relations with the Chinese." (By Chris Wang) enditem/bc