| The following is the fifth of a series of columns written by Paul Jackson of the Calgary Sun while he was in Taipei. This column was run on June 12, 2001. TAIWAN EARNS OUR SUPPORT By Paul Jackson TAIPEI, Taiwan � Stanley Kao is a man of easy, likeable charm and quiet conviction. That combination has propelled him to the position of director-general of North American Affairs in Taiwan�s foreign ministry. Kao, 47, switched from studying law to international politics in the early 1970s when he suddenly realized his country, the Republic of China, was about to be isolated and deemed expendable in the name of diplomatic niceties. That was when democratic Taiwan was suddenly ousted from the UN, of which it was a founding member, to make way for Communist China and the Beijing dictatorship. Read: Sell-out. Read: Czechoslovakia in the 1930s. So Kao decided to fight back. Today, he has not only witnessed Taiwan�s fall from international grace but also the amazing economic expansion that has made it the third-ranking nation in terms of foreign reserves, 14th largest trading nation in the world and the 20th largest economy in the world. The period from 1980 on, when the Republic of China decided to fight back against �pariah� status has been remarkable. �No one can afford to ignore us now,� says Kao, �we are a major trading and high technology power.� Democratic society may transform mainland While Beijing is convinced it can impose its Communist dictatorship on Taiwan, one now senses that, given time, Taiwan�s democratic and free enterprise society may transform the mainland rather than the mainland transforming the island state. It will be a near run thing, but in the West, we had better hope Taiwan reaches the finish line first. Communist China, home of the massacre of hundreds of students in Tiananmen Square in 1989 and the brutal subjugation of tiny Tibet, has a population of 1.2 billion, and with 2.5 million members in the People�s Liberation Army, the biggest military machine in the world. Taiwan, where student protests are allowed to occur every day, has a population of just 22 million, and a military of about 400,000. Despite Beijing�s massive clout, the rot of any rigid dictatorship is showing, as are the successes of any free nation. Kao believes President Jiang Zemin and his coterie of hardliners know Communism has failed, butthey have no alternative to offer for the regime�s survival � except to slowly loosen the reins economically and find a convenient enemy and unifying force, be it the �evil capitalist� U.S. or the �breakaway� capitalist province of Taiwan. That�s why the Beijing military brought down a U.S. surveillance aircraft a month or so ago and the regime whipped up an anti-American frenzy. But, Kao insists, events are quickly slipping out of control for Beijing as unemployment soars, inflation roars, demonstrations and small riots increase and the regime is unable to censor or control the internet. Communist China is the Soviet Union 15 years later. Although Taiwan is still not recognized as a sovereign state by the UN, or by Canada, it has some form of semi-official status with almost 150 nations, including Canada. Kao sees the way for the Republic of China (established in 1912, not as the Communists would have us believe, in 1949) is to further build up a reputation and influence to gain membership in multilateral organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Health Organization (WHO), Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and Latin American free trade and common market groups. Bush election godsend for Taiwan Membership in the WTO, along with Communist China�s entry, is likely to come by the year�s end, and Washington is pushing for Taiwan�s membership in the WHO. President Chen Shui-bian�s highly successful visits to six Latin American countries in the past two weeks have pushed up his profile there. The election of President George W. Bush has naturally been a godsend to Taiwan. Kao contends that despite Canada�s record when it comes to Taiwan (Pierre Trudeau idolized Mao Tse-tung and other Communist dictators such as Cuba�s Fidel Castro) our coutnry should support Taiwan�s bid to obtain membership in any trade, humanitarian, peacekeeping or cultural organization. Our reputation, he says, is one of reaching out to the world, and bringing the world together. Perhaps we will finally find our courage and right the grievous wrong we committed in 1971. Back to the home page. |