Yesterday’s editorial from the Taiwan News had a couple of lines I thought were very well-put:
Washington’s anxiety about cross-strait tension comes largely from the perception that Beijing will make a "dangerous, objectionable, and foolish response" to Taiwan’s continued affirmation of its sovereignty and independence.
Since the Beijing regime is even less predictable than democratic Taiwan it has been easier for Washington to attempt to constrain Taipei first or even treat the Taiwan leader as a "trouble-maker" than to address the structural problems [ie: CHINA] that cause these tensions.
There was another line that got me to thinking, though:
…the DPP administration [is making] efforts to deepen Taiwan’s democracy and enhance the effectiveness of democratic governance through constitutional reforms and the introduction of methods of direct democracy, which are common features of democratic societies around the world. [Emphasis added]
I wonder if recent events surrounding Shih Ming-teh’s redshirts haven’t made DPP politicians a bit more wary of direct democracy. I certainly wouldn’t blame them if they were.
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Here is the most important paragraph in that editorial, in my opinion:
“The CRS analyst also related that some former officials in the Bush administration maintained that Chen’s statements and actions “fatally hurt the Chen administration’s relationship with the Bush White House” and wrote that “the Bush White House at this juncture reportedly began to see the Taiwan leadership as more inclined to put personal political interests ahead of more strategic objectives and U.S. concerns.”
“Personal political interests”? This is very interesting (although, not terribly surprising) insight, disclosing that either the Bush administration doesn’t give a rat’s ass about democratic reform in Taiwan (considering the pan-blues established anti-democratic agenda), OR, they are simply clueless.
Considering that the U.S. picks and chooses which democracies it likes and which ones it doesn’t in the global village — I would hazaard to say that concern for a democratic Taiwan is near the bottom of the U.S. interests. Especially, when juxtaposed against economic interests.
But we already knew that, right?