On the future of Taiwan - US relations

press conference (pdf transcript) - stephen m. young, director of the American institute in taiwan, october 26, 2006
video
(From AIT)

Stephen Young's press conference on the blockage of Taiwan's weapon deal with the US has made an impact on the Taiwan's legislature, a negative impact, in fact, when you consider the reactions of the KMT (Chinese National party) and PFP (People's First Party). But the blame isn't on director Young, it is, instead on the irrational response of these two parties. They have been irrationally blocking the budget of Taiwan's national defense for the past 5 years for their own political benefit.

From the view point of a American living in Taiwan, I would sadly propose the following. As Taiwan is a democratic nation, the irrational legislatures are all voted for by the people of Taiwan. Thus, the US government should keep an eye on the next 2 elections of Taiwan. If, after all these irrational moves of these two parties, and the people are still supporting them, then that means that these moves are supported by the people. In that case, the US government should drop all supports of Taiwan's national defense. Although this may have a negative impact on the overall security to the Asian Pacific area, in this case, it no longer makes sense for the US to focus on this part, and the US should find an alternative, such as strengthening defense relations with the Philippines. The US government should save it's resources and focus them on more effective approaches.

If the Taiwanese people doesn't resist Chinese take over, then the US should give up on Taiwan. Of course in the future, they might regret the communist take over after it happened, just as what Hong Kong has experienced; yet if they give up on their selves now, there is no way the US or anyone else can help.

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Changing my point of view, as a person of Taiwanese ethnicity, I strongly propose that we should show strong pressure to our legislators, that national security is something of great importance, not something to joke with. One approach is to avoid voting for anyone who opposes the security bills. Most of us Taiwanese have not voted wisely, and I hope, after all the turmoil of lousy politics, more people would have put more thought into voting in the future: choosing the candidates that really care about the future of the country, not the one that only care about our enemies.