President-elect Ma Ying-jeou visited Frederick Chien, a former minister of foreign affairs, earlier this month for a few words of advice.Chien, who retired as president of the Control Yuan at the beginning of 2005, told his former student at prestigious Taiwan University not to practice any exercise in futility in the conduct of foreign affairs but man the nation’s top watchdog body with ombudsmen who are “more virtuous than capable.”
As a consummate diplomat, Chien left quite a few words unsaid, of course.We wish Ma would read the mind of his ex-mentor, who had taught at Taiwan University for two years before he started his career in foreign service.
Only a week before he met Chien, Ma went on the record by saying he would like to have Taiwan join the World Health Assembly as Chinese Taipei.The WHA, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, is scheduled to hold its annual meeting in Geneva on May 19, one day before Ma will be sworn in as president.The Republic of China on Taiwan has tried in vain over the past 10 years to join that UN-affiliated organization in any status, albeit it has exhausted the names it could use in applying for accession.Among others, there was one fancy name “health entity” of Taiwan, a la the Special Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu the country used to join the World Trade Organization.That convoluted title was accepted and Taiwan acceded only after China had acquiesced to joining the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade together with that special customs territory on the same day but a couple of hours earlier.Remember the WTO isn’t a UN-affiliated organization, which doesn’t require statehood for membership.
Nonetheless, the WTO, also headquartered in Geneva, informally or semi-officially abbreviates that long name to Chinese Taipei.Quite a number of world organizations, including the International Olympic Committee and the Asian Development Bank, use Chinese Taipei to designate Taiwanese representation.Perhaps that gave Ma Ying-jeou the hint that Taiwan might be able to join the WHA as an observer.
Not a chance.The WHO is a UN organization that admits only independent sovereign states. Taiwan, on the other hand, is a mere province of the People’s Republic of China inasmuch as the United Nations is concerned.Taiwan can never join that organization under whatever name so long as the People’s Republic, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, opposes it.Any attempt to knock at the door of the WHO or any other UN organizations – and the United Nations – is an exercise in futility.
What Chien left unsaid is Taipei’s only way to all these international bodies is through Beijing.As a matter of fact, Chien said so, though in a much more subtle way, while he was the foreign minister from 1990 to 1996.He said: “Cross-Strait relations are above foreign relations.”Without a collaborating understanding with Beijing, Taipei can hardly conduct its foreign relations with success.
Taiwan now maintains diplomatic relations with a mere 23 countries of the world and China is trying to wean a few of them away by promising juicy rewards.Taipei could ante up in those good old days long past when Taiwan “was cash awash.” It cannot afford to buy diplomatic friendship any more.Besides, to do so is another exercise in futility, simply because Beijing can easily disband Taipei’s diplomatic club if Chinese President Hu Jintao ardently so wishes.He has all the money which can be spent without any legislative checks!
One more thing left unuttered was that a small country like Taiwan is a pushover in an arena of diplomacy.A small state has little, if any, say in the world of power politics.Don’t forget Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin just divided up Poland – a country much, much bigger than Taiwan – between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.How come the United States invaded Panama and arrested its president Noriega?With a president like Chen Shui-bian whose messages to the nation has to be cleared with Washington first, Taiwan is not much better than a banana republic.To think otherwise is still another exercise in futility.Actually, it is time for its leaders to tell the people of these harsh realities.The best policy still is to call a spade a spade.
As the Kuomintang has come to control the executive and legislative branches of the government, the role of China’s unique ombudsmen cannot be overemphasized.They alone are able to impeach or censure public functionaries, save the president and the vice president of the republic.They may investigate the operations of the Executive Yuan and its subordinate organizations and propose corrective measures.Needless to say, they should be men of probity.
After Chien’s retirement, the Control Yuan ceased to function.President Chen nominated Clement Chang, a former minister of transportation and communications, to succeed Chien but the nomination, along with that of 28 candidates for the watchdog body, was not confirmed by the Legislative Yuan.Chen let it lapse.The first thing Ma has to do as president is to name 29 candidates who are “more virtuous than capable” rather than follow the bad old tradition of the spoils system.The Control Yuan in the past used to offer sinecures to political has-beens.
（本文刊載於97.04.14中國時報第F2版，本文代表作者個人意見）
