Taiwanese Representative Chien-Jen Chen Taipei and Beijing: The Great Wall of China by Larry Luxner Imagine a fervently pro-American nation that prides itself on its democracy, human rights, free trade and economic prosperity, yet is denied an embassy in Washington, D.C., and sees U.N. membership as a nearly impossible dream. Such is the peculiar fate of the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan, Americaís eighth-largest trading partner and the worldís third-largest exporter of information technology products. Last year, Taiwanís 22.4 million people spent nearly as much on U.S. products as did its archrival, the Peopleís Republic of China (PRC), with 1.3 billion inhabitants. ìThe PRC has tried hard to undercut our position in the international community,î says Chien-Jen Chen, Taiwanís top diplomat in the United States. ìTheyíve tried to isolate us and block us from joining international organizations or participating in international activities. But we donít want to be isolated or sidelined.î Chenóa likeable, easygoing man whose friends and colleagues call him ìC.J.îóheads the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington. This gleaming five-story, $16 million complex on Wisconsin Avenue, about two blocks from the Van Ness Metro station, is the closest thing Taiwan has to an embassy here. Ironically, the Taiwanese government still owns Twin Oaks, a 26-room mansion that served as the official residence of nine ROC ambassadors between 1937 and 1978. The mansion and the 17.6 acres of land it lies on comprise the largest privately owned estate in Washington. Chenís counterpart in Taipei is Douglas Paal, director of the Arlington-based American Institute in Taiwan. Both countries have maintained informal relations through these two offices since President Jimmy Carter formalized relations with China and ended recognition of Taiwan in 1979. ìI was here when that happened,î said Chen, 62, in a lengthy interview. ìWe were extremely disappointed and saddened that the U.S. government decided to switch diplomatic recognition [to Beijing]. On the other hand, we know that each country has its own interests and that sometimes, countries may have differences. This is the reality, and everybody knows why.î The historical animosity existing between the two Chinas has lasted for just over half a century. When communists took control of the Chinese mainland in 1949 and established the Peopleís Republic of China, the Republic of China government led by Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan. Since then, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have been governed as separate territories. Martial law in Taiwan ended in 1987, and in 1996, the people of Taiwan held their first direct presidential election. In January 2002, Taiwan was admitted into the World Trade Organization. Taiwan now has the worldís 16th-largest economy, based on 2000 gross national product rankings by the World Bank, and boasts the worldís third-largest foreign-exchange reserves. Yet Beijing still regards self-ruled, democratic Taiwan as part of China. The communist government insists that the islandís leaders should not be allowed the diplomatic privileges accorded to other international leaders. And the reality Chen speaks of is that Washington has no interest in upsetting China, the worldís most populous nation. ìI donít know about their side, but we want to be reasonable and positive,î Chen says. ìThis is why in the last two years, our government has been working hard to resume dialogue between Taipei and Beijing. From the very beginning, our president, Chen Shui-bian, expressed goodwill and sincerity, and weíd like to see that dialogue resumed.î As head of TECRO, Chen oversees 210 people working in 10 divisions covering everything from economics to military procurement. ìBesides the name, we are like any other embassy in Washington,î says Chen. ìMost people believe that the current relationship under President Bush between Taiwan and the United States is the best since 1979. You can cite all sorts of statistics, but more importantly, you can feel it. We treat each other as friends, we have very good communications, we have mutual trust, and we try to avoid causing problems.î Chen began his first tour of duty in Washington in 1971, the year before President Richard Nixon made his historic visit to Beijing. Appointed as a third secretary, he was promoted to first secretary and in 1979, following the rupture of U.S.-Taiwan relations, was named director of public affairs for the U.S. office of the Coordination Council for North American Affairs (CCNAA), TECROís predecessor organization. In 1982, Chen returned to Washington as an adviser to CCNAA, and later as deputy representative, a job he held for seven years. In 1989, Chen was appointed vice minister of Taiwanís Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the early 1990s, represented his party, the Kuomintang (KMT), in the Taiwanese legislature. Returning to the Foreign Service in 1996, Chen eventually became director general of the Government Information Office, serving as the governmentís official spokesman before becoming the countryís foreign minister and finally envoy to the United States. ìI love Washington. This is a great capital,î says Chen, who is married to the former Yolanda Ho, a renowned designer in Taiwanís textile and apparel industry. ìI tell my junior colleagues that Washington is like a big school. Thereís so much to learn, and you never graduate. Secondly, itís like a big stage where you see people perform, and the people watch you. Finally, Washington is like a big market. If you have a good commodity, you can sell. Otherwise, nobody buys it.î Is anybody buying what Taiwan has to offer? Obviously, yes, if one considers the $51 billion in bilateral trade recorded last year. Thatís down from the $65 billion achieved in 2000, which Chen attributes to ìthe world economic situation. ìBut this year, it has been picking up, and Iím pretty confident that bilateral trade will continue to grow,î says the diplomat, noting that Taiwanís gross national product today exceeds $320 billion. That translates into a per-capita income of around $13,000ócompared to less than $1,000 for mainland China. In terms of per-capita spending, Taiwan is already the worldís top buyer of American agricultural products and is now pushing for a U.S.-Taiwan free trade agreement that could expand bilateral economic links even further. For years, Taiwan has attempted to use its vast economic resources to curry favor with poor countries in the hope of establishing formal diplomatic ties. This so-called ìdollar diplomacyî has enjoyed its most visible success in Central America, where Taiwan is recognized by all six Spanish-speaking republics. ìI was the one who helped resume diplomatic relations with Nicaragua when Violeta Chamorro came into power in 1990,î says Chen, who fondly recalls singing ìBesame Muchoî and ìSolamente Una Vezî as the Nicaraguan president played piano at her home in Managua. Yet for all its efforts, only one South American countryóstaunchly anti-communist Paraguayórecognizes Taiwan instead of China. And in Europe, only the Holy See has ties with Taipei. Of the 27 countries with which Taiwan enjoys full diplomatic relations, 14 are in Latin America or the Caribbean, eight are in Africa, and four are in the South Pacific. Last month, Taiwan suffered a minor diplomatic setback when Nauruóa tiny Pacific island of only 10,000 inhabitantsóswitched allegiances from Taipei to Beijing after 22 years. China reportedly offered Nauru $130 million to drop its links with Taiwan. Asked if this was a big deal, Chen answered: ìI donít think so. We would love to have diplomatic ties with all countries. But if Nauru, for its own reasons, feels that a free and democratic country like Taiwan is not a friend they want, thereís not much we can do.î Chen, who was born in the Chinese city of Chungking and left for Taiwan at the age of 8, has never been back to the mainland. ìIf itís appropriate from our governmentís point of view, I would certainly like to go,î he says. In the meantime, Chen has traveled to 75 other countries, including every single one with which Taiwan has diplomatic relations. Yet he disputes the widely accepted notion that Taiwan and its adversary are locked in a battle to ìbuyî the friendship of third-world countries with offers of economic assistance. ìI donít want to use money diplomacy to describe these relationships,î he says. ìAccording to U.N. standards, each countr y should use 0.7 percent of its [gross national product] to offer developing countries so-called foreign aid. Actually, Taiwan uses only 0.14 percent. Foreign assistance is not a big percentage of our GNP. Many people who are knowledgeable about international affairs would like to see our government do more.î Taiwanís recent aid projects include relief supplies for Afghan refugees, AIDS prevention in Africa, and the dispatch of a 30-member rescue team following earthquakes in El Salvador in 2001. Even so, thereís little doubt Chen feels left out of Washingtonís diplomatic circle. He has no access to State Department officials and is prohibited by his own government from talking too much with his counterparts from China. ìWe have no contact whatsoever with the Chinese Embassy,î says Chen. ìThere have been occasions where junior colleagues have gone to the same functions as their people do. We have no problem shaking hands and chatting a little. But we have nothing to talk about. There isnít really much we can do here. We have to leave this to our governments in Taipei and Beijing.î Overshadowing the diplomatic rivalry between the two Chinas is the military one. Chen says Taiwan itself is threatened by Beijingís often belligerent attitude toward the island, which it considers a breakaway province of China. According to the diplomat, mainland China has deployed at least 400 missiles across the Taiwan Strait, and is increasing this number by 50 each year. He said Beijing has also been buying advanced destroyers and jet fighters from the Russians, and has boosted its military budget by more than 17 percent annually in the last two years. ìSo militarily, they pose a serious threat to the people of Taiwan,î Chen says. ìOn the other hand, they refuse to resume dialogue with us unless we accept their version of a one-China policy.î He says the experiences of Hong Kong, a British colony that reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, and Macau, a Portuguese colony that reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1999, are not relevant to Taiwan for various reasons. ìHong Kong and Macau used to be colonies. Taiwan is not a colony,î he points out. ìHong Kong and Macau do not have their own constitutions. We have our own constitution. Hong Kong and Macau do not have their own defense forces. We do. Most importantly, Hong Kong and Macau did not have a choice. We do have a choice.î And if given a choice, according to recent surveys, nearly 80 percent of Taiwanís people would choose the status quo, slightly more than 10 percent would support reunification with mainland China, and just more than 10 percent support independence. ìWe do not exclude the possibility of reunification,î Chen says. ìBut we donít exclude other possibilities either. What we want to see is something our people can accept, and at present, thatís the status quo.î Earlier this year, President Chen lent his support to the idea of a referendum to decide Taiwanís political status. In an Aug. 3 speech, he stated that ìTaiwan is our country, and our country cannot be bullied, downgraded, marginalized nor treated as a local government. Taiwan is not a part of any other country, nor is it a local government or province of another country. Taiwan can never be another Hong Kong or Macau because it has always been a sovereign state.î The president further stated that if China continues to pressure the people of Taiwan to change the status quo, ìthen the people of Taiwan should have the right to express their will through a referendum for the sake of self-defense and self-protection in response to such a challenge.î But Chen says the presidentís remarks have been taken out of context and that many people have misinterpreted them as a change in Taiwanís policy toward its adversary. ìThe president did not say, ëletís have a referendum.í He merely said we should consider one because the PRC has been advocating that thereís one China, and that the PRC is the sole legitimate representative of China,î Chen told The Washington Diplomat. ìIn addition, Beijing advocates the so-called ëone country, two systemsí policy and is pressuring us to accept this. But we know that Taiwan is now a democracy. The future of Taiwan has to be decided by its people. No single person or political leader can decide this.î Chen adds: ìCommunist China is not a democracy. If they didnít try so hard to impose their version of ëone country, two systems,í then the president would not have said those things.î Despite the icy relations between the two Chinas, Chen says heís hopeful the stalemate wonít last too much longer. ìFrom 1949 up to 1987, there was no contact whatsoever between the two governments or between the two peoples,î he says. ìOn Nov. 2, 1987, we started letting people travel to the mainland for humanitarian reasons. Since then, there have been many people-to-people contacts, and our investments on the mainland have exceeded $70 billion. From 1987 until today, more than 13 million trips have been made by Taiwanese to the mainland.î But relations wonít improve dramatically, says Chen, until mainland China gives up communism and embraces democracy as enthusiastically as it has embraced free markets. ìAt the end of World War II, there were 25 communist countries. Now at most there are four: the PRC, Vietnam, North Korea and Cuba. Communism has been collapsing. Itís a fact. Even those remaining communist countries have been changing quite rapidly. So I donít think communism can continue. And if one day our economic and political systems are similar, it would be so much easier for our two peoples to understand each other.î Larry Luxner (larry@luxner.com) is a contributing writer to The Washington Diplomat.