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Taiwan’s US stopover denial seen against Iran backdrop

By P Parameswaran

The Taiwanese president’s apparent refusal to second the US line on the Iran issue has made relations between both countries tense

The United States decided to bar a stopover by Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian on his way to Latin America to avoid angering China, whose backing for UN action against Iran is critical, analysts said.

In an apparent rebuff, Chen completely dropped plans to transit in the United States after Washington said he could only make a refueling stop in Alaska rather than New York or San Francisco as requested by him. Chen instead made transit stops in Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam en route to Paraguay and Costa Rica, two of only 25 nations that recognise Taiwan diplomatically.

Washington adheres to a one-China policy after switching diplomatic recognition in 1979 from Taiwan to China, which considers the self-governed island part of its territory and frowns on any visits by Taiwanese leaders that might imply Taiwanese sovereignty.

“In the aftermath of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States and American pressure on China to support a UN Security Council resolution against Iran, the United States simply did not want to give China any excuses to be obstructionist,” said John Tkacik, an ex-State Department expert on China.

He likened the controversy as a “storm in a teacup which will blow over.”

Backed by the United States, Western nations have circulated a Security Council resolution demanding Iran suspend sensitive nuclear activities, but the text is opposed by veto-wielding members China and Russia. When the United States was busy pushing for the resolution at the United Nations, Washington received Chen’s request to make the unofficial visit en route to Latin America.

There was reportedly quite a heated debate in the administration of President George W Bush, with one group saying it was a minor issue and another group arguing that the Taiwanese leader be prevented from coming at all.

The compromise, apparently reached at the White House, was to keep the trip as low key as possible and allow the pro-independence Chen only a refuelling stopover in Anchorage.

As the level of Taiwanese leader’s transit stops has often been regarded as a barometer of US-Taiwan ties, the Washington deal was seen by some in Taipei as the lowest treatment given to its president in more than 10 years.

But the State Department does not expect bilateral ties to suffer, even though Chen had previously been allowed unofficial visits to New York, Miami, Anchorage, Seattle, Houston and Los Angeles.

“We take each of these requests on a case-by-case basis. Each of them we take on their individual merits,” department spokesman Sean McCormack said. “I would expect that it would not have any effect,” he said when asked whether US-Taiwan relations will be hit. Despite Chen’s apparent rebuff, Washington is still willing to allow him to transit through Alaska on his return trip, said a senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“My understanding is if they notify us that they would like to in fact transit through Alaska as previously offered on the way back, we’re more than happy to have them do that,” the official said.

The controversy comes on the heels of Chinese President Hu’s landmark trip to the White House on April 20, which Washington had refused to call a state visit despite persistent requests by Beijing.

Exacerbating the protocol dispute was a blunder at the White House official welcoming ceremony by an announcer who mistakenly termed Hu’s communist People’s Republic of China as the Republic of China – the official name of democratic Taiwan. To make matters worse, a Falungong protestor was allowed to scream abuse at Hu for about a minute as the leader made his remarks at the White House lawn.

“While the rejection of Chen’s request does not atone for the insults directed at Hu, it does indicate that Washington is unwilling to push China any further, potentially risking conflict in the Taiwan Strait – especially when the United States needs support for its Middle East policies,” said Strategic Forecasting, a US think tank, in a report aptly titled “Washington’s Strategic Hospitality.”

It said that while insults to Hu were “subtle and could be swept under the carpet as mistakes,” allowing the Taiwanese president to make an unofficial visit would constitute “a blatant insult impervious to face-saving niceties. “And Washington is not prepared for such an open attack,” the report said. afp

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