Day 12, July 15, Shanghai/Taipei

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Our day began with some unsettled nerves as we anxiously waited for the arrival of the bus to take us to airport. Luckily, we made it with minutes to spare as we boarded our flight from Shanghai to Taipei.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by Kathy Chen, an officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Immediately, we were treated to a first class welcome, abounding with warmth and professionalism. When we got on the bus, Kathy supplied us with information on Taiwan and a detailed program for our visit. On the way to the hotel, we spotted Taipei 101 (with Clay’s help), the second tallest building in the world).

When we got to the Howard Plaza Hotel, we discovered that we would enjoy even more VIP treatment: a fruit basket; our own rooms; and dinner, lunch, and laundry paid for by the foreign ministry.

After freshening up (and, for some, enjoying a room service lunch), we ventured to our first meeting: Mr. Yun Kuan Kuo, Director, Department of Overseas Affairs. Even after Clay’s heads up, I think many of us were surprised or taken aback by the formality of the meeting.

Mr. Li [please help with full name and official title!], an economy expert, offered some background information:
-China is Taiwan’s biggest market
-increased trade between China and Taiwan
-ECFA=Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement – a quasi-treaty between Taiwan and China containing 16 articles
-ECFA is not a formal treaty because China does not recognize Taiwan’s government
-1992 consensus: an agreement between China and Taiwan; 1 China, 2 nations/names; foundation of the progress between Taiwan and China
-Domestic politics: candidates focus on winning 3 major cities; final election outcomes do not always reflect the polls; connection between economy and party popularity (link to US politics)

Mr. Yun – represented the position of the party in power:
-Taiwan’s economy relies on exports (electronics, computers)
-2 major parties: KMT (blue, north) v. DPP (green, south)
-businessmen will lose competitiveness if Taiwan does not sign the FTA (Free Trade Agreement) to reduce tariffs with major countries
-Taiwan cannot sign FTA with major countries because of the PRC – must make agreement with China first and set an example of cooperation
-Taiwan has FTAs with Central and South American countries (Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras), but no major countries and no Asian countries
-Why are voters not getting it? ordinary people do not feel the benefits of the improving economy yet --> falling support for the party
-2008 campaign – 3 promises:
1. clean government (achieved/in progress)
2. harmonious corss-strait relations (achieved/in progress)
3. prosperous economy (didn’t make it, but economy is recovering)
-Concern of everyday voters? *housing (prices too high), inflation, unemployment rate (president promised 3%, current rate is 5%)
-Environment? always a conflict: environmental protection vs. development; with maturity, environmental protection becomes more important in people’s eyes
-goal: Taiwan as the center of global transportation (4 dragons of Asia with Taiwan as the head)
-Taiwan needs exports and imports (not self-sufficient because of a lack of natural resources)
-emphasis on education: foreign exchange
-Taiwan was isolated for 50 years (“communist bandits”) – need to enhance mutual understanding
-strong Taiwan is better for China
-US-Taiwan relations: US wants more participation in WHO (World Health Organization); Taiwan wants visa waivers (people) and arms (national defense, be a peacekeeper)
-must build confidence between Obama and President Ma after an unstable government and a fallout over arms during the first Bush administration
-Why has Taiwan done so well in nation-building (compared to Africa, etc.)? *good leaders (very important, play various roles); example: during the early years, needed strict measures for security (Chian Kai-Shek – martial law), his son opened the gates and removed restrictive measures

Personal reflection interjection: It is so fascinating to hear, directly from an official’s mouth, another country’s perspective on US foreign policy. We are often bogged down by media and the conventions of political rhetoric.

After the meeting, we headed over to dinner hosted by Mr. David Chen, the Director of the Information and Liaison Office of the Government Information Office (GIO). From our assigned seats and over several delicious courses and many glasses of wine (gambei!) we discussed the relationship between the US and Taiwan, American movies, and music, among many other topics. The mood was light and our host wholeheartedly encouraged a positive relationship between the US and Taiwan and expressed his hope that we would be ambassadors for our students. On a personal note, I was seated next to the secretary [help with name or real title?] and we discussed the benefits and challenges of his son having been educated in the US and maintaining a dual citizenship.

Thus, this informative day served as our introduction to beautiful Taiwan . . .
[Edit by="showe on Jul 30, 6:16:23 PM"][/Edit]

[clay dube]

Nice work, Stephanie. I found the discussion of Lai Shyh-bao (the Kuomintang legislator) interesting. I agree that it's always interesting to hear others discuss the US and our government's policies. What was especially interesting was his explanation of why the KMT-dominated legislature balked at buying US weapons during the Chen Shui-bian administration. You might want to look to newspaper accounts, which offer a different perspective of what motivated the KMT's "just say no" policies in those days.

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