Now I clearly find the AIT generally unreliable as an ally. Their way of thinking is very far from Taiwan's general opinion I think, and their view very different from me and many others in Taiwan. They forget that although the cross strait tension is easying, it costs Taiwan's sovereignty and human rights greatly. The tension and worries in Taiwan itself is rising, which in my opinion, might not be a bad thing for Taiwan, because more people need to wake up before Taiwan can progress further. But the US diplomats seem to ignore this fact, or pay little attention to Ma's ignorance on general public's opinions.
Again I sort of make this connection with the way they are thinking and the recent 郭冠英 incident. In the past most of Taiwan's official is like 郭冠英. Therefore there is little doubt that most of the American diplomatic establishment only has contact with this sort of people. Because those diplomats don't actually live in Taiwan, when they see Taiwan, they can only see through the scope created by people like 郭冠英. And when 郭冠英 has such as twisted view on Taiwan, I have little doubt that the American diplomat establishment's view is also twisted and far from Taiwan interests. I also suspect it's not just American, but indeed other nations that have close contact with Taiwan. The only exception is Japan, whose government is always very suspicious of KMT and more sympathetic to the TI cause. However, Japan unfortunately does not have a solid ground under their feet to support Taiwan or voice their opinion clearly on this issue, due to historical reasons. But again even in Japan I wonder how much influence do KMT have.
Looking back in history and we can see that this is not impossible. One thing KMT seems to be very good at, is lobbying in Washington. During WW2, Cold War, and I believe even today, they have strong presence in Washington that can effect the US decision, and this decision can be extremely disastrous to Taiwan, as the period right after WW2 shows. It's not if the US don't have lower level official in Taiwan, but it always appears to me that the US government trust those KMT lobbyist more than their own official, or perhaps their own lower level officials have no channel to the top to voice their view. Certainly I think that is the case during 228 era.
So here is my view on things. It's common sense but often get blurred by circumstances. The US in general is an ally and indeed a strong supporter of Taiwan due to TRA, but not everyone's view in the US is in Taiwan's interests, many are indeed against Taiwan interests in my opinion. What Taiwan needs is to counter those KMT lobbyists in public, government, and challenge strongly the US establishment thinking on Taiwan issue. Also, Taiwan is not without allies in the US. There are few in the US already doubting the US establishment thinking on the Taiwan issues.
This is also a head up to the Taiwanese. Many Taiwanese are disappointed of Chen administration's effort on TI of the past 8 years. But I think it's time they also realize that the situation is not as rosy as they thought. The difficulties Chen faced in the past 8 years can be clearly seen now. Although DPP formed the administration, a lot of officials are still people like 郭冠英, and the American establishment thinkers changed little. Chen admin has its fault but people also has to realize the difficulty they faced. The TI supporters were too optimistic when Chen won the presidential election. The lesson is that much effort are still required, and much road still need to be traveled, even if the DPP wins the presidential election.
Again I sort of make this connection with the way they are thinking and the recent 郭冠英 incident. In the past most of Taiwan's official is like 郭冠英. Therefore there is little doubt that most of the American diplomatic establishment only has contact with this sort of people. Because those diplomats don't actually live in Taiwan, when they see Taiwan, they can only see through the scope created by people like 郭冠英. And when 郭冠英 has such as twisted view on Taiwan, I have little doubt that the American diplomat establishment's view is also twisted and far from Taiwan interests. I also suspect it's not just American, but indeed other nations that have close contact with Taiwan. The only exception is Japan, whose government is always very suspicious of KMT and more sympathetic to the TI cause. However, Japan unfortunately does not have a solid ground under their feet to support Taiwan or voice their opinion clearly on this issue, due to historical reasons. But again even in Japan I wonder how much influence do KMT have.
Looking back in history and we can see that this is not impossible. One thing KMT seems to be very good at, is lobbying in Washington. During WW2, Cold War, and I believe even today, they have strong presence in Washington that can effect the US decision, and this decision can be extremely disastrous to Taiwan, as the period right after WW2 shows. It's not if the US don't have lower level official in Taiwan, but it always appears to me that the US government trust those KMT lobbyist more than their own official, or perhaps their own lower level officials have no channel to the top to voice their view. Certainly I think that is the case during 228 era.
So here is my view on things. It's common sense but often get blurred by circumstances. The US in general is an ally and indeed a strong supporter of Taiwan due to TRA, but not everyone's view in the US is in Taiwan's interests, many are indeed against Taiwan interests in my opinion. What Taiwan needs is to counter those KMT lobbyists in public, government, and challenge strongly the US establishment thinking on Taiwan issue. Also, Taiwan is not without allies in the US. There are few in the US already doubting the US establishment thinking on the Taiwan issues.
This is also a head up to the Taiwanese. Many Taiwanese are disappointed of Chen administration's effort on TI of the past 8 years. But I think it's time they also realize that the situation is not as rosy as they thought. The difficulties Chen faced in the past 8 years can be clearly seen now. Although DPP formed the administration, a lot of officials are still people like 郭冠英, and the American establishment thinkers changed little. Chen admin has its fault but people also has to realize the difficulty they faced. The TI supporters were too optimistic when Chen won the presidential election. The lesson is that much effort are still required, and much road still need to be traveled, even if the DPP wins the presidential election.
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