It’s official. See rank.blogspot.com/ for quick English summary and link to China Times article.
Reuters:
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4753974.stm
Oh no!! What about Tuan-Tuan and Yuan-Yuan?
Damn you, Chen!!!
I think he’s been more careful than that – according to the official English-language press release from the Pres. Office:
The underlines are in the original press release.
Semantics, of course. I haven’t seen the original Chinese, which I suppose is the binding version but the above is a fairly literal translation, according to people who have, and its what’s being passed out internationally. Concensus here is that Chen has backed down to all intents and purposes, as “cease to function” is merely keeping the status quo.
According to pundits here, the US will accept this wording. It is not what Chen wanted, but it was apparently made very plain to him that nothing that smacks of abolition, winding up, closing, etc., would be tolerated by Washington.
Nothing more than a face-saving effort by a thwarted Chen, in other words. Talked the talk but couldn’t walk the walk.
Again.
Hadn’t it cease to function in 2000 and ceased to be funded (couldn’t even afford a newspaper) at that time too ? So all this faffing about and time-wasting was for what ?
PS. Can someone edit Feiren’s link ? ta
[quote=“sandman”]I think he’s been more careful than that – according to the official English-language press release from the Pres. Office:
The underlines are in the original press release.
Semantics, of course. I haven’t seen the original Chinese, which I suppose is the binding version but the above is a fairly literal translation, according to people who have, and its what’s being passed out internationally. Concensus here is that Chen has backed down to all intents and purposes, as “cease to function” is merely keeping the status quo.
According to pundits here, the US will accept this wording. It is not what Chen wanted, but it was apparently made very plain to him that nothing that smacks of abolition, winding up, closing, etc., would be tolerated by Washington.
Nothing more than a face-saving effort by a thwarted Chen, in other words. Talked the talk but couldn’t walk the walk.
Again.[/quote]
Interesting take. That’s not how the international media are interpretting it, however.
This is an example of someone being disingenuous. CSB stated himself in the 2000 inauguration speech that he would keep this committee in place.
[quote=“sandman”]I think he’s been more careful than that – according to the official English-language press release from the Pres. Office:
[quote=“The Presidential Office”]The NUC will cease to function. No budget will be earmarked for it, and its personnel must return to their original posts/ The NUG will cease to apply.
[/quote][/quote]
I think they’ve tried to finesse their way out of this one by exploiting their control of the translation. But in Chinese, he says ‘terminate’ as in terminate a contract. The meaning is pretty clear.
Expect howls of protest from the presidential office that the international media has misunderstood them and that the council has not been abolished, but rather no longer functions. But that’s not what the Chinese says. He’s defied the US on this one–he’s trying to provoke confrontation with China to create his legacy, he’s trying to launch a preemptive strike on Ma, and he is showing China that China cannot use the US to get what china wants on Taiwan. Of these, I suspect only the last one will work, but I guess we’ll just have to see.
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co … 00580.html
Based on this report Hu and Bush are schedule to meet in April 19-20.
Granted GW Bush is world reknowned for his grasp of the delicate nature of foriegn policy.
But isn’t CSB risking GW Bush from having one of his “executive gut making” decisions and pull out of the TRA all together
Kind of pathetic really all this, isn’t it?
Only in your dreams AC. Only congress can decide that…
You’re exactly right when GW Bush said Republic of Taiwan, he didn’t really mean it either.
It appears Ma has already fallen for the trap:
[quote]
“(Ma thinks) this seriously damages the status quo and is a threat to the national interest,” she [KMT spokeswoman, Cheng Li-wen] said.[/quote]
So…
Effectively abolishing a committee that has been dormant for 5 years damages the status quo, but actually legislating a law that pressures the Chinese military to take action against Taiwan in certain conditions is not, according to Ma.
This double-standard is so “anti-Taiwanese” that I would be dumbfounded if the majority of the populace doesn’t turn against Ma on this one.
Ma has taken the bait. He’s even calling for a recall!!
[quote=“STOP_Ma”]This double-standard is so “anti-Taiwanese” that I would be dumbfounded if the majority of the populace doesn’t turn against Ma on this one.
[/quote]I’m dumbfounded you really believe this.
Come clean, STOP_Ma. Do you really live in Taiwan?
[quote=“cctang”][quote=“STOP_Ma”]This double-standard is so “anti-Taiwanese” that I would be dumbfounded if the majority of the populace doesn’t turn against Ma on this one.
[/quote]I’m dumbfounded you really believe this.
Come clean, STOP_Ma. Do you really live in Taiwan?[/quote]
Yes I do. And I also believe that the Taiwanese aren’t as stupid as you think they are.
A recall? On dismantling a non-committee? I must say, I’m a bit surprised. I always thought Ma was inept, but I thought he had a bit more patience.
The Guardian reports on Chen’s move:
guardian.co.uk/china/story/0 … 29,00.html
Hmm…Where have I heard that before?
Oh, yeah!
From Ma, in the BBC interview last week.
The majority of the people on Taiwan believes in Status Quo. The re-unification committee is still neccessary to keep tensions reduce tensions across the Strait. Eventually, if CSB will to trigger the PRC in enforcing the ASL. The stock market on Taiwan has already sided against this move.
Taishangs are not happy with this move. The USA is not happy with this move.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the CIA have begun CSB assassination plot now. They did in South America when puppet leaders went over the line.
[quote=“STOP_Ma”]It appears Ma has already fallen for the trap:
[quote]
“(Ma thinks) this seriously damages the status quo and is a threat to the national interest,” she [KMT spokeswoman, Cheng Li-wen] said.[/quote]
So…
Effectively abolishing a committee that has been dormant for 5 years damages the status quo, but actually legislating a law that pressures the Chinese military to take action against Taiwan in certain conditions is not, according to Ma.
This double-standard is so “anti-Taiwanese” that I would be dumbfounded if the majority of the populace doesn’t turn against Ma on this one.
Ma has taken the bait. He’s even calling for a recall!![/quote]
Ma’s right. While he’s had a bad time articulating what he actually means by the status quo, the NUC and NUG are key components of it. And what is the status quo? Simply put, it’s an agreement between Taipei, Beijing and Washington that the final political status of Taiwan is undecided - and, further, a decision to leave it as such so long as a peaceful resolution is not possible. All the deep green waffle that the status quo is “constantly changing” and is open to wide interpretation is just horse shit - there is common ground and continuity in this institution. Chen knows, as do the rest of us know, that while the NUC and NUG have been largely defunct for years, they are an integral part of the status quo game. Why would he make such a fuss about abolishing them if he thought for a minute that they were meaningless? They mean plenty, and while even Ma can’t get his head around why, he’s not wrong when he says “serious damage” has been done.
[quote=“ac_dropout”]The majority of the people on Taiwan believes in Status Quo. The re-unification committee is still neccessary to keep tensions reduce tensions across the Strait. Eventually, if CSB will to trigger the PRC in enforcing the ASL. The stock market on Taiwan has already sided against this move.
Taishangs are not happy with this move. The USA is not happy with this move.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the CIA have begun CSB assassination plot now. They did in South America when puppet leaders went over the line.[/quote]
For someone who is part of the gang that accuses the greens of being “hysterical”, you certainly seem a bit overly-sensitive yourself.
Relax. When Ma starts campaigning for the 2008 election, he can proudly boast that he will bring back the NUC.
My guess is that he won’t, though.
How so?
How so?[/quote]
Good question. By pointing to a future resolution, the NUC and NUG contribute to the idea that Taiwan’s present political situation is incomplete or undecided.