徐福棟教授專論

Letter to President Obama

Fu-Tong Hsu, Ph.D.

48 Glattly Drive

Denville, NJ 07834

President Barack Obama

The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Fu-Tong (F.T.) Hsu. I was an active member of the Democratic Party during the early days of Clinton-Gore Administration. The activities included being one of the Chairs of the 1992 New York City fundraising committee (more than $3.6M was raised in a Sheraton Hotel dinner event with other Chairs Mr. Robert Rubin, Ms. Alice Walton etc.), a Trustee of the DNC, a Board Member of the DNC National Finance Council, and an appointed member of the President’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiation (ACTPN). As a member of ACTPN, I was honored to participate in the G-7 Summit in Tokyo in 1993 and the APEC meeting in Jakarta in 1994.

Today, I am writing you to alert you to an impending geostrategic disaster facing the United States in the Taiwan Strait, which seems to have escaped the attention of Washington’s policy establishment. I urge you to act before it is too late to protect America’s interests in Asia.

A crisis is gathering in the Taiwan Strait. While a great majority of the Taiwanese people wishes to keep their freedom, the Kuomintang (KMT) government under President Ma Ying-jeou has been pursuing a policy of incremental capitulation by reducing the budget and size of Taiwan's military, deepening the dependency of its economy on China, and downgrading Taiwan's international status. Economic integration measures negotiated by the Chinese Communist Party and the KMT are implemented by the Executive Yuan without public debate or approval by the Legislative Yuan. Taiwan is being delivered into Beijing's grasp by stealth.

While there has been an ostensible easing of tensions across the Taiwan Strait due to concessions the Ma Administration has made to China, China has in fact added another 100 missiles to its arsenal targeting Taiwan since Ma took office. The People’s Liberation Army’s preparations for war against Taiwan have not slackened. Because of declining exports, more than 20 million migrant workers in China have lost their jobs. China could launch a military venture against Taiwan to divert attention from growing social unrest at home. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao wants to visit Taiwan. Such visit could trigger massive, possibly violent protests. The ensuing social upheaval could provide the PLA with a pretext to invade Taiwan.

Taiwan is facing double jeopardy: an external military threat from China and internal subversion by the Ma government, which is dominated by radical elements in the KMT who are collaborating with Beijing to steadily undermine Taiwan's sovereignty and democracy.

If Taiwan were to fall by PLA coercion or internal subversion, the United States would suffer a geostrategic disaster. The sea lanes and air space around Taiwan are critical to the survival of Japan and South Korea. Once in control of Taiwan, China would be in position to increase its influence over Japan and South Korea. Given Japan's unstable domestic politics and its aversion to nuclear weapons, Japan would likely capitulate to China’s demands once the credibility of the U.S. as keeper of peace in East Asia had been lost. With the significant weakening or demise of the U.S.-Japan military alliance, the U.S. may be forced to retreat all the way back to Hawaii.

As the new dominant and uncontested power of Asia, China would be able to harness Japan’s considerable financial and technological resources to build up its wealth and military power. With the combined strength of the world’s second and third largest economies, it would not be unrealistic for China to aspire to replace the United States as the world’s greatest superpower.

In order to keep the peace in East Asia and ultimately to protect homeland security, the U.S. must continue to support democracies and uphold the Taiwanese people's aspirations for freedom. Abraham Lincoln conceived America as mankind’s “last best hope on earth.” Lincoln’s America would not walk away from a democracy, nor can the U.S. afford to do so now. To quote the late Congressman Gerald Solomon, “An America which abandoned its allies would soon have no allies.”

Mr. President, to keep the peace in the Taiwan Strait and to encourage China to pursue peaceful development, I urge you and the Congress to take the following steps:

First, reaffirm the Taiwan Relations Act and the U.S. policy that the future of Taiwan must be determined by peaceful means and that the U.S. opposes any unilateral action to change the status quo;

Second, voice concern about the erosion of freedom of speech and assembly and the loss of judicial independence on Taiwan;

Third, remove counterproductive restrictions on U.S.-Taiwan contacts by sending a cabinet member to Taiwan, allowing U.S. Navy ships to call on Taiwan’s ports and enhancing intelligence sharing with Taiwan; and

Fourth, deploy two aircraft carrier task forces in the Western Pacific and secure basing rights in the Philippines and the Ryukyu Islands in order to maintain the capacity to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion.

Mr. President, I firmly believe that America’s national security and its democratic values both call for unwavering support of Taiwan’s freedom. I respectfully await your response to these requests. Thank you for your consideration.

Respectfully yours,

Fu-Tong Hsu, Ph.D.

Cell: 011-886-939-605-072 (Taiwan)

Cell: 856-366-0778 (USA)

Formally appointed by President Clinton as an advisory member of the

“President’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiation” (ACTPN)