By
Rachel Schick
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Bush needs to study country's history to prevent U.S.-Chinese iciness, war with Taiwan, prof says
A lack of historical understanding and clash of cultures is what prevents the United States from grasping conflicts between mainland China and Taiwan, a UA professor said.
The United States needs to look at Taiwan's move toward independence from a historical point of view, said Dian Li, an assistant professor of East Asian studies.
Taiwan - an island nation in the Pacific Ocean separated from the mainland of China by the 100-mile Taiwan Strait - has a history with Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese roots.
David Ng, a senior studying East Asian studies, political science and economics, said the island was significantly colonized by Chinese as early as the 13th and 14th centuries. Inhabitants of Taiwan agree with mainland China that they are ethnically Chinese, but challenge claims that they have a similar heritage because of their multicultural history.
China has used threats of war against Taiwan in hopes of stopping the island's move toward independence, Li said.
Ng said he thinks the status quo will be maintained for many years to come and Taiwan will not declare independence.
"First they (Taiwan) need to make it seem that they're trying to work something out with China," Ng said. "They need to appease China and avoid war."
Taiwan's government began a move toward democratization and independence in the 1980s, which has been supported by the United States.
For the past 10 to 15 years, China has been viewed by the United States as an adversary, Li said. Hostile language aimed at Communist China's government show striking similarities to words spoken about The Soviet Union during the Cold War, which lasted from 1945 to 1989.
"There is something that is very worrisome about the language they (United States) use," Li said. "Re-living the Cold War is very real to me."
The United States has perceived China as weak, Li said. Until the 1940s, China was a target for bullying and humiliation by Western imperialist powers, yet recent success in economic development has caused uneasiness in the United States.
Li said there is currently a climate for a possible confrontation between the United States and mainland China.
"For the first time in 20 years a president said we will use whatever means necessary to protect Taiwan," Li said. "I think it was very unwise for Bush to say that."
Ng said war is not likely in the future, though.
"Nobody wants an armed conflict," Ng said. "I don't see them (China) committing themselves to an armed conflict."
In defense of Taiwan, the United States has been selling weapons to the island country. Li said he thinks the United States' actions only makes war more likely.
"Selling weapons only irritates China," Li said. "The more weapons to Taiwan, the more likely they will declare independence or China will attack."
Ng said he thinks the United States has a vested interest in defending Taiwan because of the long history of support.
"Ever since the end of World War II we've been supporting Taiwan," Ng added. "I think we owe it to Taiwan to keep being an ally to them."
Li said that if the United States was to get involved with a war in China, nuclear weapons could come into play.
"U.S. involvement does not serve the U.S. and it makes the issue (between China and Taiwan) much more volatile," Li said. "It accelerates the possibility of war."
The nation of China is far less advanced militarily than the United States, Li said, so war would do China no good either.
Li said that he thinks the United States government wants another Cold War. The old mentality of "communism" has been brought back and the United States thinks it can use the same military techniques it used against the Soviet Union.
The fact that China has not responded to the United States' negative attitude the same way the Soviet Union did has frustrated many people, he added.
"Be like us now," Li said to describe what he perceives as the United States' viewpoint of China. "It's not a rational response to international affairs."
Li said that President George W. Bush has inexperience and a lack of understanding with China, and should be consulting with advisors who understand the country.
Ng said he did not understand why the Bush administration would be so obstinate about not taking some fault for the plane incident.
"They (United States) put China relations back a step," Ng said. "We regressed instead of progressed."
Bush did learn something, however, from the recent detention of an American spy plane crew, Li said.
The members of the United States Navy,
who were detained in China after a U.S. Navy spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet collided over the South China Sea on April 1st.
But Bush should have apologized for the incident from the beginning, so the servicemen and women could have been released sooner.
Ng said he was disappointed with the way the United States has handled diplomacy with China. He said he hoped that the United States will realize its mistake soon and try to improve relations.
"Hopefully Bush will realize soon the importance of good relations and will stop making inflammatory remarks," Ng added.
Li said that the United States needs to allow more room for differences.
"We don't like certain practices but we (don't have to be) going to war," Li added. "It takes a long time to change a nation's general sentiments towards each other."
