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MEMORANDUM TO: OPINION LEADERS FROM:
GARY SCHMITT Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian will be making two stops in the U.S. during his trip to Latin America in late August and early September - Hawaii, on the way to the inauguration of Panama's president, and Seattle, on the way back to Taipei. We gather that President Chen asked Boeing whether he could visit while in Seattle since Taiwan is a major customer of the company. But Boeing refused, worried that any visit by the Taiwan chief executive would anger China. This is not the first time Boeing has kow-towed to Beijing. A little over a year ago, Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu was scheduled to visit the company's plant to see the production line for new jet airliners being ordered by Taiwan's airline. The order itself had come only after administration officials and members of Congress had forcefully lobbied Taiwan on behalf of Boeing to "buy American" rather than accept a commercially better deal from Europe's Airbus. The invitation to Vice President Lu was rescinded when the Chinese complained. (See PNAC memo "Gutless in Seattle.") As we noted then, "those who argue for economic engagement with China usually claim that it will change China's behavior for the better. However, as far as we can tell, the only change in behavior here is Boeing's - and it is not for the better." Time and again, Taiwan has been told to mind its "p's and q's" when it comes to cross-Strait issues. But, even when it does, democratic Taiwan still gets the diplomatic short end of the stick because so many are willing to allow Beijing's bullying to go unchecked. Taiwan of course
will not want to cause a crisis that it and the U.S. are not prepared
to handle at the moment. But Taiwan ought not tolerate this type of harassment
either. President Chen's administration has nearly finalized a decision
to buy 30 Apache Longbow attack helicopters from Boeing for Taiwan's army.
If Boeing, however, is unable to treat a customer properly, then perhaps
Taiwan should think about taking its business elsewhere. Bell's advanced
Cobra attack helicopter, for example, would probably meet Taiwan's defense
needs just as well as Boeing's Apache.
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