The USS Denver is leaving waters off Taiwan, as the humanitarian mission of its helicopters helping re-open the blocked routes of transportation to flood-ravaged areas was successfully completed on Saturday. Four U.S. heavy-lift choppers airlifted excavators that removed mud, gravel and debris on roads to the isolated remote villages engulfed in flash floods and landslides triggered by Typhoon Morakot.
Official Taipei seems to forget it owes Uncle Sam a "thank you" note for the help, which "came later than needed" because it had rejected a much earlier offer of more helicopters. Had they come shortly after the villages were swamped on Aug. 8, the rescue operations would have been concluded without delay.
Officials manning the national disaster control center in Taipei may be blamed for not realizing the flood catastrophe in southern Taiwan and for "nonchalantly" telling the Ministry of Foreign Affairs no foreign assistance was needed "for the time being." For lack of hotlines in the disaster areas, they simply could not get the right picture. But the real touchy question was whether a similar offer of help came from China.
It came, anyway. Beijing offered larger helicopters that can lift huge crane shovels. Taipei thought it had no alternative but to turn it down, albeit assistance in relief, such as cash donations and prefab housing units, was willingly accepted. As a matter of fact, China leads the nations of the world in contributions to the relief of flood victims, which were accepted by the Red Cross Society or the Straits Exchange Foundation through its Chinese counterpart Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits.
The U.S. "military" assistance -- the choppers and C-130 transport touching down in Taiwan were Air Force, Navy or Marine Corps craft -- is a sensitive question after Washington normalized relations with Beijing in 1979. China is deadly opposed to it, of course. The United States has to take every caution not to cross the imaginary line, even if its aid is humanitarian. Remember what Deng Xiaoping laid down as a condition for China to attack Taiwan? He declared the People's Liberation Army would invade Taiwan, if he found "foreign interference," a code word for a U.S. military presence on the island.
The authorities believe Taiwan had to reject an equally humanitarian chopper mission from China for security reasons. Well, military confrontation has existed across the Taiwan Strait since President Chiang Kai-shek moved his Kuomintang government from Nanjing to Taipei at the end of 1949. Taiwan cannot afford to relax its vigilance against its giant neighbor, which vows to recover it by force if necessary. Opposition to accept helicopters on loan from China was raised by the military. The top brass are convinced Taiwan's national security may be compromised by the Chinese helicopter operations, which are part and parcel of Beijing's united front campaign. They may be, for China truly wants to win the people of Taiwan over, but the fact is that Chinese chopper pilots are simply unable to collect any secret military intelligence that may adversely affect the security of the island. They have to fly under control. They may take pictures of all the areas they cover. They may talk to people to get first-hand information. But all such data are freely available. Our brass hats, who still hold fast to their hostile confrontation frame of mind, must be foolishly suspicious.
Or perhaps it's the top decision-makers who didn't want to start controversy over China's offer of helicopter service. They must be afraid of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party's possible outcry against "an advance party" of China's "invasion" force. Construction of 100 prefab housing units was held up for days for customs inspection for fear of "unsafe components," while the entry visas for Chinese technicians who should have arrived at the same time were not given in time, keeping them away for a few more days. Even a NT$100 million donation accepted by independent lawmaker Kao-Chin Su-mei from Wang Yi, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council in Beijing, was questioned by the Mainland Affairs Council as "illegal."
The higher-ups who could overrule the top brass opposition were wrong in turning down Beijing's humanitarian helicopter mission in favor of Washington's "come-too-late" assistance. It might be China's united front ploy, but for whatever reason behind it, Chinese helicopters helping rescue victims of the Flood Disaster of Aug. 8 would greatly help improve friendly relations between the people on both sides of the straits, which are an anchor for a lasting peace between Taiwan and China.
（本文刊載於98.08.24 ，The China Post 8版，本文代表作者個人意見）