Kirby Presides Over Forum on U.S.-Taiwanese Relations

Panelists discussed the contentious relationship between Taiwan and China at the ARCO Forum last Friday, addressing cross-strait economic gaps and the nature of U.S.-Taiwanese relations.

Taiwan, currently considered a rebel province by China’s communist government, wants the international community to consider the island as an independent nation.

Moderator William C. Kirby, dean of the Faculty and an expert on Asian history, emphasized the importance of examining tension in the area.

“Taiwan is one of the few sources of potential war in Asia,” he said.

Kirby also said the calm state of U.S.-Chinese relations make the present moment an ideal time to analyze the situation.

Dwight H. Perkins, director of the Harvard Asia Center, said he “starts from the proposition that [Taiwanese] independence is completely ridiculous,” a conclusion drawn from meetings with Chinese generals.

“Taiwan is extraordinarily well-placed to become globalized,” Perkins said, though he warned that the island will have to make fundamental changes first.

Yasheng Huang, a professor at Harvard Business School, cautioned that Taiwan needs to reform its economic policy.

Unless it makes these changes, he said, “Taiwan may lose its economic competitiveness in China.”

Huang said Taiwan could help China become a more humane, modern and democratic society,

Steven M. Goldstein, co-director of the Taiwan Studies Workshop at the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, described the current state of cross-strait relationships as an “equilibrium resulting from stalemate” in which “neither side can achieve its maximal goals.”

Goldstein attributed the source of conflict to history and domestic politics.

According to Goldstein, Chinese leaders cannot afford to be soft on Taiwan, “particularly if you’re a new successor who is somewhat young,” a reference to Hu Jintao, the new head of the Communist Party.

Alan Romberg, former senior associate director of the State Department’s China Program, discussed the U.S.’s changing stance on the Taiwan-China issue throughout recent history and the issue’s relevance to American politics.

In U.S. politics it is unacceptable to suggest that Taiwan should reunite with communist China, Romberg said.

During the question-and-answer session, Romberg and Perkins rejected the possibility of a U.S.-mediated cross-strait discussion, while Kirby made a wry reference to America’s “success” in solving problems Middle East.

Students said the speakers appeared well-informed about the nature of the conflict.

“They were very knowledgeable and I liked the diverse backgrounds they came from,” said Yang Lin ’06. “I was pretty impressed by the speakers.”

The panel, which attracted a crowd of about 130, was co-sponsored by the Harvard-Radcliffe Chinese Students’ Association and the ARCO Forum.