01/03/2024
FAPA總會長林素梅於《報呱》投書：〈展望 2024 台美關係：美國應明確承認台灣自決權與獨立國格〉
FAPA President Su-Mei Kao’s Op-Ed in “Pourquoi”: “Looking Forward to 2024 U.S.-Taiwan Relations: The United States Should Clearly Recognize Taiwan’s Right of Self-Determination and Independent Statehood”
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值此 2024 新年到來之際，回顧過去 2023 年台美關係，在軍事、經貿合作等方面無疑有許多重大成果與進展，但在增進台灣國際地位與空間上雖有所著墨，卻仍待未來持續加強與突破。
長期以來，總部位於美國華府的「台灣人公共事務會」（FAPA）不斷呼籲美國政府應更積極公開挑戰北京的「一個中國原則」，明確重申「台灣不是中國的一部分」。我們很高興見到，美國國務卿布林肯（Antony Blinken）在去年（2023 年）2 月特別強調，台海危機「並非中國基於其主權所聲稱的內政事務」，而是全世界都關切的國際議題。
在這2024新的一年，FAPA 將持續針對《台灣代表處法》（Taiwan Representative Office Act）及《台灣國際團結法》（Taiwan International Solidarity Act）等友台法案推動倡議與請願，期盼美國國會能在今年順利完成立法，以更加尊重台灣的國家尊嚴與台灣人的國家認同。
我們相信，美國政府與社會大眾必須正確地認識到，絕大多數的台灣人選擇並希望能維持「台灣主權獨立」的現狀，且堅決反對民主台灣淪為共產中國的一部分。
我們亦主張，美國總統或國務卿應正式訪問台灣，並簽署美台聯合公報或發表共同聲明，清楚表明美國承認並支持台灣人民的自決權，否認中國毫無根據的對台主權宣稱，且明確承諾美軍將在中國侵台時共同保衛台灣。
四十多年來，美國為了安撫、綏靖專制的共產中國，不但一直避免正式承認台灣，並採取對台「戰略模糊」，且美國總統與國務卿亦總是刻意迴避訪台。然而，華府的此種對中「姑息政策」只會更加鼓舞中國的「戰狼外交」及對台霸凌，並助長其侵略行為與擴張野心。
我們深信，為了更有效嚇阻中國吞併台灣，美國做為民主自由陣營的領袖，應對台採取「戰略清晰」，明確支持台灣人民的自決權，並早日外交承認台灣是個主權獨立國家的「真實現狀」。這不僅符合台灣與美國的共同國家利益，且唯有如此，才能有效抑制日益崛起的威權主義擴張。
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On the occasion of the new year 2024, looking back on the U.S.-Taiwan relations in the past 2023, there were undoubtedly many significant achievements and progress in military, economic and trade cooperations, etc. However, despite some efforts to enhance Taiwan’s international status and space, we still need to do much more and make breakthroughs in the future.
For a long time, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) has repeatedly called on the U.S. government to more proactively and openly challenge Beijing’s “One China principle” and reiterate that “Taiwan is not part of China.” We are glad to see that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized in February last year (2023) that a crisis across the Taiwan Strait is “not an internal matter, as China would have it, based on its sovereignty,” but a matter of concern to the entire world.
In this new year, 2024, FAPA will continue to advocate and launch petitions for pro-Taiwan bills such as the “Taiwan Representative Office Act” and the “Taiwan International Solidarity Act,” hoping that the U.S. Congress will pass them this year to more respect Taiwan’s national dignity and the Taiwanese people’s national identity.
We believe that the U.S. government and the general public need to correctly understand that the overwhelming majority of Taiwanese choose and desire to maintain Taiwan’s status quo as a sovereign and independent country, and are firmly opposed to making democratic Taiwan part of Communist China.
We also urge that the U.S. president or the secretary of state should officially visit and sign a joint communique or issue a joint statement with Taiwan to make it clear that the United States recognizes and supports the Taiwanese people’s right of self-determination, rejects China’s groundless claim of sovereignty over Taiwan, and pledges that the U.S. forces would jointly defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion.
For more than 40 years, to appease the authoritarian Communist China, the United States has not only avoided formally recognizing Taiwan, but also adopted a policy of “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan’s defense. The U.S. president and the secretary of state have also deliberately avoided visiting Taiwan.
However, Washington’s “appeasement policy” towards China will only further encourage China’s “wolf warrior diplomacy” and bullying against Taiwan, and intensify its aggressive behavior and territorial expansion ambitions.
We firmly believe that to more effectively deter China from forcibly annexing Taiwan, the United States, as the leading democratic and free country, should adopt a policy of “strategic clarity” towards Taiwan, clearly support the Taiwanese’s right of self-determination, and diplomatically recognize Taiwan’s “true status quo” as an independent, sovereign country at an early date.
Doing so not only serves the common national interests of the U.S. and Taiwan, but is the only way to curb the expansion of rising authoritarianism effectively.
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原文刊載於《報呱》（2024/01/03）
Read the full article:
https://pourquoi.tw/%e3%80%90%e6%9e%97%e7%b4%a0%e6%a2%85%e3%80%91%e5%b1%95%e6%9c%9b-2024-%e5%8f%b0%e7%be%8e%e9%97%9c%e4%bf%82%ef%bc%9a%e7%be%8e%e5%9c%8b%e6%87%89%e6%98%8e%e7%a2%ba%e6%89%bf%e8%aa%8d%e5%8f%b0%e7%81%a3/
