An Inauspicious Beginning

Disgruntlement and protest over derecognition

At first, the 17 million citizens of Taiwan responded with restraint to the stunning news of Washington's decision to sever diplomatic relations with Taipei and establish full ties with Peking. But with the approach of Jan. 1, the date that U.S. recognition of the People's Republic would be formally declared, reserve gave way to rage. Last week those feelings exploded in an outbreak of violence.

The trouble began when U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher and ten aides arrived at Taipei's Sung-Shan airport to discuss an inflammatory question: How to switch from official to unofficial relations with the newly derecognized government of Taiwan? The first sign of difficulties came when Vice Foreign Minister Frederick Ch'ien greeted the Americans before TV cameras with undisguised disgruntlement. "I meet you here at this time with a heavy and pained heart," he said. Turning to the ashen-faced and unsmiling Christopher, he added: "Your visit here should be the first step in your government's efforts to mitigate the disastrous damage wrought by this mistake."

After this unpromising beginning, the American envoys found that their motorcade had to run a gauntlet of 20,000 furious protesters who had gathered along the route into the capital. Many were armed with placards reading FREE CHINA WILL NEVER FALL and CARTER SELLS PEANUTS AND FRIENDS. The Americans were trapped in their cars for over an hour while demonstrators pelted the caravan with eggs, mud, sand and paint. Christopher and Leonard Unger, now the ex-Ambassador to Taipei, suffered minor cuts from glass shattered by the mob.

Though police and a cordon of students made some efforts to restrain the crowd, U.S. officials suspected that the Nationalist government condoned, if it did not actually organize, the demonstration. In Washington, Assistant Secretary of State for Asian Affairs Richard Holbrooke declared that the Administration was "extremely disappointed" by the incident.

The preliminary talks between Christopher's group and Taiwan's President Chiang Ching-kuo were beclouded by the country's dark mood. Negotiations, scheduled to take place at the Foreign Ministry, were shifted to Taipei's Grand Hotel when 20,000 protesters gathered in front of the ministry. Some demonstrators stomped on heaps of peanuts, yelling, "This is Carter!" One desperate taxi driver doused himself with gasoline and, shouting "Long live the Republic of China!" set himself afire in his car; he was rescued and sent to a hospital.

As talks began, Taipei officials outlined the "underlying principles" it regards as prerequisites to any new relations between Taiwan and the U.S. These included an American commitment to the security of the island from Communist attack, and a continuation of "government-to-government" relations between Washington and Taipei. Though there was hope in both capitals that economic and political relations would continue in another framework, everybody seemed to agree that the week of Jan. 1 was not an auspicious time for reconciliation. Pleading fatigue, Envoy Christopher canceled a formal dinner with Taiwanese leaders and, at week's end, returned to Washington to sort out America's newest Chinese puzzle.

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