Unlike in October last year when Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade abruptly cut ties with Taiwan saying that countries have "no friends, only interests," it is hard not to feel sympathy for Deby who came under intolerable pressure from the PRC. With 200,000 refugees spilling over the border from Sudan, and with China both providing armed support to rebels in Sudan's Dafur region and threatening to use its U.N. Security Council veto to prevent Chad receiving support from the world body, Deby was forced to write to ROC President Chen Shui-bian explaining that he had to accommodate Beijing "for the survival" of his nation.
It is unmistakable, therefore, where the blame lies. Indeed, China makes no secret of its Three Alls policy--to steal all the ROC's diplomatic allies, block all the ROC's international channels and squander all the ROC's bargaining chips for dealing with the PRC on an equal footing--and its machinations can be plainly seen elsewhere. In April, China threatened Haiti with the withdrawal of U.N. peacekeepers, forcing Port-au-Prince to scupper Su's attendance at President Rene Preval's inauguration; during the Solomon Islands' elections in May, it seemed for a while that Honiara would switch ties to Beijing; and PRC diplomats are currently feverish in their attempts to court Panama among others.
While this aggression by China toward Taiwan is, of course, completely unacceptable, perhaps Chen, Su, Foreign Minister James Huang and others currently licking their wounds from last weekend's catastrophe can take some solace from the clarity with which Beijing has acted.
Within Taiwan, the PRC's attempts to divide and conquer Taiwan through its "panda diplomacy" will be weakened by such naked flexing of its growing muscles, and Taiwan's diverse society will gain a more concordant voice when dealing with the world. Internationally, few nations can now be unaware that it is China which continually alters the so-called status quo in the Taiwan Strait, politically and militarily as well as diplomatically.