Taiwan Today

An exhibition detailing the enduring relationship between Taiwan and the United States is making its way around the island.

In an interview with the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) about his thoughts on the Taiwan-United States relationship, former Republic of China (ROC) Minister of Foreign Affairs Chien Fu mentioned the approximately US$100 million in annual economic aid the United States provided from 1950 to 1965. “Now the US$1.5 billion Taiwan received over those 15 years isn’t worth a second look, but at that time it was really big money,” Chien said. “Without it, we could hardly have stood on our own.”

Along with other interviewees, Chien’s recollections form part of the discourse behind a major AIT exhibition documenting the United States’ lengthy presence in Taiwan. The show was conceived and organized by AIT’s Kaohsiung Office, together with the Sun Yat-sen America Center at National Sun Yat-sen University, which is also located in Kaohsiung. Named American Footsteps in Southern Taiwan, the exhibit was first held 
at the Kaohsiung Municipal Museum of History from March to July 2010 before moving to the Koxinga Museum in Tainan City, southern Taiwan.

Moving north again, the exhibition was expanded under the name American Footsteps in Taiwan, 1950–1980 and held at the National Central Library in Taipei from mid-December 2010 through late January this year. It was then scheduled to travel to Taichung in central Taiwan and later to Taitung on the east coast. With around 200 historic items from the US presence on the island including photographs, recordings, historical documents and other memorabilia such as amplifiers and typewriters, the goal of the exhibition is to “bring back memories of the early, close cooperation between our two peoples and reflect our joint aspiration to build a brighter future for America and Taiwan,” AIT Director William Stanton wrote in a statement released for the exhibition.

Flourishing Despite Change

Stanton also noted that the friendship between the peoples of the United States and Taiwan has endured and flourished despite the great changes in the world since the end of World War II. One of those changes came in 1949, when the Nationalist government retreated to Taiwan after the Chinese communists won the Chinese Civil War. The government’s move came at an important time, as the United States and its Western allies were then involved in fighting the expansion of communism around the world.

Two days after the Korean War broke out in June 1950, former US President Harry S. Truman dispatched the US Seventh Fleet to guard the Taiwan Strait. In a speech marking the opening of American Footsteps in Taiwan, 1950–1980, ROC President Ma Ying-jeou connected this naval deployment to the beginning of democracy in Taiwan, noting that the security provided by the fleet enabled local elections to be held as scheduled in Hualien County, eastern Taiwan two weeks later. That election resulted in Yang Zhong-jing (1898–1967) becoming Taiwan’s first directly elected county magistrate.

In 1954, the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty was signed by the ROC and the United States in Washington and henceforth became an important pillar of Taiwan’s national security.

The United States also provided humanitarian assistance in Taiwan in the years following World War II. Among other things, American flour and powdered milk provided many families in remote and poorer communities with essential food aid. In fact, clothing made from the sacks the flour was shipped in remains part of the collective memory of older generations in Taiwan. American healthcare projects also helped to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis, as well as assisted in the development of the island’s public health facilities.

In 1946, the United States also became the first foreign country to open a library in Taiwan in the postwar era. The library, operated by the US Information Service and located on Nanhai Road in Taipei, went on to become a major means for local people to gain access to news and knowledge from Western countries at a time when Taiwan was a relatively closed society under the rule of martial law. In his opening remarks for the exhibition, President Ma recalled that when he was a student at Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, he often visited the nearby library to peruse the diverse range of periodicals there.

Reading at the US Information Service library in Taipei was only the beginning of President Ma’s relationship with the United States. While studying at National Taiwan University (NTU), the president recounted at the opening, he made a memorable 70-day visit to the United States as an Asia-Pacific student leader under a US State Department program. “My 70 days there gave me a deeper understanding of schools, legislative bodies, student organizations and lifestyles in the United States and left a deep impression,” he said.

President Ma received a bachelor of law degree from NTU in 1972. Like many students from Taiwan, he then looked to the United States to continue his education. He enrolled at the New York University School of Law and obtained a master’s degree there in 1976, then entered Harvard Law School, from which he received a Ph.D. in juridical science in 1981.

Although the relationship between Taiwan and the United States has been a lengthy and enduring one, it has also seen its share of changes over the years. In the 1970s, with Taiwan growing in strength and prosperity, the United States ended economic assistance. Political and military relations have also changed, and the United States switched diplomatic recognition to mainland China in January 1979, an event that came as a shock to many people in Taiwan at the time. In April 1979, however, the US Congress stepped in to fill the gap left by derecognition by passing the Taiwan Relations Act, which continues to provide the legal grounds for commercial, cultural and other relations between the peoples of Taiwan and the United States.

In his remarks at the opening of American Footsteps in Taiwan, 1950–1980, President Ma stated that, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, the two countries continue to share an essential commitment to freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, adding he hoped that the future would bring even closer cooperation between the two countries.

Sheila Paskman is currently serving as section chief of AIT’s Public Affairs office, which provided the major creative impetus behind the Taipei exhibition. “I was really taken by surprise to see actually how many levels that relationship could extend,” Paskman says. “In some remote areas there is already some connection with some places in the United States. I went to Hualien and the library there has a sister relationship with a library in the United States. Everywhere you go, there is some connection.”

Economically Intertwined

Paskman also points out that the United States and Taiwan are more economically intertwined than most American or Taiwanese people realize, as Taiwan is the United States’ seventh largest trading partner. “We are so dependent on each other,” she says, adding that Taiwan is a vibrant Asian democracy that her country is determined to support.

In his remarks at the opening ceremony of the American Footsteps in Taiwan, 1950–1980 exhibit at the National Central Library in Taipei, AIT Director Stanton also placed emphasis on the many ties between the two countries, noting that the relationship is not just military and strategic, but rather one that exists in all areas and on all levels. “That is why we are here today,” Stanton said. “That is the point of this exhibit—to reaffirm our long-term commitment to and partnership with the people of Taiwan.”

One of the highlights of the exhibition is a large scale model of AIT’s new office complex now under construction in Taipei’s Neihu District. In his speech at the opening, Stanton noted that the complex can be seen a symbol of the future of US-Taiwan relations. “It is a building that represents our partnership with Taiwan in the 21st century,” he said.

Write to Pat Gao at kotsijin@gmail.com