What Can and Can't Be Talked About ——An Interview with Representative Fredrick F. Chien

In early 1983, Fredrick F. Chien, the Republic of China's representative to the United States, went to Washington determined to improve U.S.-ROC relations. That time was a difficult one for the ROC diplomatically, less than five months after the U.S. government and the Chinese Communists announced their "second Shanghai communique." In the four and a half years since then, Representative Chien has been an active presence on the Washington scene and earned a great deal of praise for his performance.

To get his message across, Dr. Chien has established friendships with both liberals and conservatives and has visited 39 states during the 1,500 days that he has been in the U.S., responding to 163 formal invitations to speak. Dinners and receptions are daily events at his residence, and he regularly lunches at the House and Senate dining rooms on Capitol Hill to make friends and discuss problems with congressmen. To avoid being too "ostentatious" and incurring unnecessary harassment from the Chinese Communists, he must sometimes "cautiously turn down sensitive invitations," as he once put it in an interview.

Examples of his boundless energy are numerous. For instance, even in the depth of winter, one aide quipped, "Representative Chien's car doesn't need to be warmed up, because his engine is always running." His appointment calendar is set out not in days or hours but in half hours. And he often sighs with regret: "Washington is so big that it takes an hour round trip to go anywhere."

Wei Yung, chairman of the ROC's Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, was deeply impressed by a speech he once heard Dr. Chien make in New York: "He talks about economic problems, the trade balance, and even the U.S. budget deficit as intelligently as any professionally trained economist."

"In making a friend, you've got to talk about what interests him first. Once he's accepted you, then he'll gradually be willing to accept your ideas," Dr. Chien says. Based on this concept, he has hit the road and made the rounds, doing what he calls "building good will."

As a result, when the media this May reported a poll as saying that Sino-American relations were one of the top two areas of government performance that the public was least satisfied with (an impression which involved some misunderstanding, as described in this issue's "Sino-American Relations in the Eye of the Public"), Dr. Chien, who has always been extremely demanding of himself, was deeply distressed.

The following are excerpts from an interview with Dr. Chien regarding ROC-U.S. relations.

Q: Please evaluate the state of Sino-American relations today.

A: I think that the development of U.S.-ROC relations is in general quite satisfactory at present. Both political parties agree that the political stability and the economic prosperity of the ROC are beneficial to the U.S. and support the Taiwan Relations Act.

But, as of today, all the things in Sino-American relations that are good for us, practically without exception, can't be discussed, and the things that are bad are the ones that everyone sees. This is one of the most thankless tasks in the world, but somebody's got to do it, and I'll keep on bearing the cross.

Q: Because the U.S. has official relations with the Communists, advances in substantive relations with the ROC can't be made public, but doesn't this have an effect on the way our people think about the U.S.?

A: Absolutely. And what concerns me is that I can feel the growth of a potential emotion—I won't say anti-Americanism—but a dissatisfaction at least, a dissatisfaction with the beer, wine, and cigarette talks, a dissatisfaction with the appreciation of the NT dollar.

Q: The good things can't be talked about, and the news we see in the media is all about the U.S. "exerting pressure." Under these circumstances, how can the Chinese public make a correct assessment of U.S.-ROC relations?

A: First, I have to ask the public to trust us, and then for the news media not to play up certain news items as though the U.S. were bullying us. Actually, economically, we're the ones doing the bullying.

A lot of people think that the U.S. is the richest and strongest nation in the world, and if we make a little money from them, what's the difference? This idea may have been all right ten or twenty years ago, but if you tell this to an American today he'll think you're making fun of him, because the U.S. economy really is in trouble.

The biggest reason why the American people are upset is because of their trade deficit in the manufacturing industries. What everyone sees are the factory closings. U.S. service industries, such as transportation, insurance, banking, and satellite communications, have a trade surplus, but no one sees that.

Q: Isn't that a little unfair—especially for those developing countries in which manufacturing industries are still more important than service industries?

A: No country has accurate statistics on service industries. In fact, statistics are not completely accurate even for manufacturing industries. We calculated our trade surplus with the U.S. last year at US$13.5 billion, while the U.S. Department of Commerce figures were US$15.7 billion.

Q: What problems are the U.S.-ROC trade talks concentrated on at present?

A: Basically, the U.S. understands that a person under three feet tall can't eat the same amount as a seven-foot giant: the Taiwan and the American markets are vastly different and an absolute trade balance is impossible. What they're unhappy about are tariff and nontariff barriers to the sale of U.S. products in Taiwan. Two and a half years ago, President Chiang clearly indicated that our economy would move toward liberalization and internationalization, but unfortunately we haven't been moving fast enough.

Besides discussions on tariff and nontariff barriers, a third subject of the talks is counterfeiting and the protection of intellectual property. In this area, the situation has improved, and the U.S. recognizes our efforts.

The fourth subject is our purchases from the U.S. They feel that many times we don't like to buy American. I explained to them that the ROC, like the U.S., is a free economy, and the government can't tell its people which country's goods they must buy. All the government can do is to set an example, and in this respect we're making efforts.

Next is the exchange rate of the NT dollar, which has appreciated faster than the currencies of all but a few countries in the world, and lastly our foreign exchange reserves, which they believe we should invest in the U.S.

Our government is moving forward on all these points, but the Americans are more impatient than we are.

Q: To reduce the trade imbalance, we've worked at lowering tariffs, opening imports, and revaluing the NT dollar. How satisfied is the U.S.?

A: They're happiest about the protection of intellectual property. Besides this, the government is working on eliminating tariff and nontariff barriers and on buying more from the U.S. The real problem is the exchange rate, because our foreign exchange reserves really are too high.

We really have been making a lot of efforts to reduce the trade imbalance—much more, in my view, than South Korea has, for example. But the U.S. often praises Korea because in Korea the government has strong control over the economy. Their vice premier announced this May that their 1987 trade surplus would in no way exceed the 1986 level. Now we have a free economy where the exporters are private enterprises; no one in the government can make that kind of statement. But one word from South Korea is more useful than all the efforts I've just mentioned. Just one word.

Q: It's apparent from what you say that you know a lot about the U.S. You spend a lot of time studying American affairs, don't you?

A: Americans basically don't understand much about foreign affairs, and they're not interested in doing so. So if you sit down with them and tell them how important the ROC is and what its strategic value is, in three minutes they'll stop listening. To attract them, you've got to talk to them about the things they're interested in first. Only when they find out that you have something useful to say to them will they be willing to talk to you and believe what you have to say. Then you can tell them a little about the ROC "by the way."

Q: How can we establish a long-term friendship with the U.S.?

A: Establishing a long-term friendship requires working at building up good will. Among the 120 and some consulates in Washington, D.C., few are more active than we are. In the past we made friends mainly with conservatives; today it's with anyone, especially the main stream. Frankly, if we'd made those friends twenty years ago, our relations would probably be a different story today. In addition, almost all the think tanks in Washington have close contact with us. These are the people from which future administrations will pick their secretaries and undersecretaries of state. . . . Building up good will means this kind of work.

Q: Finally, would you please discuss what things you have found most satisfying and most disappointing in your four and half years as representative to the U.S.?

A: It's difficult for me to say that I've found anything satisfying, partly because I'm very strict with myself and partly because the public's evaluation of Sino-American relations is so low.

If I really had to say what was satisfying it would be my staff, who have worked so hard under difficult circumstances. And that my compatriots at home have not given them the encouragement that they deserve has been my greatest disappointment.

[Picture Caption]

Fredrick F. Chien, the ROC's representative to the U.S., discusses Si no-American relations in his office in Washington.

Dinners mean more work for Dr. Chien.

"As of today, all the things in Sino-American relations that are good for us can't be discussed, and the things that are bad are the ones that everyone sees."

In the four and a half years that he has been in the U.S., Representative Chien has traveled widely to give speeches.

"First, I have to ask the public to trust us, and then for the news media not to play up certain news items as though the U.S. were bullying us."

"If I really had to say what was satisfying it would be my staff, who have worked so hard under difficult circumstances."

Dinners mean more work for Dr. Chien.

"As of today, all the things in Sino-American relations that are good for us can't be discussed, and the things that are bad are the ones that everyone sees.".

In the four and a half years that he has been in the U.S., Representative Chien has traveled widely to give speeches.