Vigilance in the face of indifference

Lung-chu Chen

The leaders of the world's seven top economic powers, plus Russia, ended the three-day G8 summit in Okinawa on July 23 with a series of pledges set out in a joint communique.

The three major issues discussed at the summit were global security, prosperity and peace. The joint communique stressed compliance by members of the international community to the UN Charter, which advocates the peaceful resolution of conflicts. The statement also calls for a new round of multilateral WTO talks this year.

The eight nations also signed the Okinawa Charter on Global Information and Communication, the meeting's one concrete achievement on technology issues. The charter regards information technology as one of the most potent forces behind development in the 21st century. It emphasizes that developed industrial countries should assist developing countries in joining the global information society.

As Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said, "The Okinawa summit is a suitable summit to embrace the 21st century."

Although the summit agenda touched upon a variety of issues, it still gave people the impression that G8 leaders were evading major issues. Host country Japan and the others avoided any sensitive issues that would have led to confrontation. Taiwan was one such sensitive issue. It is considered one of the major potential conflict areas in the new century, but the G8 summit viewed cross-strait relations as a taboo topic and omit-ted it from the agenda, due to Japan's worries about China's reaction. Despite the slight, cross-strait relations are a concern of the international community -- not "China's internal affair" as proclaimed by Beijing.

Any issue involving regional security in the Asia Pacific and world peace is an issue that the international community should be concerned about. By stressing compliance to the UN Charter in its joint communique, the G8 has announced its determination to use peaceful means to address conflicts.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his interest in establishing a "strategic partnership" with China following his visits to North Korea and China after the Korean summit. Relations among powerful nations and the international situation in East Asia have been undergoing some changes. Taiwan should be more vigilant and use our strategic importance as an island state to maintain our sovereignty in a volatile environment.

Chen Lung-chu is chairman of the Chen Lung Chu New Century Foundation.