NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HALL, GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
TAIPEI, REPUBLIC OF CHINA
SUNDAY, 15 MAY 1997, 1900 HOURS LOCAL
(17 MAY, 0700 HOURS ET)
The fistfight broke out as suddenly as a thunderclap. Several
men and women leaped over seats to clutch at those who dared
disagree with them or support another side over theirs. Railings
and seats were used as ladders to try to get at one another,
and the entire crowd seemed to surge forward like a pack of
wolves on the attack.
The scene resembled an unruly crowd at a World Cup soc-
cer match, or a riot in South Central-but this was a special
session of the National Assembly of the government of the
Republic of China on Taiwan.
The president pro tem of the National Assembly hammered
his gavel, trying to restore order. He glanced over at the na-
tional guard troops peeking through the window in the back
of the chamber, ready to burst in if necessary. He heard break-
ing glass and almost hit the panic button, but stayed calm and
watched nervously as the noisy politicians surged forward. It
took nearly thirty minutes to restore some level of calm, and
another ten minutes for the legislators to clear the aisles
enough so the National Police could escort the president of the
Republic of China, Lee Teng-hui, to the podium.
My fellow citizens, your attention, please. I am pleased to
announce the results of the ratification vote of t -he Legislative
Branch, which was taken just a few hours ago," President Lee
began. "By a vote of two hundred seventy-one for, thirty
against, three abstaining, Mr. Huang Chou-ming is hereby ap-
proved by the people of the Republic of Taiwan to serve as
vice president and premier. Mr. Huang, step forward, please."
Amid renewed cheering and yelling, mostly from the left
side of the hall, the new premier of the Republic of China
stepped up to the dais and accepted the green-and-gold sash
of office. Huang was a major figure in the Democratic Pro-
gressive Party (DPP), and his election to the number-two po-
sition in the Taiwanese government was significant-it was
the first major advance of a non-Kuornintang (KMT) Party
member in the country's short history. Although the Kuom-
intang still held a solid majority in all branches of the Tai-
wanese government, the advancement of the DPP was a major
shift from nearly fifty years of KMT philosophy and control.
The shouting, cheering, celebrations, and accusations sud-
denly and violently turned into another brawl on the floor of
the National Assembly. While bodyguards surrounded the
president and vice president, members of Taiwan's National
Assembly ran up and down the aisles, stood on desks, and
screamed at each other; several members were up on the dais
near the president, fighting with one another to decide who
would speak with the president first. Members of the National
Police Administration, charged with the protection of govern-
ment buildings and property and who acted as security guards in the National Assembly chamber, had moved into the cham-
ber itself and stood stock-still along the outer aisles of the
Assembly chamber, long cane batons nearly invisible at their
sides and tear-gas canisters safely tucked away inside their
tunics. They did nothing but watch with stone-expressionless
faces while the fights and bedlam raged all around them.
"My fellow citizens," President Lee tried. His voice, even
amplified, was barely heard. He waited patiently for any sign
that the near-riot was subsiding. He heard clothing rip just a
few paces away from him-the fight had somehow moved up
to the dais, where police were trying to keep Assembly mem-
bers from reaching the president and new premier-and de-
cided that he needed to wait a few moments longer. He had a
pistol tucked away in a holster inside his pants at the small of
his back, and Lee considered firing a shot in the air to get
everyone's attention, but quickly decided that a gunshot might
just make this place explode.
bers elected for life. Since most of the membership had been
elected to their post in 1948, prior to the Communist overthrow
of the Nationalist Party on the mainland, there were some very
old gentlemen here in the Assembly Hall. But the old goats,
Lee noticed, were arguing and fighting just as hard as the more
newly elected members-they just had less endurance. The
hall was splitting into two distinct sections, a normal and corn-
mon occurrence here in the National Assembly. The largest
group was the Kuomintang, along with their nominal allies the
New Party, the Young China Party, and the Chinese Demo-
cratic Socialist Party. On the other side were the members of
the Democratic Progressive Party, a more liberal and modern-
thinking political party filled with young, energetic, rather ide-
alistic members. Although the right side of the hall, filled with
KMT members and supporters, was much larger, both sides
were equally boisterous.
"My fellow citizens, please," Lee tried again. When he
realized there was no response to his pleas, Lee finally ordered
the police to step in. Order was quickly restored. "Thank you.
We will now proceed with the main piece of business on to-
night's agenda." Huang respectfully stepped behind and to
Lee's right; this simple action got the Assembly's attention
right away, and the chamber quieted. Lee quickly continued:
"This election also signals a unity of purpose and policy
within our government, my friends, a union between rival pa-
triotic groups that has been much too long in the making. Our
newfound coalition between the KMT and DPP forms the basis
of our pride in our accomplishments and our standing in the
world community. It is time for our unity, our pride, to be
brought forth upon the world for all to see."
President Lee let the loud applause continue for a few long
moments; then: "With humble pride and great joy, Premier
Huang and I hereby bring to the floor of the National Assem-
bly a bill, drafted by the Central Standing Committee of the
Kuomintang, amended by the Legislative Yuan Major Consti-
tutional Committee, and passed this date unanimously by the
Legislative Branch, to amend the constitution of the Republic
of China. It is now up to us to ratify this constitutional amend-
ment.
"The bill amends the constitution by proclaiming that the
Republic of China, including the island archipelagoes of For-
mosa, Quemoy, Matsu, Makung, Taiping, and Tiaoyutai, is
now and forever shall be a separate, sovereign, and indepen-
dent nation, subordinate or component to none. The people of
the Republic of China hereby r
enounce all allegiance and ties
to land, title, property, legal claims, and jurisdiction to the
mainland. Our prayers will always be that we are someday
reunited with our motherland, but until that day comes, we
hereby proclaim that the Republic of China is a separate na-
tion, with all the rights and responsibilities of free and sov-
ereign nations anywhere in the world. The bill is hereby
submitted for a vote. May I please have a second?"
"I proudly second the motion," the new premier, Huang
Chou-ming, shouted, which lifted the applause to a new, out-
rageous level. Huang and the DPP had been fighting for such
a declaration of independence for many years, and their victory
in getting this legislation passed and onto the Assembly floor
was the most significant event in the history of the Nationalist
Chinese.
The introduction of this bill meant that the Kuomintang I s
basic philosophy of one China, introduced by Dr. Sun Yat-sen
as he and Nationalist General Chiang Kai-shek fought to lib-
erate China from the grasp of the Japanese empire after World
Wars I and H, and proclaimed ever since the Nationalists were
pushed off the mainland to the island of Taiwan by the Corn-
munists in 1949, was effectively dead. There had always been a hope that the Nationalists could somehow liberate the main-
land from the dark clutches of communism, now the govern-
Mainland China could someday join in the prosperity and
power of the Republic of China-but until then, Taiwan was
in control of its own destiny.
The cheering in the Assembly hall was deafening; the ap-
plause and demonstrations in the aisles lasted for nearly ten
minutes. There was still a small group of KMT members op-
posed to the amendment, and they tried to start another fight
on the Assembly floor, but their anger and outrage could not
undo years of Lee's gentle persuasiveness and coalition-
building efforts.
But it was more than releasing an improbable dream. It was
an assertion, a declaration to the world, and especially to the
gargantuan presence known as the People's Republic of China,
that the Republic of China on Taiwan was taking its rightful
place on the world stage. Taiwan was no longer a breakaway
republic of China; the ROC was no longer a rebel government.
It had the strongest economy in Asia, the ninth-largest econ-
omy on the planet, and the largest deposits of foreign curren-
cies in the world. Now it was a sovereign nation. No one was
going to take any of that away from them.
It took an entire hour for the votes to be cast, but the results
were finally tallied and the announcement was made, soon for
all the world to hear: independence.
SOUTHBEACH, OREGON
SATURDAY, 17 MAY 1997, 0415 HOURS PT
(0715 HOURS ET)
As he had done - for the past thirty-two years of his life, the
retired U. Air Force general was up at four A., Without the
assistance of an aide, an operator, or even an alarm clock. He
was a man who had always set the agenda, not followed those
of others. He was accustomed to having everyone else get moving on his timetable.
But now no one in a base command center was waiting for
him, there were no@ "dawn patrol" missions to fly, no world
crisis that had to be analyzed so a response could be planned.
His uniform now was not a green Nomex flight suit or freshly
pressed blue wool class A's, but a flannel shirt, thermal un-
derwear-one of innumerable pairs he had used in his flying
days, in aircraft where keeping the electronics warm was more
important than keeping the humans warm-hunting socks, hip
waders, an old olive-drab nylon flying jacket, and an old Viet-
narn-era camouflage floppy "boonie hat" with spinners and
lures stuck in it. He didn't know that all those things in his
hat had nothing to do with open-sea fishing, but it didn't mat-
ter-it was part of the "uniform."
By force of habit, he put the hardened polycarbonate Timex.
aviator's watch on his left wrist, although his own internal
body clock was all he needed now; and he plucked the cellular
phone from its recharging cradle, turned it on, and stuck it in
his fanny pack, although no one ever called him and he had
no one to call. For a long, long time, since assuming his first
command more than twenty years before, leaving his quarters
without a portable radio or a cell phone and pager had been
unthinkable, and such habits die hard. The cell phone was
something of a link to his old life, his old base of power. The
old life had been stripped away from him, but he would not
let it go completely.
The weather in Oregon's central coast matched the man's
mood-gray, cloudy, and a little depressing. The man had
spent many years in the Southwest, especially southern Ne-
vada, where they had more than three hundred clear, sunny
days a year. Many times he cursed the sun and the oppressive
heat it brought-one-hundred-degree days in April, lots of
ninety-degree midnights, terrible jet performance especially in
the high deserts-but right now a little sun and warmth would
be very welcome. It was not looking good-typical low over-
cast, drizzle with occasional light rain, winds out of the south-
west fairly light at ten knots but threatening to increase, as
they usually did, to thirty to forty knots by afternoon.
Not ideal fishing weather, but what the hell-nothing else
to do except sit around and look at the mountain of unpacked
boxes still cluttering his little mobile home in Southbeach, an
isolated vacation and retirement village on Oregon's central
coast, about eighty miles southwest of Portland. The Air
Force-contracted movers had delivered his household goods
seven months before, but there they sat, virtually untouched.
He saw a small hole the size of a pencil in the comer of one
box marked "Memorabilia" and wondered if the mice were
enjoying nibbling on the plaques, awards, photos, and me-
mentos he had stuffed in there. At least someone was enjoying
them.
The man decided just to get the hell out and do what he
had planned to do, and to hell with the bad memories and
bitterness. Concentrating on his boat, the sea, and staying alive
on the cold waters of coastal Oregon in freshening breezes
would take his mind off the neglected remnants of the life that
had been taken away from him. 'Me prospect of catching a
glimpse of a migrating pod of whales filled him with a sense
of excitement, and soon he was speeding down the long gravel
driveway, eagerly looking forward to getting on the water.
It was a short drive north on Highway 101 to the marina,
just south of the Yaquina Bay bridge. The marina's general
store had just opened, so he had his thermos filled with coffee,
his cooler packed full of orange juice, fresh and dried fruit,
and some live sardines for bait--he didn't have the money
to
buy live mackerel or squid, which would really improve his
chances. What he knew about fishing would embarrass himself
if he tried to talk about it, but it didn't matter-if he caught
anything, which was unlikely these days in the fished-out wa-
ters of central Oregon, he would probably let it go. He filled
out a slip of paper that explained where he was headed and
how long he was going to be out-somewhat akin to filing a
flight plan before a sortie-stuck the paper in the "Gone
Fishin' " box near the door on his way out, and headed for
the piers.
His boat was a thirty-year-old thirty-two-foot Grand Banks
Sedan, bought with most of his savings and the sixty days'
worth of unused accumulated leave time he had sold back to
the United States Air Force. Made of Philippine mahogany
instead of fiberglass, the heavy little trawler was easy enough
to handle solo, and stable in seas up to about five feet. It had
a single Lehman diesel engine, covered flybridge, a good-size
fishing cockpit aft, a large salon with lower helm station, set-
tee, and galley, and a forward cabin with a head/shower and
a V-berth with decent but fish-smelling foam cushions. He
turned on the marine band radio and got the weather and sea
states from WXI, the Newport Coast Guard weather band,
while he pulled off the canvas covers, checked his equipment
and made ready to get under way-he still called it "preflight-
ing" his ship, although the fastest he'd fly would be ten
knots-then motored over to the pumps, filled the fuel and
water tanks, and headed out of the marina into Yaquina Bay
and then to the open ocean.
There was a very light drizzle and a fresh breeze blowing,
but the man did make his way up to the flybridge to get a
better feel for the sea. Visibility was about three to five miles
DALE BROWN
offshore, but the Otter Rock light was visible nine miles north.
The waves were maybe a foot, short and choppy, with the first
hint of whitecaps, and it was cool and damp-again, typical
weather in Oregon for early summer. He headed northwest,
using an eyeball. bearing off the lighthouse to sail into the
fishing area. When he'd first started sailing, he'd brought an
entire bag full of electronic satellite navigation gear, backup