Was Lee Teng-hui Grossly Misunderstood?

If Richard C. Bush's account is to be believed, then former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui (李登辉) must be the most misunderstood creature on earth - or at least the part of the earth straddling the Taiwan Strait.

Even as Bush acknowledged that there is some justification in concluding that Lee's special state-to-state pronouncement in 1999 was "a significant shift in position", he nevertheless concluded that Beijing interpreted the statement in a very negative light.

Bush claimed that what Lee had done was merely to talk about an issue in a new way, adding that:

"Rhetorical toughness - based on his belief that weakness on the part of Taiwan would only invite more Chinese aggressiveness - was a part of his negotiating style."

And besides, Lee's response was in part because he had received information that Beijing would make an announcement framing cross-strait relations in a way that would put Taiwan on the defensive. Hence, "Lee decided to preempt any such statement with one of his own."

Added Bush: "More generally, some of Lee's initiatives constituted a frustrated response to Beijing's inflexible stance."

Okay, so we should give Bush the benefit of the doubt over that impending Beijing announcement that would frame cross-strait relations in a defensive light.

But unless one is a professional mind-reader, and given the murky and intransparent nature of cross-strait ties, surely it is not surprising that Beijing came to the conclusion that Lee was a "splittist"? Words can sometimes mean too little, or in the case of cross-strait relations when both sides are not talking directly to each other, way too much.