Translated by Claude, edited by Sinocism.com

Riyue Tantian | Why Does a Foreigner Treat Himself as Taiwan's "Retired Emperor"?

日月谭天丨为何一个外国人把自己当成台湾“太上皇”？

Source: CCTV News (央视新闻), via The Paper (澎湃新闻)

A few days ago, at a press conference, Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Chen Binhua for the first time named — and, in extremely severe terms, denounced — Raymond Greene, director of the Taipei office of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), for behaving as though he were Taiwan's "Retired Emperor" (太上皇 taishang huang, the title of an abdicated emperor who still holds power), and for defying the serious statements U.S. President Trump has made on Taiwan-related matters, in an attempt to steer China-U.S. relations and cross-Strait relations in a very dangerous direction.

日前，国台办发言人陈斌华在新闻发布会上，首度点名并以极为严厉的措辞痛批“美国在台协会”（AIT）台北办事处处长谷立言俨然把自己当成台湾的“太上皇”，以及违背美国总统特朗普涉台所作严肃表态，企图把中美关系和两岸关系引向十分危险的方向。

The American Institute in Taiwan is itself a non-profit private organization, meant to maintain unofficial commercial, cultural, and people-to-people ties between the United States and Taiwan. But Greene, as the institute's representative in Taiwan, has repeatedly intervened in the island's politics — carping about how its political affairs are run, backing one faction against another, wantonly manipulating cross-Strait issues, and continually inciting cross-Strait antagonism and confrontation. His conduct goes far beyond his remit, and he outwardly complies with but inwardly defies the sitting U.S. president's statements on Taiwan.

“美国在台协会”本身是一个非营利性民间机构，用以保持美台之间商务、文化、人员往来等非官方关系。但谷立言作为该机构驻台代表，却频频介入岛内政治，对岛内政局运作说三道四、拉一派打一派，肆意操弄台海议题，持续煽动两岸对立对抗，所作所为远超其职责，而且对美国现任总统的涉台表态阳奉阴违。

People on the island have had enough of this. One netizen posted a message asking "what is Greene really after?," while former Taipei County magistrate Chou Hsi-wei blasted that "peace and shared prosperity across the Strait is the common wish of compatriots on both sides, and a foreigner has absolutely no standing to meddle in it and wreck it."

对此，岛内民众看不下去了，有岛内网友发帖质问“谷立言安的什么心”，原台北县长周锡玮痛斥“两岸和平共荣是两岸同胞的共同心愿，外国人根本没有资格插手破坏”。

[Screenshot of a report by media on the island]

This columnist cannot help but ask on behalf of the island's people: by what right does a foreigner sit so high above everyone, repeatedly "directing the play" for the island's major political parties and treating himself as Taiwan's "Retired Emperor"?

谭主不禁要替岛内民众发问，一个外国人凭什么高高在上，一再对岛内主要政党下“指导棋”、把自己当成台湾“太上皇”？

A "Retired Emperor" with a long record of misdeeds

劣迹斑斑的“太上皇”

Since Greene took up the post of AIT Taipei office director in 2024, he has frequently intervened in the island's defense, economic, and other affairs and in the authorities' cross-Strait policy, pushing Taiwan toward the fire pit. The outrageousness of his words and deeds and the depth of his interference amount to a long record of misdeeds.

谷立言2024年就任AIT台北办事处处长以来，频繁介入防务、经济等岛内事务及当局的两岸政策，把台湾推向火坑。其言行之出格、干涉之深入，可谓劣迹斑斑。

First, stirring up cross-Strait confrontation. As is well known, the "1992 Consensus," which embodies the one-China principle, clearly defines the nature of cross-Strait relations, and the fact that the mainland and Taiwan both belong to one China is the true status quo across the Strait. Ignoring the fact that it is the DPP authorities who deny the "1992 Consensus" and seek to change the cross-Strait status quo, Greene has stigmatized the "1992 Consensus" as a "threshold for dialogue" and brazenly floated the fallacy that "the two sides should hold talks with no preconditions," giving the "Taiwan independence" line a way out. On top of that, over the past two years he has made a point of raising the "mainland threat" and "cross-Strait crisis" at every public occasion, continually inciting cross-Strait antagonism and confrontation, doing his utmost to sell war anxiety to Taiwan's people, and drumming up opinion to push Taiwan society toward being pro-U.S. and "leaning on the U.S."

首先，挑动两岸对抗。众所周知，体现一中原则的“九二共识”是明确界定了两岸关系的性质，大陆和台湾同属一个中国就是真正的台海现状。谷立言无视民进党当局否认“九二共识”、妄图改变台海现状的事实，将“九二共识”污名化为“对话门槛”，并大言不惭地抛出“两岸应不设前提对话”谬论，给“台独”路线解套。此外，其两年来每逢公开场合必谈“大陆威胁”“台海危机”，持续煽动两岸对立对抗，极力向台湾民众贩卖战争焦虑，为鼓动台湾社会亲美、“倚美”大造舆论。