World history has a Republic of China (ROC) and a People's Republic of China (PRC) but no "one China."
The emergence of the "one China" concept has been a self-deceiving fabrication from the beginning. It is a play with words and a case of international fraud.
From the provisional constitution passed when the ROC was established in 1912 to the current ROC Constitution, there has been no mention of "one China," only the ROC. Before the PRC was founded in 1949, no one had ever said that the "one China is the Republic of China," just as no one has ever said that the "one America is the United States of America" or the "one UK is the United Kingdom."
Only after the Chinese Communist Party defeated the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and announced the abolition of the ROC Constitution and the replacement of the ROC with the PRC did the concept of "one China" emerge.
The KMT government, forced into exile in Taiwan, then borrowed two "shells" from the already extinct ROC to put into place in Taiwan -- the "shells" of the national title of the ROC and the ROC Constitution. The government also claimed that there was only one China in the world and that the ROC was the only legitimate government representing China.
At that time, the world was divided into two blocks. The US supported the ROC government in Taiwan, which opposed the communists and resisted Russia, and represented China as one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council. The US refused to let the PRC enter the UN. This situation lasted for 22 years. At that time, the illusory "one China" was apparently advantageous for the KMT government in Taiwan.
The world changed in the 1970s. As the Nixon administration adopted the strategy of "uniting with China to contain Russia," the fabricated content of the "one China" concept was altered as well. In 1972, the US and China signed the Shanghai Communique to settle their dif-ferences over the Taiwan issue.
Former US secretary of state and national security adviser Henry Kissinger came up with his famous statement: "All Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States government does not challenge that position."
From then on, an international scam created by the "one China" policy or "one China" principle has long dominated the relations between Taiwan, the US and China. It is increasingly unfavorable to Taiwan.
On Jan. 1, 1979, the US announced it would sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan, withdraw its troops, abolish treaties and recognize "the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China." The idea that "one China is the ROC" was no longer tenable in the international community.
The basis of the US government's "one China" policy is that it does not challenge the position that "all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China." Once the 23 million people on this side of the Strait renounce the fictitious concept that "one China is the ROC" and give "China" back to the 1.3 billion Chinese on the other side of the Strait, the US government's "one China" policy will collapse without being attacked.
This is neither provocation nor a change in the status quo. This is facing up to the fact that there is one country on each side of the Strait, bidding farewell to the self-deceiving illusion of "one China" and putting an end to the meaningless play on words and ludicrous international scam.
Ruan Ming is a visiting professor at Tamkang University and a former special assistant to late Chinese Communist Party secretary-general Hu Yaobang (
Translated by Jackie Lin
In their recent op-ed “Trump Should Rein In Taiwan” in Foreign Policy magazine, Christopher Chivvis and Stephen Wertheim argued that the US should pressure President William Lai (賴清德) to “tone it down” to de-escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait — as if Taiwan’s words are more of a threat to peace than Beijing’s actions. It is an old argument dressed up in new concern: that Washington must rein in Taipei to avoid war. However, this narrative gets it backward. Taiwan is not the problem; China is. Calls for a so-called “grand bargain” with Beijing — where the US pressures Taiwan into concessions
The term “assassin’s mace” originates from Chinese folklore, describing a concealed weapon used by a weaker hero to defeat a stronger adversary with an unexpected strike. In more general military parlance, the concept refers to an asymmetric capability that targets a critical vulnerability of an adversary. China has found its modern equivalent of the assassin’s mace with its high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) weapons, which are nuclear warheads detonated at a high altitude, emitting intense electromagnetic radiation capable of disabling and destroying electronics. An assassin’s mace weapon possesses two essential characteristics: strategic surprise and the ability to neutralize a core dependency.
Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) said in a politburo speech late last month that his party must protect the “bottom line” to prevent systemic threats. The tone of his address was grave, revealing deep anxieties about China’s current state of affairs. Essentially, what he worries most about is systemic threats to China’s normal development as a country. The US-China trade war has turned white hot: China’s export orders have plummeted, Chinese firms and enterprises are shutting up shop, and local debt risks are mounting daily, causing China’s economy to flag externally and hemorrhage internally. China’s
During the “426 rally” organized by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party under the slogan “fight green communism, resist dictatorship,” leaders from the two opposition parties framed it as a battle against an allegedly authoritarian administration led by President William Lai (賴清德). While criticism of the government can be a healthy expression of a vibrant, pluralistic society, and protests are quite common in Taiwan, the discourse of the 426 rally nonetheless betrayed troubling signs of collective amnesia. Specifically, the KMT, which imposed 38 years of martial law in Taiwan from 1949 to 1987, has never fully faced its
RSS