In his latest book, titled Believe in Taiwan -- President A-bian's Report to the People, President Chen Shui-bian (
Describing China's rise as a power in Asia as the realization of the Chinese "Monroe Doctrine," Chen says China has become a hegemonic power in Asia, generating mixed feelings among Asian nations.
The notion of the Chinese "Monroe Doctrine" has resulted in an unbalanced cross-strait relationship in at least four ways:
First, no Chinese leader dares to take the initiative to adjust Beijing's Taiwan policy for fear of being victimized in an internal power struggle. Since Deng Xiaoping (
Nevertheless, the gradual opening of Taiwan's democracy, coupled with a growing national identity in Taiwan, has widened the gap between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
The fact is, the "one country, two systems" formula is opposed by over 70 percent of Taiwanese people and does not enjoy international approval either. Conservatism, rigidity and the fear of facing reality have shaped Beijing's inflexible policy toward Taiwan.
Second, the Chinese leadership has never had the courage to recognize the consolidation and deepening of Taiwan's democracy. While Chinese leaders have repeatedly stated that their "hopes lie with the Taiwanese compatriots," the people have countered their expectations with a grand transformation of economic liberalization and political democratization -- all within a span of less than 20 years.
At a time when China has only just entered the embryonic stage of democracy characterized by local elections, people in Taiwan already enjoy the more progressive "popular sovereignty" of national referendums.
Far outpaced by Taiwan's rapid democratic progress, China has no option but to suppress Taiwan's efforts to enhance its democracy.
Third, China always lacks the courage to face the fact that there is one country on each side of the Taiwan Strait.
In addition to threatening Taiwan's international place and rooting out the nation's diplomatic allies, Beijing has on many occasions used its influence to try to prevent Taiwan's accession to the WTO and its attempts to join the World Health Organization.
Such moves not only have pushed the people of Taiwan further away from but also failed to draw Taiwan into the narrow confines of the empty "one China" framework.
The fourth element contributing to an unbalanced cross-strait relationship is the military imbalance across the Taiwan Strait. The situation causes great concern among the Asia-Pacific countries and the US.
These inherent factors that lead to an asymmetrical cross-strait relationship deserves global attention.
To help balancing current cross-strait relations, a "peaceful referendum" can be regarded as the first step to demonstrate 23 million Taiwanese people's steadfast intention to call for a peaceful transformation of its relationship with China.
With a new mandate on such a peaceful resolution on cross-strait disputes, whoever wins the March 20 presidential election in Taiwan will have full legitimacy to deal with Beijing for the sake of protecting Taiwan's interests. Pragmatic policies can be implemented based on parity and mutual benefit.
This is the essence of maintaining the status quo.
Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has caused havoc with his attempts to overturn the democratic and constitutional order in the legislature. If we look at this devolution from the context of a transition to democracy from authoritarianism in a culturally Chinese sense — that of zhonghua (中華) — then we are playing witness to a servile spirit from a millennia-old form of totalitarianism that is intent on damaging the nation’s hard-won democracy. This servile spirit is ingrained in Chinese culture. About a century ago, Chinese satirist and author Lu Xun (魯迅) saw through the servile nature of
In their New York Times bestseller How Democracies Die, Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt said that democracies today “may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders. Many government efforts to subvert democracy are ‘legal,’ in the sense that they are approved by the legislature or accepted by the courts. They may even be portrayed as efforts to improve democracy — making the judiciary more efficient, combating corruption, or cleaning up the electoral process.” Moreover, the two authors observe that those who denounce such legal threats to democracy are often “dismissed as exaggerating or
Monday was the 37th anniversary of former president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) death. Chiang — a son of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who had implemented party-state rule and martial law in Taiwan — has a complicated legacy. Whether one looks at his time in power in a positive or negative light depends very much on who they are, and what their relationship with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is. Although toward the end of his life Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law and steered Taiwan onto the path of democratization, these changes were forced upon him by internal and external pressures,
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
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