The "one China" principle is all but dead.
Granted, Taiwan has never been part of the People's Repub-lic of China, but more importantly, over the past decade and a half, the people of Taiwan have made it increasingly clear to the international community that they do not want their country to become part of China and do not want to be placed under communist rule. This is the reality that the US, China and the rest of the world will have to face.
Opinion polls show that the percentage of Taiwanese who favor continued separation from China has increased steadily over the years, while that of those who favor unification has declined. Today, only 12 percent of people support unification.
This trend is also reflected in the outcome of the presidential election. In each of the three direct presidential elections since 1996, and despite China's military threat and verbal attacks, voters elected the presidential candidate backing independence over the candidate favored by Beijing.
On March 20, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who has unequivocally and consistently stated that Taiwan is a free and independent country, defeated a rival who had adopted an ambiguous stand regarding Taiwan's sovereignty and who was backed by Beijing.
Chen secured just over 50 percent of the vote, an increase of nearly 12 percentage points from four years ago, when he defeated two rivals to win his first four-year term.
There is no doubt that Taiwanese identity has increased significantly over the past four years.
After nearly four centuries of alien rule, including Dutch, Manchurian, Japanese and Chinese Nationalist, the people of Taiwan have shown they are determined to exercise their hard-won freedoms and political rights to be masters of their own destiny.
Through the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally, which extended more than 450km and drew 2 million people, and Chen's re-election, the people of Taiwan have resoundingly demonstrated that they reject Beijing's "one China" principle.
Today, Taiwan is a market economy. It has a per capita income of nearly US$15,000, or 15 times that of China. More importantly, according to the US-based Freedom House, Taiwan, next to Japan, is Asia's freest country, while China is one of Asia's least free.
Taiwanese elect all their representatives, including the president, while Chinese are only allowed to elect their township heads. The difference between Taiwan and China is like day and night.
No one should expect the freedom-loving Taiwanese to accept a brutal and dictatorial Chinese regime.
It is time for the US to discard the "one China" fiction, a relic of the Cold War era, and extend diplomatic recognition to a free and democratic Taiwan.
Chen Ching-chih is professor emeritus of history at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
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