The flags of the Republic of China (ROC) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) have been flying together in Vanuatu for 26 days now. Vanuatu's maintenance of a diplomatic relationship with both Taipei and Beijing is unprecedented in international diplomacy. Whether this model of dual recognition can be maintained depends on the state of cross-strait tensions.
Vanuatu's Prime Minister Serge Vohor told Taiwan's officials at an informal meeting that he looks forward to maintaining dual recognition of both China and Taiwan. It will be worth noting whether Beijing will tacitly accept the situation or actively oppose it. The key to establishing the "Vanuatu model" was Vohor's declaration that Vanuatu respects the "one China policy," while it also has the right to pursue "one Taiwan policy." He said that Vanuatu is a sovereign and independent country which has the freedom to decide which countries it recognizes. Further, the Vanuatu government and its people have a consensus: recognizing both China and Taiwan and receiving economic aid from both parties best serves its welfare and economic development.
In international business, acknowledging both sides of the Taiwan Strait is the international norm. Most countries have relations with Taiwan. They establish their embassies in Beijing and their economic and trade offices in Taipei. Why isn't this international business model adapted for international politics? The situation resembles that of Israel and Palestine. Many countries don't recognize Palestine, but other countries recognize both Israel and Palestine and use their influence to help maintain the peace. The same goes for pre-unified East and West Germany, and North and South Korea. These are models of co-existence between split countries, with both sides hostile to each other.
When the ROC withdrew from the UN, the US hoped both the ROC and PRC would be members. This hope was dashed by former president Chiang Kai-shek (
Taiwan established diplomatic relations with Vanuatu. Since Nov. 3 flags of both the PRC and the ROC have been flying there. This creates new prospects for Taiwan's diplomatic expansion. It remains to be seen if China, too, is looking at the situation in a different way. Vanuatu's dual recognition is a testing ground to see if Taipei and Beijing can put aside a zero-sum war of attrition, arrive at new ways of thinking, and achieve a win-win situation. A successful "Vanuatu model" would contribute enormously toward reducing cross-strait tensions and ensuring peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
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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