Sunday saw the conclusion of the latest cross-strait forum held in Beijing between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
The forum came just days after the nation's 11th attempt to gain admission to the WHO was rejected because of China's interference.
It also came as China last week -- once again -- tried to deny Taiwan's sovereignty by making it the first leg of the "domestic route" for the torch in the build-up to next year's Beijing Olympics.
And it comes after seven years of Chinese authorities ignoring the democratic government of Taiwan.
That China has almost 1,000 ballistic missiles pointing at their homeland didn't seem to bother the delegates from Taiwan in the least.
These are the same KMT and People First Party lawmakers who swore allegiance to the Republic of China and vowed to uphold its integrity, but stand there like dummies while Chinese leaders denigrate the nation and treat them like provincial delegates.
That these people do not represent the government of Taiwan and have no authority to discuss and seal such deals didn't seem to take anything away from the occasion.
Lien and his friends could return to Taiwan with a few more meaningless economic concessions from their "friends" across the Strait, but the few crumbs that Beijing has thrown at them are just the latest chapter in China's "united front" strategy that aims to suck the life out of Taiwan's economic autonomy until the nation -- and its independence -- is swallowed up by its neighbor.
All the measures are designed to do is prevent Taiwan's dynamic business sector from reaching out further around the globe, help China secure even more of Taiwan's investment capital and steal Taiwan's know-how and intellectual property.
We have already seen an example with the fruit exports that the KMT agreed on with China during one of its trips. Not long after the first batches of Taiwanese fruit arrived in China, the Chinese market was swamped with low-quality fakes and imitations -- all claiming to be from Taiwan -- hurting the revenues and reputation of Taiwanese farmers.
The behavior of the opposition since Lien's first trip to China in 2005 has been a thorn in the side of the government. But it is particularly hard to know how to deal with legislators who participate in subversive activity and deal directly with the government of a hostile state.
Jailing them or revoking passports would lead the former political prisoners and democracy activists in the Democratic Progressive Party into a domestic conflict for which they are ill-prepared.
The best we can ultimately hope for in a democracy is that the electorate will see through the faux loyalty of these opportunists and punish those who block important legislative matters at home to cosy up to a regime of autocrats.
One of the great hopes for the new legislative electoral system is that it will help dispose of some of the flotsam that pose as legislators.
In order to facilitate this, the names of the 30 lawmakers who attended the forum and those who visit China on a regular basis should be publicized so that the electorate can make a clear and informed choice between legislators who are proud to represent Taiwan and those who are more interested in singing the praises of China.
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