A seminar IN Taipei to mark the 60th anniversary of cross-strait relations on Nov. 13 and Nov. 14 was intended to reflect the changes in the relationship between Taiwan and China over the years, but regrettably, the Chinese mindset remains the same as it was six decades ago: China will annex Taiwan. Not even the pan-blue camp, which supports mutual cooperation between the two nations, can accept this notion.
The Chinese delegation was led by Zheng Bijian (鄭必堅), who was introduced in the media as a member of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s (胡錦濤) brain trust and a former vice president of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Central Party School. Zheng is widely credited for being the first to talk publicly about China’s “peaceful” rise during the Boao Forum in 2003 to allay growing global concerns about Beijing’s expanding power. However, this notion of peaceful development is nothing but an illusion, with Beijing throwing a big military parade to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China last month. Two conclusions that can be drawn from Zheng’s rigid mindset and the incoherent comments of other Chinese delegates at the seminar were that they are blind to reality and that Hu Jintao wishes to rush unification with Taiwan.
Zheng’s remark that the majority of the public opposed Taiwanese independence and that the independence movement was doomed was sheer nonsense. It is clear that he misconstrued Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) election as president as public opposition to Taiwanese independence. Ma did not have the nerve to hold a referendum on signing an economic cooperation framework agreement with China because of strong public opposition to the economic pact. Several opinion polls conducted by the Mainland Affairs Council also suggest that about 70 percent of the public consider themselves Taiwanese. Although “Taiwanese” does not necessarily mean “people in support of Taiwanese independence,” it is certainly different from “Chinese.”
Why did these Chinese delegates participate in the seminar? That’s because Hu is in a rush. Ma is not aggressive enough and the Chinese delegates were afraid that the Democratic Progressive Party might return to power. Hu is also at a disadvantage in an internal party struggle, and it was obvious that he was under considerable stress during the APEC summit. Hu must therefore resort to united-front tactics to carry out Beijing’s unification agenda.
Ma is in the same situation. His approval ratings have dropped and he has lost much weight as he comes under increasing attack within his party. Thus, he is in a desperate need of Hu’s support. The hasty signing of a memorandum of understanding on cross-strait financial supervisory cooperation reflects the similarities in their situation.
The problem is not the decline of support for Taiwanese independence, but the fact that Beijing’s authoritarian government is on the wane and local factions are on the rise as evidenced by Beijing’s failure to control the political situation in Xinjiang and Chongqing.
Paul Lin is a political commentator.
TRANSLATED BY TED YANG
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS