One delegate picked by Beijing to speak for Taiwan in the National People's Congress (NPC) hasn't set foot on Taiwanese soil in 33 years. Others have never been there.
None was elected by Taiwanese voters and few have any contact with ordinary Taiwanese.
But the 13-member delegation is in the limelight this week as the NPC prepares to enact a law authorizing a military attack under various circumstances.
PHOTO: AP
"I may not have been born in Taiwan, but my parents raised me to love Taiwan, and I care deeply about Taiwan's future," said delegation member Cai Guobin, the Chinese-born son of Taiwanese parents.
Another delegate, Wu Yingfu, was born in Tainan. But he switched allegiance over the handling of Diaoyutai (Senkaku Islands), a rocky, uninhabited outcropping in the Pacific Ocean claimed by China, Taiwan and Japan.
In 1972, Wu was in Arizona getting a PhD in mathematics when the US, which occupied Diaoyutai at the end of World War II, turned the islets over to Japan amid protests from Beijing and Taipei.
Taiwan's reaction was more muted because it didn't dare offend its protector, the US, he said.
Seeing his home island as powerless, Wu headed for China after graduation.
Today, Wu is a member of China's ruling Communist Party and teaches mathematics at Beijing Normal University. On the side, he runs a Taiwanese joint-venture company in Beijing.
Most Taiwanese are barely aware of the existence of a Taiwanese delegation in China's legislature. The delegates represent mainland-based groups that few in Taiwan have heard of, such as the National Taiwan Coalition and the Taiwan Democracy and Self-government League.
Most years, the Taiwan delegation is an afterthought at the annual NPC session as the government uses the legislature to promote economic liberalization, law-and-order issues or agricultural reform.
But this year, NPC leaders are treating the "anti-secession" law as their top issue.
The "Taiwanese" delegates have been quoted widely in state media endorsing the measure. Reporters from China and abroad crowd their hotel, hoping for interviews during cigarette breaks between meetings.
While the Taiwanese government denounced the proposed measure as a "blank check to invade" the island, the delegates dismiss fears that it will lead to an attack.
"If I thought the anti-secession law would push China and Taiwan toward another war, I would never support it," Cai said.
Delegate Yang Size left Taiwan in 1972 to study physics in the US. He says he blamed Taiwan's government for not protesting hard enough against the Diaoyutai handover.
After finishing his studies, he also chose China instead of returning to Taiwan.
Taiwan used to have seats for representatives of mainland China in its own legislature, but they were removed after constitutional revisions in the early 1990s.
Taiwan banned its citizens from visiting China for four decades and still bars most direct air and shipping links.
It is still difficult for Chinese to obtain visas to visit Taiwan, though tens of thousands of Taiwanese live in China.
Wu and Cai said they try to keep up with events in Taiwan by meeting often with visitors from the island. They watch Taiwanese television by satellite and read Taiwanese media.
Wu said he has many friends in Taiwan, including politicians -- "even supporters of Taiwan independence."
The NPC is expected to pass the anti-secession law on March 14, the final day of its annual session.
The "Taiwanese" delegates follow Beijing's line, brushing off fears that the law could backfire by antagonizing the Taiwanese public.
Their only suggested change: China should do more to familiarize Taiwan's people with it.
"We can invite more Taiwanese politicians and academics over to mainland China to explain the law," Wu said.
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