Forty years ago, dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) called on Taiwanese to fight communism and recover China.
Today, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is urging them to trade with China and welcome Chinese investment in Taiwan.
On Monday, Taiwan opened direct sea and postal links with China and began daily charter flights. As Taiwanese TV reporters craned their necks to count the Chinese planes landing at Taipei’s two airports, some wondered whether Taiwan would be able to maintain its autonomy and not be swallowed by China.
“At this speed of cross-strait exchange, I am worried Taiwan-China unification may happen before Ma’s four-year term ends,” said Liu Hsiao-ping, a 54-year-old teacher in Taipei.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was concerned that opening the doors to China could endanger national security.
“The opening of the links are illegal because they have not been approved by the legislature,” DPP Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said. “Ma is pinning his hopes for reviving Taiwan’s economy on China, but the result might be China controlling Taiwan’s economy and turning Taiwan into another Hong Kong or Macau.”
But some analysts argue that such a possibility is remote.
George Tsai (蔡瑋), a professor from Chinese Culture University, said that times have changed and Taiwan-China ties have entered a new phase. For the time being, the two sides should focus on economic cooperation, he said, adding that he was not worried about China possibly forcing unification on Taiwan.
“In the next couple of years, there are many things to discuss, such as signing investment protection pacts and cooperation in fighting crime,” he said. “Unification is a very remote thing.”
Sea, air and trade links were banned for national security reasons when Chiang and his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lost the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and fled to Taiwan.
Cross-strait tension has thawed since the 1980s, but bilateral ties remained strained from 1988 until earlier this year during the terms of former presidents Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who asserted Taiwan’s independence.
The situation changed when Ma took office in May and announced moves to improve ties with China that included resuming dialogue with Beijing and launching weekend charter flights to bring Chinese tour groups.
Chen Wei-lu, an economics analyst, said people’s thinking should change with the times.
“Those who worry about China attacking Taiwan are living in the Cold War days,” he said. “I think the launch of the links is a good start and can promote mutual understanding and economic cooperation.”
In an attempt to mitigate public fear that Taiwan is moving too close to China, Ma said on Tuesday that opening transport links symbolized that both Taipei and Beijing want to pursue peace and said it had nothing to do with unification.
“Avoiding the use of non-peaceful means to resolve conflicts is a global trend,” he told Hakka Television. “The opening of the three links is consistent with such a trend.”
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as