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.”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS