During the early stages of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government's rule it seems there were many sympathizers of the CCP among British intelligentsia because of the perceived fascism and corruption of Chiang Kai-shek's (
People in the UK are not naturally sympathetic to the CCP, or to communism in general, and the events in the Soviet Union at the time of the Cold War reinforced this on our doorstep. However, due to the KMT's quasi-fascist nature, the CCP was seen as the lesser of two evils because of the bigger threat of Nazism than Soviet communism on the UK.
There were and are, many Western academics who tried to argue that Chinese communism was different. I believe that in the early years there were noble people who joined the CCP and this must not be forgotten, but the Cultural Revolution, Tiananmen Square massacre and today's lack of freedom of information, expression and speech in the People's Republic of China have irreversibly tarnished that view.
On the other hand, unfortunately, Taiwan's general image in the UK is still one of being a place where many toys and such goods are made (in the average British person's eyes). As Taiwan's democracy grows and develops, the Taiwanese representative office in the UK needs to do more to make known its democracy in the European psyche.
Additionally, is communism illegal in Taiwan? As part of the democratization process, communism needs to be accepted by Taiwanese as a legitimate voice in a pluralistic society. I'm sure that Taiwanese are mature enough to handle this and it would send a mature signal to Beijing that Taiwan has a superior moral argument over the CCP.
Roy Wilson
United Kingdom
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