While Germany celebrated the 10th anniversary of its reunification this month, problems still linger between the eastern and the western parts of the country. Let's review the matter from a historical angle and learn from the German experience.
In 1914, German aggression led to World War I, in which over 14 million people were killed, 21 million wounded and more than 1.3 billion were adversely affected in one way or another. After the war, political and economic conditions deteriorated in Germany and Adolf Hitler came to power, bent on pursuing his vision of a "Thousand Year Reich" and redressing what he regarded as the humiliation of Germany by the Versailles Treaty.
In doing so, Hitler plunged Germany and ultimately the world into World War II in 1939. As a result, Germany suffered not only the loss of millions of its citizens, but also ravaged its own economy, having wasted its resources and money on the war effort. The Cold War, which arose in the immediate aftermath of the war, also ushered in the split of eastern and western Germany.
It cannot have been the expectation of Germany's early 20th century leaders that Germany should pay such a huge price for pursuing its national interests by launching wars. Although east and west Germany, after 45 years of separation, were eventually reunified in 1990 with fall of the Berlin Wall, differences in the economy, cultures, and language between the two sides remain 10 years later. Germany has paid a heavy price for its past wrongdoings.
Before reunification, all East Germans believed that reunification would be the road to a better life. After 10 years of unity, however, the average national income in eastern Germany has dropped from 50 percent to 25 percent of that of the west. Unemployment in the east is up to 17 percent and 1.14 million residents have poured into the west, leaving almost 40 percent of the houses in the east empty. Despite the government's DM40 billion budget plan, passed last year, to boost the economy in the east, 77 percent of Germans in the east complain that the government is not doing enough to bring their living standards in line with those of those in the west.
West Germans also believe the economy has suffered badly from reunification. Although 91.6 percent of Germans believe that reunification was necessary, gaps between the two sides clearly do persist. West Germans, for example, tend firmly to support the conservative Christian Democratic Party while those in the east embrace the Social Democrat Party
When considering the German example, those who advocate the unification of Taiwan and China usually stress the necessity of unity felt in Germany, while those who are opposed to unification usually stress the conflicts and tensions within Germany.
It is not for me to say who is right and who is wrong. It is, however, undeniable that the world wars led to the long-time tragedy of Germany. We have witnessed how an outstanding nation was split by two opposing social ideologies and political stances, and how Germans suffered and were killed due to the wrongdoing of their leaders.
We must understand the crucial consequences of war. I believe the value of peace is higher than any ideology, race, culture, political stance, or even national interest. I therefore appeal for peace to every nation or region that is currently at war -- only peace can solve all problems. We should never try to confront one form of violence with another (以暴制暴). Put simply, wars only cause problems.
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