The Chen administration has made a series of goodwill gestures to Beijing in the last month. Among these, the most important was the consensus reached with the opposition at the Economic Development Conference regarding the loosening of the "No haste, be patient" policy. In addition, the relevant departments have actively engaged in efforts to open up Taiwan to tourists from China, as well as to open up trading ports to direct cross-strait commerce.
In the past, when Taiwan has made such overtures to China, Beijing has responded by being either cold or exploitative. The most obvious example would be its response to the "small three links," put into effect at the beginning of this year. The Chinese Communist Party's (CCP's) reaction to these most recent overtures is worth noting.
Consider the recent visit by Xing Kuishan (邢魁山), head of the Taiwan affairs department under the Chinese State Council's Hong Kong office. Travelling to Taiwan as an advisor to the "Friends of Hong Kong Association," Xing met with Chen Ming-tung (陳明通), vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council on Aug. 29 for talks in Taipei. Xing's status is rather sensitive, because back in 1999 when former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) announced his "special state-to-state" model, Beijing immediately severed communications between the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (海協會) and the Straits Exchange Foundation (海基會).
At the time that the Friends of Hong Kong Association decided to visit Taiwan, final confirmation of the loosening of the "No haste" hadn't been made, so Xing's visit wasn't in response to the loosening of the policy. Still, the eventual relaxation of the policy might have been Xing's reason for eventually making contact with Taiwan officials. And, when Taiwan agreed to allow Xing to visit, it was of course also an effort to improve cross-strait relations.
If Xing's move can be taken to be a show of enthusiasm on China's part, then the recent pronouncements of Wang Zaixi (王在希), deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office under the State Council, don't appear so friendly. While travelling in Malaysia on Aug. 28, Wang said that he was "still observing" Taiwan, and "whether or not [Taiwan's] next practical move is realized -- that's the key." This comment exudes the CCP's usual domineering tone.
Wang also said that the CCP had chosen to alleviate Taiwan's economic predicament and open up cross-strait exchanges out of consideration for the interests of the people of Taiwan, implying that Taipei's relaxation of the "No haste" policy was actually a way of begging China to rescue it. It was as if Taiwan had returned to the age of "eating banana skins," the term previously used in CCP propaganda to portray Taiwan's supposedly pitiful state.
The party has obviously forgotten that it was Hong Kong and Taiwan capital that first came to the rescue of China's ailing economy. Especially after the Tiananmen Incident, it was Taiwan businesses that went to China, giving the Communist Party (at the time suffering from sanctions imposed by Western nations) a much-needed infusion.
Furthermore, as Taiwan prepares for tourism from China, Beijing -- which had previously consistently called for Taiwan to establish direct links -- has been putting on airs. Deputy Director of China's National Tourism Administration (
It appears that the CCP has decided that Taiwan needs tourists from China to come and save its sluggish economy. China has also decided that Taiwan must accept "one China" as a precondition for any negotiations.
This clearly is political blackmail. Taiwan has consistently called for the maintenance of cross-strait communication channels. It was the CCP that unilaterally suspended such channels -- and now it is making unfounded charges against Taiwan, putting the burden of responsibility on Taipei's shoulders, laying bare the utterly corrupt political morals of the party and its officials.
Still, in a speech and interview given to Xinhua News Agency on Aug. 30 in Singapore, Wang Zaixi's tone had changed somewhat. Apart from softening his rhetoric, he said it wasn't necessary for Taiwan to make any official statement on the issue of "one China;" that as long as everyone believed in "one China" in their hearts, that would be sufficient (of course he didn't explain how Beijing would know how people were feeling in their hearts).
Wang also stated that Beijing doesn't want to see chaos in Taiwan, and further that Beijing hopes its "compatriots" in Taiwan will have a safe society in which people can live and work in peace. Wang also expressed his hope that Taiwan's economy would develop in a stable way.
In a mere two days, the attitude of these CCP officials seems to have done a complete turnaround. So, should one believe what they said two days before, or two days after? Because the officials involved are but small cogs in the party machine, one would guess that the CCP's Taiwan policy had actually under-gone some changes during the two days.
It is also possible that before this time, the party was already preparing to make some policy changes. Perhaps that would explain why Beijing told the US that it was the KMT that instructed it not to have dealings with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), laying the blame completely on the KMT. Was this, after all, a case of rumor-mongering by the CCP, or were some despicable individuals in the KMT indeed offering strategy to Beijing?
Outsiders of course can't know for sure, but Beijing's purpose in sowing dissension and division within Taiwan is abundantly clear: If Taiwan's opposition trusts the CCP too easily, it could end up being sold out at any time -- haven't they learned their lesson enough times already?
It has been said that "the CCP is like the moon -- it looks different every two weeks." There's no way to predict how party policy will change in a few days' time. "Listen to what he says and observe his moves" is a term that is best applied to the CCP. As for Taiwan, its opposition absolutely must not let itself dance to Bei-jing's tune. Taiwan's internal unity and long-term interests should be considered top priority instead -- in all matters.
Paul Lin is a political commentator based in New York.
Translated by Scudder Smith
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