If China resorts to forceful methods (including military force) to push for "peaceful unification," the hatred between the two sides will need more than a couple of generations to disappear. It could instead become the beginning of a Taiwanese independence movement. In terms of intensity, the Tibetan and Xinjiang independence movements China is faced with today will not compare with that movement, which will leave China's domestic politics in a state of constant turmoil and great pressure.
In summary, the peoples on the two sides of the Strait share the same wish for peace. If China recognizes that the "peace" principle is higher than the "1992 consensus," and that it substitutes the "one China" principle, the opportunity for lasting peace will materialize across the Strait.
Chien Hsi-chieh is a former DPP legislator and executive director of the Peacetime Foundation of Taiwan.
Translated by Perry Svensson
RSS