Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Ching-fang (張清芳) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei County Councilor Wang Chin-yuan (王景源) held a joint press conference yesterday to point out that China's attempt to settle the score with Chi Mei Corporation (奇美實業) was beginning to have after-effects. The two used examples to highlight several recent cases of unethical Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members trying to pin crimes on Taiwanese businessmen in order to make a profit for themselves.
The naming by Chinese authorities of Chi Mei Chairman Hsu Wen-lung (許文龍) and their repeated statements that they do not welcome DPP-friendly businessmen have had an immediate effect. The number of Taiwanese businessmen returning to Taiwan to celebrate Dragon Boat festival declined sharply from last year, from 120 to 80. Businessmen are cautious and afraid that they will be labelled pro-DPP.
We cannot help thinking of Shimpei Goto's (
Goto's comment refers to a shameful episode in Taiwan's history. However, during his eight-year term (1898 to 1906) as deputy to Taiwan's governor-general, Gentaro Kodama, Goto and Kodama jointly laid the foundation for Japanese colonial rule. When Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's (蔣中正) regime relocated to Taiwan in 1949, he followed Goto's strategy and the regime enjoyed a stable rule for over half a century.
But this was the case before Taiwan became an independent sovereign state. For the Taiwanese people at that time, whoever arrived was the king, and they only wanted to make money and live a quite life. As a result, many business people tried to build political connections. They made compromises for the sake of their business interests, and did not care about national dignity or society's collective interests.
But during the KMT's half-century rule, "Taiwan consciousness" was first introduced by the opposition at the time, and was further promoted by former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). Taiwanese people are no longer content with merely making money and living a quiet life.
Now, China has determined to turn its back on conciliatory gestures to win goodwill and has decided to put pressure on Taiwanese business people. The result it hopes to achieve is that of "killing one person to frighten the multitude." From the initial, superficial response, we can see the poison of colonial oppression at work, calling on Taiwanese business people to revert to former habits of "fearing death, loving money and seeking flattery."
But what is the situation beneath the surface? China may have underestimated the strength of the burgeoning Taiwanese consciousness. This makes one think of the calls from South Koreans to cancel plans to deploy troops following the kidnapping by Iraqi terrorists of Kim Sun-il earlier this month. Within 24 hours of news that he had been beheaded, there was an about-face in South Korean public opinion and many are now calling for the destruction of Iraq.
What this incident makes clear is that one should not push against the limits of national self-respect. Whether Shimpei Goto's assessment of the Taiwanese character remains valid today remains to be seen. We are willing to repeatedly remind China that cross-strait trade benefits both parties and that anyone who contributes to the development of commercial links and cooperation across the strait deserves to be encouraged. We hope that China can restrain its ballooning egotism and start looking at the long-term results, and make forward-looking plans for cross-strait economic development.
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