On the surface, the cross-strait peace advancement bill (
It is clear from this that the pan-blue camp is little more than an accomplice of the Chinese Communist Party.
Let's look at the "one China" issue first. This is high on the agenda of the powers-that-be in Beijing, because the authorities there are well aware that the vast majority of nations in the world associate the name "China" with the People's Republic of China (PRC). The name Republic of China (ROC) is scarcely recognized nowadays, and is not even mentioned in the US Taiwan Relations Act. It has been little more than a name ever since former president Chiang Kai-shek (
As far as the international community is concerned, the ROC was effectively laid to rest when UN recognition of China switched to the PRC. Anyone willing to look can see that the mainstream media in Western countries such as the US, the UK, France, Germany and Italy refrain from using the term ROC, because their audiences will not know whom they are referring to. Instead, they use the name "Taiwan," when talking about elections, the president, the legislature and so on.
Therefore, if this bill is passed, and the idea of "one China" is set in law, the legislature will be playing into Beijing's hands and helping them in their quest for unification. This will deal a deadly blow to Taiwan's sovereignty. Given that virtually the entire world equates China with the PRC, the legislature will have essentially sold out its own country and its autonomy if it does so.
Even more laughable is the fact that the bill places responsibility for cross-strait negotiation and policy in the hands of the legislature. This is nothing short of ridiculous. You wouldn't have this kind of bill passed in the national assembly of any other nation on Earth.
Take, for example, the Taiwan Relations Act. The act requires the government to perform certain duties in certain ways. It certainly doesn't give the US Congress the right to form its own commission to conduct relations between the US and Taiwan, as this would be in breach of the principle of the three-branch government system.
Could it be that the pan blue legislators really don't understand this? This is doubtful. The real reason is that they would rather see the end of the ROC, destroy Taiwan's autonomy and hand Taiwan over to Beijing rather than let Taiwan stay in the hands of the Taiwanese.
Forced to choose between the Chinese communists and the Taiwanese who elected them, they will side with the former and prevent the people from having the right to choose their national name, flag and anthem.
This legal maneuvering both delights China and adds fuel to its ambitions of using military might against Taiwan. After their meetings with former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
This so-called peace advancement bill is in fact a fantasy pandering to Beijing, a "war promotion bill" which increases the likelihood of an attack on Taiwan by China. It is a bill designed to aid China in its plan to annex Taiwan and to sell the Taiwanese people down the river. If this pernicious piece of legislation is passed, it will be to the everlasting shame of a once-democratic Taiwan.
Cao Changqing is a writer based in New York.
TRANSLATED BY PAUL COOPER
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