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The nation's future is in our hands

While celebrating the seventh anniversary of his inauguration, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) emphasized that he would seek to promote legislation for cross-strait direct flights in his capacity as chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Ma also pointed out that he would try to open up Taipei's Sungshan Airport to direct flights from China and seek to set up direct transport links between other domestic airports such as Hualien's and major cities in China. Clearly, Ma is defining cross-strait direct flights as domestic flights, in which case negotiations between Taipei and Beijing are not a prerequisite.

We can interpret Ma's remarks as meaning that he does not regard Taiwan as a nation, and that he seeks to formulate his China policy based on the principle that Taiwan is a province of China. It is even more absurd that Ma believes that the opening of cross-strait direct flights will enable Taiwan to become a springboard for foreign companies intending to enter China's market and therefore boost the nation's tourism industry, and that Taiwan will end up a loser and marginalized if it does not seek to integrate with China and utilize business opportunities presented by the rise of China.

Ma even warned President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) that if the government does not push for the normalization of cross-strait flights, then he will end up achieving nothing during his eight years in office.

Ma's argument is typical of how the pan-blue camp views China's economic development. If we study pan-blue perceptions of China's economy, we find that their view of China has everything to do with their greater China complex and wishful thinking about China, for they believe that China will one day unify the world by force and become a great economy.

No matter what motivated Ma to make such a statement, history has taught us that in war everyone is a loser. In the 13th century, Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan Dynasty, chose Beijing as the capital of his Mongol Empire in order to consolidate his control of China. Unfortunately, the Mongol Empire fizzled out after ruling for only 89 years. In short, the empire would not have been so short-lived if it was not determined to conquer China. In the 17th century, ambitious Emperor Shunzhi of the Manchu Qing Dynasty led his troops in the overthrow of the Ming Dynasty. However, after immersing themselves in the lifestyle and customs of the Han Chinese, the homeland of the Qing Dynasty and its eight clans ended up as nothing more than three provinces of China.

Luckily, Taiwan has been independent from China for 50 years and is considered to have achieved an economic miracle. Taiwan is an affluent country and is world-famous for its high-tech industry and abundant capital. Unfortunately, the specter of the Greater China complex looms large over the nation. With pro-China media outlets sparing no effort in promoting China, more and more enterprises are moving their factories or headquarters to China. That is how "China fever" has developed.

Many Taiwanese businessmen who are working in China feel complacent, for they receive red-carpet treatment wherever they go. The empires established by the Mongols and Manchus all ended after they ignored the importance of giving back to their homelands. It seems that Taiwan is now following in the footsteps of these empires, as its economic performance is gradually being overshadowed by China's growing "magnetic effect" in luring foreign investment. Only a few industries have heeded the government's "no haste, be patient" policy, and they carry the burden of improving Taiwan's economy.

If Ma is hell-bent on promoting legislation for cross-strait direct flights, we can conclude that a number of Taiwanese conglomerates will benefit from such a policy. In the decades to come, our descendants will be told how Ma led Taiwanese companies to invest in China when pursuing corporate profit, making Taiwan a springboard for investment in China and how ultimately, with the advent of yet other economic miracle, it became a province on the fringes of the communist Chinese empire.

Whether Taiwan intends to remain a sovereign state and maintain its prosperity or become a province of China all depends on the choices Taiwanese people make now.

Huang Tien-lin is a national policy adviser to the president.

TRANSLATED BY DANIEL CHENG
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