In a recent interview with Newsweek, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma emphasized that the KMT's eventual goal in cross-strait relations is unification, but not now since "the conditions are not ripe."
He went on to say that "the most important thing for Taiwan is to maintain the status quo," and the precondition for doing so is not pushing for de jure independence.
He added that China can accept the sort of independence that exists currently, which is the status quo.
In fact, Ma's perspective is no different from the old KMT's political obsession with "overthrowing the communists and retaking the nation."
For him, Taiwan's existence is no more than a tool to help realize his political goal.
When reporters asked Ma about his stance on the issue of constitutional amendments, he tactfully sidestepped the question by saying that constitutional reforms should not be carried out in haste, adding that he hoped to see less inter-party strife in future.
Obviously, his attitude is related to the fact that he regards Taiwan simply as a "society" rather than a "sovereign nation."
To Ma, important issues like constitutional reform, national defense, diplomacy and similar matters are worth nothing, rather than being of central importance to Taiwan as a nation.
Ma has always believed in the legitimacy of China. Therefore, any constitutional amendments must not conflict with his belief that Taiwan's legitimacy is based on the "one China" principle.
In other words, Ma believes that the fundamental structures of this legitimacy cannot be tampered with beyond some basic tinkering with some of the imperfections of the nation's Constitution.
When the Constitution of the Republic of China (
During World War II, Taiwan in fact stood on the side opposing China, as it was a Japanese colony. As a result, talk of "returning" the Constitution is totally meaningless. This point echoes former president Lee Teng-hui's (
Ma's strong "Chinese nationalism" has caused him to blur the distinction between friend and foe.
He has spoken of China's decision to remove tariffs on the import of 15 kinds of Taiwanese fruits, saying that China was showing its willingness to take the lead in making concessions; therefore, if Taiwanese people interpreted China's goodwill in a malign way, it would suggest that the Taiwanese were being too persnickety.
But, Ma has never mentioned certain important facts, such as China's deployment of ballistic missiles targeting Taiwan along the coast of the Taiwan Strait and its recent massacre of protesters in Guangdong Province.
Democracy and liberty are two of Taiwan's precious assets, and they came at the cost of many lives.
As we enter the 21st century, a good national system and lifestyle should be the ultimate choice of humankind.
Any moves to put a kind of empty "nationalism" upon the development of freedom will only result in catastrophe.
Huang Ter-yuan is a doctoral candidate in the Sun Yat-sen Graduate Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities at National Chengchi University.
TRANSLATED BY LIN YA-TI
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment on Friday last week to add four national holidays and make Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors — a move referred to as “four plus one.” The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who used their combined legislative majority to push the bill through its third reading, claim the holidays were chosen based on their inherent significance and social relevance. However, in passing the amendment, they have stuck to the traditional mindset of taking a holiday just for the sake of it, failing to make good use of
RSS