Finally there is a silver lining for Taiwan's future after Chinese Nationalist (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) announced his ultimate goal is unification with China.
Ma stressed he would adopt a 3C (from confrontation to conciliation and cooperation) and 2P (peace and prosperity) approach to dealing with cross-strait issues. He suggested the unification issue be decided by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and welcomed Chinese to join the KMT. Taiwan's sovereignty apparently is none of his concern and his guidelines have fallen by the wayside.
Some of his previous remarks have been watered down and his camp and supporters have been forced to agree that the fate of Taiwan's future must be decided by its 23 million people in a referendum, as long as they are aware of the consequences.
This provides a way out of the political gridlock caused by ideological differences that are currently hurting Taiwan's economy and the efficiency of its governance.
The three Baltic states and East Timor held plebiscites on independence when threatened by the then Soviet Union and Indonesia respectively. In contrast, a de facto independent Taiwan, in a better position, needs only to hold a referendum on whether to continue using the title "Republic of China" (ROC) and its outdated Constitution.
Whichever camp wins is irrelevant as it is a democratic exercise.
However, the continuous wrangling about whether to use the name ROC or Taiwan will come to an end. And the people of Taiwan will be the biggest winners.
Yang Ji-charng
Ohio
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