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Pan-green camp turns defeat into a victory

March 14 marked the first anniversary of China's passing of its "Anti-Secession" Law. Looking back over the past year, Taiwan's unification-independence confrontation has become severely polarized. Seemingly encouraged by the passage of the Chinese law, pan-blue camp politicians, scholars and businesspeople have exposed the "greater China" mindset that they had previously kept hidden. This also presents a good chance for the Taiwanese people to distinguish right from wrong.

On March 26 last year, the eve of the pan-green camp's large rally against China's actions, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) announced that it was sending its vice chairman to China and began to employ its strategy of "uniting with China to suppress Taiwanese independence."

Then on April 26, then KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) visited China and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) quickly followed. The pilgrimages of pan-blue leaders to Beijing were complete when New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明) finished his China trip on July 13. These visits successfully boosted China's united-front strategy and divided Taiwan into two camps, effectively creating "one Taiwan, two systems."

Backed by China, the pan-blue camp has ignored the elected government and promoted the "one China" concept as if it was a government of its own. It even accepted China's three gifts -- pandas, cross-strait fruit imports and Chinese tourists.

The pan-blue camp's arrogance was Taiwan's crisis and this frustrated the pan-green camp. The government was still dreaming of "reconciliation and coexistence" as businesses continued to move into China. Taiwan continued to lean ever more toward China. The pan-green camp's momentum went from bad to worse, while the pan-blue camp's reached its apex when it won by a landslide in last December's polls.

In light of the electoral success, the pan-blue camp's leader, KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), shamelessly claimed that unification is the party's eventual goal.

Still, any crisis offers opportunity. And after thinking for a while, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) realized the impact of China's strategy of "using business to promote unification" and concluded that "reconciliation and coexistence" with China was impossible. He proposed the "active management, effective opening" policy in his New Year's speech. Then on Jan. 29, he broached the subject of ceasing the function of the National Unification Council and guidelines.

After wrestling with his opponents both inside and outside Taiwan, Chen announced the cessation of the council and the guidelines on Feb. 27. The reaction of the pan-blue camp, China and the US, however, implies that they remain a curse. Luckily, Taiwan was freed and by letting Taiwan's future be decided by the free will of the 23 million Taiwanese, those who question the "status quo" finally recaptured part of their right to speak out.

A loss sometimes turns out to be a gain. If China had not passed the law and destroyed the premise for Chen's inauguration pledges, Taiwan might not have had sufficient reason to cast off the curse of "eventual unification."

As the Chinese saying goes, "Reviewing the past helps one understand the present." On the first anniversary of the "Act Authorizing Aggression Against Taiwan," I once again tell the public: The most feasible way to maintain the "status quo" is to not humiliate ourselves in our responses. Taiwan finally took one small step forward with the cessation of the unification council and guidelines. The policy of "active management" of business investments in China is the beginning of a giant leap. It is also the key to whether Taiwan will be able to turn defeat into victory.

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

Translated by Eddy Chang
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