Beware the Chinese economic trap

The farce of the first "Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-Chinese Communist Party Economic and Trade Forum" has come to a close. The unbearable scenes with former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) leading Taiwanese business leaders and businesspeople investing in China to to an audience with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) have faded from view.

However, it seems that the negative impact of the forum on Taiwan's sovereignty, national identification, and economy and trade is just starting to spread. Unfortunately, some people seem not to be on their guard against this counter-current, which drags the government down, leaving it to grasp randomly for any piece of driftwood in order to survive. Such panic, disorder and embarrassment is really unbearable to watch.

During Lien's pilgrimage to Beijing, he dared not ask Hu whether or not he thinks the "1992 consensus" refers to "one China, with each side having its own interpretation." On the contrary, he let Hu announce that Taiwan and China belong to "one China." This was a tacit recognition that the "1992 consensus" is the same as the "one China" principle, with "each side having its own interpretation."

Obviously, this has seriously damaged Taiwan's sovereignty and even its self-awareness. What's more, he dared not mention the title of his past position in public, instead replacing the word "premier" with "[a position of] responsibility for overall administrative affairs." By so shamefully denigrating himself, he insulted not only himself but also Taiwan's national dignity. It is unacceptable that he -- who refuses to acknowledge his own past title -- still receives a NT$470,000 monthly pension. Luckily, he was not elected president. Otherwise, he might have been afraid of calling himself Taiwanese president when meeting Chinese officials.

Although Lien groveled in the dust, the damage caused by his misconduct was insignificant compared with the effects his willingness to echo China's propaganda aimed at Taiwan's economy has had. We all know that Taiwanese enterprises have moved en masse to China over the past 10 to 20 years because of the cheaper labor there.

As a result, the dependence of Taiwan's economy on China has grown constantly, almost strangling it. Trade and investment have become powerful weapons in China's "united front" strategy. During an interview with a Singapore newspaper, Chinese economist Hu An'gang (胡鞍鋼) portrayed Taiwan as a diabetes patient who needs to inject insulin everyday in order to survive, and Taiwan's trade with China is that insulin. He claimed that once Taiwan declares independence, China can force Taiwan to surrender within a week through a large-scale trade war, without firing a single bullet.

Even a Chinese economist can tell that the deep dependence of Taiwan's economy and trade on China has become its Achilles heel. Through such dependence, China has been able to actively carry out a new strategy of annexing Taiwan by economic means, attempting to lure us into its trap. However, Lien used the excuse that "Taiwan must not be marginalized" to lead Taiwanese entrepreneurs and businesspeople investing in China to attend the forum to be inspected by Hu, as if he were building an army of economic and trade soldiers to help China annex Taiwan.

Beijing's 15 favorable measures announced at the forum serve to promote its "united front" strategy to a degree. After the forum, the opposition camp is pushing for the opening of direct cross-strait flights and deregulating Chinese tourism to Taiwan, forcing the government into a difficult defensive position. Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has even started to talk about charter passenger flights for holidays, saying the government must not "reject an opinion simply on account of who the speaker is," as the Chinese saying goes. Meanwhile, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council is actively studying the option of opening up Taiwan to Chinese tourists. China's economic and trade attacks are shaking Taiwan's policy foundations.

If Taiwan is a diabetes patient kept alive by China's economy, then the latter's beneficial business measures are like the "life support system" keeping Taiwan alive. Opening Taiwan to Chinese tourism and permitting the tariff-free export of Taiwanese fruit to China may be effective in the short term, but once China starts using tourism, fruit and investment as bargaining chips, demanding that Taiwan give ground, Taipei will have no choice but to accept Beijing's blackmail or unplug the life support system.

In other words, Hu spun an invisible web around Taiwan at the forum. We must guard against this trap. Twenty-three million Taiwanese must not follow Lien into the trap, or they will become funeral offerings to be buried together with him.

Translated by Eddy Chang