On Saturday, a group of civic organizations under the Peace and Neutrality for Taiwan Alliance being led by former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) will formally launch its crusade to promote a neutral Taiwan. The alliance will also recruit 10,000 “peace envoys” in the nation and abroad, as well as organize a “Legion of Peace Ambassadors” to actively promote the cause and seek support at home and overseas.
Earlier this month, Lu announced the plan to a group of several hundred Taiwanese merchants based overseas during a five-day boat trip around the nation, and their response was positive and highly encouraging. A Taiwanese businessman working in Africa who is an advisor to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) expressed strong support for the proposal and donated NT$1 million (US$32,9000) to the cause.
He told a meeting of merchants on the boat that Taiwan’s peace and neutrality are not partisan issues and should be supported by all Taiwanese who care about the nation’s future. After a serious discussion, dozens of the merchants — based across the US, Japan, and Central and South America, and including supporters of both the KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) — signed up for the initiative and paid their dues. In doing so, they became the charter members of the Legion of Taiwan Peace Envoys, as did more than 300 non-governmental activists, businesspeople and concerned citizens at an organizing assembly for the group held in Greater Kaohsiung on Oct. 6.
What will it take for Taiwan to become a state of peace and neutrality? In the first step toward this aim, the alliance has been collecting signatures by concerned citizens to propose to the government that a national plebiscite be held on the nation’s neutrality. By the end of the year, 100,000 signatures must be submitted to the government for it to determine that the initiative has sufficient backing. Then, about 1 million new signatures backing the proposal need to be submitted if the referendum is to be held in 2016, in conjunction with the presidential election.
Second, prior to the plebiscite, an intensive and extensive debate on the pros and cons of neutrality needs to be conducted in Taiwan. Such a debate can be expected to generate widespread international publicity and bring attention to the nation’s future, much like the independence referendum in Scotland last month. If the majority of voters favor neutrality, the government must announce their choice to the world and inscribe the nation’s neutral status in the Constitution. In addition, citizens and the government will seek international support and recognition, as Switzerland did in 1815 and Costa Rica in 1948.
Some cynics and critics (like the Taipei Times editorial “Forget neutrality, focus on chocolate,” Aug. 16, page 8) consider the idea of a neutral nation “far-fetched.” The editorial questioned the DPP’s China policy and criticized its inability to counter Beijing’s united front drive toward unification, while asserting that “spending time and money promoting a ‘neutrality’ pipe dream will not help anyone or achieve anything.”
Beijing would applaud the paper’s remark that Taiwan might as well try to become the “Swiss chocolate maker of Asia,” as the Chinese Communist Party is earnestly seeking unification and opposes Taiwanese neutrality. Yet for Taiwan’s true believers, the cause of and efforts toward a peaceful and neutral nation endure, and their dream will never die.
In strategic terms, promoting neutrality is a form of preventive defense to counter Beijing’s unification plot. Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is pressuring President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government to sign an agreement on “confidence-building measures” (designed to terminate US arms sales to Taiwan and do away with Taiwan-US security cooperation) and a cross-strait peace accord that will lead to eventual unification. The outcome of the proposed plebiscite and Taiwanese’s quest for neutrality are a clear answer to Beijing’s plan to annex the nation.
In 1979, Washington officially recognized the People’s Republic of China (PRC), but does not accept the PRC’s claim on Taiwan. In doing this, the US severed diplomatic ties with the KMT’s Republic of China government, which professed to be the ruler of Taiwan and China. For various reasons — the main one being to not offend the PRC — the US has been unwilling to extend diplomatic recognition to Taiwan, which it calls a de facto state, despite the nation possessing all the prerequisites to be recognized as a fully sovereign country.
While Taiwanese are not oblivious to the US’ interests, they are also keenly concerned about their destiny and survival as a free people. For this reason, the alliance is calling on concerned citizens to exercise their right as the masters of Taiwan to shape and decide their future through a national plebiscite on neutrality.
Inasmuch as the US and Japan consider a self-ruled Taiwan an integral part of Japanese security and of vital interest to the US, they are against China’s annexation of Taiwan by force or through non-coercive political means. The US, Japan and several Asian nations, like the Philippines and Vietnam, would welcome an initiative to move toward neutrality, even if they do not say so openly.
As a neutral state, Taiwan would be of immense importance to Japan, India and ASEAN members. It would bolster freedom of navigation and safety in the Taiwan and Boshi straits, two important pathways for international air and sea transport through which with thousands of planes and vessels pass daily.
The campaign for neutrality will be a long journey and fulfilling the procedures required to hold a national referendum will be complicated and difficult, but a journey of 1,000 miles must start with one step and this step must be taken now. If Taiwanese citizens procrastinate or do nothing, they will get nothing. They should not be caught dangerously off-guard and find Xi inducing Ma to deliver Taiwan to China at some meeting between the two next year. Concerned citizens must act now to safeguard the nation’s security and sovereignty.
Parris Chang is a professor emeritus of political science at Penn State University, as well as a charter member of the Peace and Neutrality for Taiwan Alliance and the Legion of Peace Ambassadors.
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