Many pro-unification supporters and those who do not support Taiwanese independence ground their argument on the assumption that if Taiwan declares independence, China will declare war. Yet, a careful analysis shows that the logic behind this reasoning is flawed — will Taiwanese independence absolutely lead to war, and will avoiding to declare independence guarantee that Taiwan will be safe?
Just think about how China uses tanks to deal with its own people. As long as Taiwan continues to be entangled with China, it will have to continue to face these risks.
China’s tyrants are too numerous to count — faced with such a brutal, tyrannical government, how can pro-unification supporters continue to shout slogans about “peaceful reunification?” The facts are there for all to see — in addition to the oppression of Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang, there was the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, when China brutally cracked down on protesters.
Innumerable dissidents and human rights lawyers have also been made to disappear by the Chinese government, while people running a bookstore in Hong Kong went missing for publishing books and Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲) was arrested on charges of “subverting the state” after posting Internet articles.
Even Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) was imprisoned on the same charge.
Facing this kind of enemy, how could some people expect that unification will bring peace? While some people are happy saying that “both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family,” China has never denied that it wants Taiwan, not its people, and recently there has been speculation by the media that China has plans to attack Taiwan.
There is no longer any reason to cling to the wishful thinking that the unification of Taiwan and China will be peaceful.
However, what about maintaining the “status quo?” Is it possible to fight for independence and sovereignty under the name of the Republic of China (ROC)? After all, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) won the Chinese Civil War and won the right to represent China. Unless the PRC disappears, it will be as good as impossible to gain full national sovereignty under the name the Republic of China.
“Taiwanese independence will lead to war, so we do not want Taiwanese independence” and “peaceful reunification without war” are preposterous tricks.
A look at all the atrocities China commits makes it clear that lack of independence or unification will be worse. Instead of being timid, the nation should use its geopolitical advantages as a gateway for maritime trade and the key position in the first island chain to contain China, and to declare independence and establish autonomy as soon as possible.
As long as Taiwan is not independent or a normal nation, China will continue to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. In the event that war breaks out between the two sides, and China continues to claim that it is a domestic affair, how will other nations be able to intervene?
The Kurds and the Catalans are in a much more difficult situation, as they are surrounded by strong enemies on all sides, but they continue to fight against all odds — why should Taiwanese give up when they have the Taiwan Strait as a natural defense line?
There are risks with seeking independence, but unification or maintaining the ROC could lead to bloody suppression by China. What will be the choice of Taiwanese?
Next time independence opponents say that seeking independence will lead to war, tell them that Taiwan will be much worse off if it does not seek independence.
Pan Kuan was a participant in the Sunflower movement.
Translated by Lin Lee-Kai
Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) led a bipartisan delegation to Taiwan in late February. During their various meetings with Taiwan’s leaders, this delegation never missed an opportunity to emphasize the strength of their cross-party consensus on issues relating to Taiwan and China. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi are leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Their instruction upon taking the reins of the committee was to preserve China issues as a last bastion of bipartisanship in an otherwise deeply divided Washington. They have largely upheld their pledge. But in doing so, they have performed the
It is well known that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) ambition is to rejuvenate the Chinese nation by unification of Taiwan, either peacefully or by force. The peaceful option has virtually gone out of the window with the last presidential elections in Taiwan. Taiwanese, especially the youth, are resolved not to be part of China. With time, this resolve has grown politically stronger. It leaves China with reunification by force as the default option. Everyone tells me how and when mighty China would invade and overpower tiny Taiwan. However, I have rarely been told that Taiwan could be defended to
It should have been Maestro’s night. It is hard to envision a film more Oscar-friendly than Bradley Cooper’s exploration of the life and loves of famed conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. It was a prestige biopic, a longtime route to acting trophies and more (see Darkest Hour, Lincoln, and Milk). The film was a music biopic, a subgenre with an even richer history of award-winning films such as Ray, Walk the Line and Bohemian Rhapsody. What is more, it was the passion project of cowriter, producer, director and actor Bradley Cooper. That is the kind of multitasking -for-his-art overachievement that Oscar
Chinese villages are being built in the disputed zone between Bhutan and China. Last month, Chinese settlers, holding photographs of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), moved into their new homes on land that was not Xi’s to give. These residents are part of the Chinese government’s resettlement program, relocating Tibetan families into the territory China claims. China shares land borders with 15 countries and sea borders with eight, and is involved in many disputes. Land disputes include the ones with Bhutan (Doklam plateau), India (Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin) and Nepal (near Dolakha and Solukhumbu districts). Maritime disputes in the South China