When Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) crossed the Taiwan Strait to sell fruit in China, he also met with the head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) in Shenzhen, and the heads of Beijing’s liaison offices in Hong Kong and Macau.
While he signed about NT$5 billion (US$162 million) of deals on his trip, or about 2.9 percent of last year’s NT$270 billion in agricultural exports, Han’s real “achievement” was his endorsement of Beijing’s “one country, two systems” policy. It might seem like he is stimulating the economy, but he is really meddling in cross-strait affairs.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and the party’s presidential hopefuls are pushing for a cross-strait peace agreement, as they try to turn next year’s presidential election into a choice between war or peace.
“Peace agreement” is “united front” terminology from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the KMT: The word “peace” is intended to confuse — it should be called a “one country, two systems agreement.”
Taiwan is at peace now. That is why Han could visit Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Xiamen and meet with the heads of Beijing’s liaison offices. If Taiwan was not at peace, how could 6 million Taiwanese visit China every year, and 2 million Taiwanese live and work there?
More than 2.6 million Chinese tourists last year visited Taiwan, and there are more flights between China and Taiwan than between China and any other Asian nation.
It is ridiculous that the KMT would promote signing a peace agreement under these circumstances — it is a “one country, two systems” agreement and “peace” is “united front” terminology.
Pan-blue presidential hopefuls should clarify what their “one country, two systems” agreement would be and which nation the “one country” refers to. Would the Republic of China or Taiwan exist in such an agreement?
If the People’s Republic of China is the only entity, it would be a traitorous agreement.
Some say the sovereignty issue can be blurred by using the terms “Taiwan area” and “mainland area.” No matter what Taiwanese do, Beijing tells the world that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China. The terms “Taiwan area” and “mainland area” might even serve as proof that Taiwan is part of China.
A “one country, two systems agreement” would be a declaration to the world that Taiwan is part of China. Taiwan only has to look at Tibet to know what the consequences would be.
Pan-blue politicians conflate “peace agreement” with “economic revitalization,” claiming to want a peace pact to boost the economy and give Taiwanese a good life, while intimating that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is heading for war, ignoring the lives of Taiwanese.
The opposite is true. The KMT’s economic revitalization is called the “one China market,” and after eight years of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), we know what that leads to: negative growth, salaries starting at NT$22,000 and a depressed economy.
Although President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration refuses to recognize the so-called “1992 consensus,” the economy has regained momentum, growing by more than 2 percent last year.
When a rejection of “one country, two systems” is finalized with a DPP win in the presidential election, the economy is likely to attain growth of more than 3 percent, the level of the world’s advanced countries.
The KMT’s idea of economic revitalization is pursuit of unification that will impoverish Taiwan. Their meaning of “peace” is “surrender” and “unification,” as was made all too clear by Han’s recent travels.
Huang Tien-lin is a national policy adviser to the president.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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