Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷) has described cross-strait relations in terms of “the big should treat the small with kindness, and the small should treat the big with wisdom.” The retired general strongly suggested that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has been intentionally provoking China.
Wu thinks that Taiwan, being in a weak position relative to China, should not make the mistake of casually starting a war.
Wu was referring to the words of philosopher Mencius (孟子) of China’s Warring States Period, who told King Xuan (宣王) of the state of Qi: “It requires a perfectly virtuous prince to be able, with a great country, to serve a small one — as, for instance, King Tang (湯王) served the state of Ge and King Wen (文王) served the Kun barbarians. And it requires a wise prince to be able, with a small country, to serve a large one — as King Dai (大王) served the Xunyu [Huns] and King Gou Jian (勾踐王) served the state of Wu.”
However, Wu’s analogy is clearly false.
First, Mencius’ words belong to the monarchical ideology of the feudal age. They are not applicable to interstate negotiations in 21st-century international relations. Taiwan’s relations with China affect the dynamic equilibrium in the East Asian region.
Moreover, Wu overlooks the key roles played in cross-strait relations by the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy and a US-China trade dispute. Besides, everyone knows that Taiwan has never had any ambitions with regard to China, whereas China never stops verbally and militarily threatening to annex Taiwan.
Second, this idea that big nations will treat smaller ones “kindly” is founded on a false expectation, because the values represented by the word “kindness” have never existed in the Chinese Communist Party’s lexicon.
To say that “the big should treat the small with kindness” means that a big country should treat its smaller neighbors with a kind and loving attitude.
This concept of the superior being benevolent to the inferior is one that permeates Confucius’ (孔子) ideology, as exemplified by his teaching that “There is government when the prince is prince and the minister is minister, and when the father is father and the son is son.”
The ancient Chinese believed that a country could only achieve a harmonious and ideal society if its social structure upheld the principle that “the superior treats the inferior with kindness and the inferior treats the superior with respect.”
However, this ideology cannot stand the test of modern political science, because there is no such thing as a sage king, and interpersonal relations should not be founded upon the inferior’s awe and fear of a superior.
The basic spirit of Western democracy emphasizes equality of power. It asserts that all kinds of relations, from those between individual members of society up to the level of international negotiations, should start out from the standpoint of equality.
It means that a modern nation should be run in a way that seeks to perfect its system of democracy, rather than based on expectations of a sagacious king or leader.
Third, it is true that small nations’ policies toward big ones should be about prevailing through wisdom. However, precisely because small nations need to prevail through wisdom, they cannot make the mistake of acting weak toward big nations that have ambitions toward them.
Israel has never acted weak with respect to other nations in the Middle East, and Finland has never acted weak in its relations with Russia.
Wu likes to talk about how Taiwan, being in a weak position, must treat China with deference, but this is an erroneous mindset.
Although Taiwan is no match for China in terms of the overall strength of its national defense, it does have sufficient military might to deter its opponent. It must therefore make sure that China knows the heavy price it would have to pay if it launched a war.
Acting weak would only encourage the enemy to take a mile when offered an inch. Furthermore, it would also erode the morale of Taiwan’s armed forces and the public. As a former deputy chief of general staff, surely Wu understands this logic.
Wu’s entry into the legislature demonstrates the risks that ensue when voters support the KMT. Hopefully, more voters will realize how willing the KMT is to surrender to China, and they will continue to use their votes to teach the KMT a lesson in the next election.
Mainstream public and media opinion must actively counter Wu’s possible future China-friendly words and actions.
The Democratic Progressive Party, which holds a majority of seats in the legislature, and its allies should be on their guard not to let Wu and his ilk use their presence in the legislature to obstruct proposed legislation that aims to safeguard Taiwan.
Vincent Chen is a manager in the information and communications industry and former publicity section convener of the Wild Lily student movement.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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