On Dec. 27, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
The Apple Daily ran an article by independent Legislator Sisy Chen (陳文茜) entitled "Unprecedented." She wrote: "The whole country has gone crazy, reaching unprecedented levels of craziness! China is showing unprecedented unity, the US is showing unprecedented unwillingness to send soldiers to protect Taiwan and Taiwan is showing unprecedented levels of daring."
The whole country has not, in fact, gone crazy. China does not show unprecedented levels of unity, nor does the US show unprecedented unwillingness to send soldiers to protect Taiwan.
Chen was right on one count only: Taiwan really does show unprecedented levels of daring. Why? Because the country hasn't gone crazy, it just doesn't believe in the crazy ramblings of lunatics.
First, on Dec. 9, US President George W. Bush told Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶): "Look, you know, if you force us to, if you try to use force or coercion against the Taiwanese, we're going to be there." Can the will to protect Taiwan be expressed any clearer than that?
On the same occasion, Bush also warned Taiwan that the US opposes any statements or actions by Taiwan's leaders that may lead to a change in the status quo. Taiwan's representative to the US, Chen Chien-jen (
The US' position is very simple. Of the three kinds of referendum discussed, the US has no problem with topics related to domestic matters. However, it opposes any poll that would change the status quo. Nor does it support fuzzy or ineffective referendums.
The problem is that the US cannot understand why Taiwan would hold an ineffective referendum if it doesn't plan to change the status quo. "What are you guys up to," they are thinking, "and what's next?"
The US wants Taiwan to think things through and be clear. And, indeed, Taiwan needs to do just this.
Second, China is not showing unprecedented levels of unity, and it is not so united that the most serious prospect of war in 50 years can be brought about.
What does this mean, this "50 years?" Recall the 1954 artillery attack, or the Chinese occupation of Ichiangshan Island in 1955 which resulted in the deaths of 720 Nationalist soldiers, or the KMT's retreat from the Tachen islands, or the Battle of the Taiwan Strait on Aug. 23, 1958, or the severing of diplomatic ties with the US in 1979, or even the "test" missiles that landed off Keelung and Kaohsiung in 1996. Is the current situation really more serious than all of these?
During Bush's meeting with Wen, the Chinese premier approved of Bush clearly stating his opposition to either China or Taiwan unilaterally changing the status quo, indicating that China's new leadership is more pragmatic than under previous Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) and premier Zhu Rongji (朱鎔基). Wen discovered that using arms or threats to change the status quo is not in the interests of China. Attempts by Lien Chan and Sisy Chen to exploit China's military threat by instilling the fear of war in the Taiwanese public is doomed to fail.
Third, Taiwan's international outlook and view of China are indeed encouraging. Looking back eight or nine years, there was another "lunatic" on the loose, one by the name of Cheng Lang-ping (鄭浪平). He wrote a book called T Day in 1994, which also sought to instill fear. At the time, his crazy ramblings frightened quite a few people, some to the extent that they left the country. Even the defense minister was duped. He wrote a foreword and made the book recommended reading for soldiers. With the help of China's propaganda offensive, the military threat and missile exercises, the stock market fell 4,000 points.
Cheng's book frightened many people, but despite Lien and Chen warming up their propaganda machinery, the people of Taiwan fear nothing. Consider this a lesson in how fast the Taiwanese public have learned to differentiate between truth and lies.
Eight or nine years of democratic progress has made the whole nation understand that when looking at the international community or at China, one has to rely on one's own experience and draw conclusions from that experience with a free mind and an independent spirit. We no longer believe in the crazy ramblings of would-be foreigners and self-appointed China specialists.
Instilling the fear of war is a crime of sorts in civilized countries, because it violates one of the four great freedoms -- the freedom from fear. I hope that the new year will be one in which democracy progresses still further in Taiwan, a year when the nation can bid farewell to fear, lunatics and liars instilling the fear of war, and a year of rapid progress toward freedom, glory, peace and rationality.
Ruan Ming is a visiting professor at Tamkang University and was a special assistant to Hu Yaobang (
Translated by Perry Svensson
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
In China, competition is fierce, and in many cases suppliers do not get paid on time. Rather than improving, the situation appears to be deteriorating. BYD Co, the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer by production volume, has gained notoriety for its harsh treatment of suppliers, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability. The case also highlights the decline of China’s business environment, and the growing risk of a cascading wave of corporate failures. BYD generally does not follow China’s Negotiable Instruments Law when settling payments with suppliers. Instead the company has created its own proprietary supply chain finance system called the “D-chain,” through which
RSS