Hong Kong and Macau returned to Beijing's fold on July 1, 1997 and Dec. 20, 1999 respectively. Before the curtain closes on the 20th century, more than 100 years of humiliation inflicted on China by imperialists have now come to an end.
Having faced aggression from world powers and walked the difficult paths of reform and revolution, the Chinese people have finally shaken off the shadow of imperialism that has dogged them since the Opium War.
This is one of the epochal events in the 20th century that deserves celebration.
After experiencing such intrusion and harm, the Chinese leaders must know that brute force cannot win hearts. It will eventually be repelled, whether it is Western or Eastern imperialism.
In this regard, the resistance of the Chinese people is the best example for all humanity.
However, after taking Hong Kong back, the very China that resisted imperialism seems to be turning itself in the likeness of an imperialist.
Paying no heed to Hong Kong's Basic Law, Chinese leaders not only interfered with freedom of speech in the territory, but also sabotaged its judicial independence.
The so-called "one country, two systems" model smacks of a mother country and a colonial system.
Under British rule, Hong Kong enjoyed a freedom of thought that has never been possible in Chinese history. That freedom has been evaporating since the handover. Hong Kong seems to have entered an era of "re-colonization."
This is a fore-shadowing of Macau's future.
While preparing for the Macau handover, Jiang Zemin (
Jiang was in fact trying to transplant a "re-colonization" model to Taiwan.
This kind of thinking is based entirely on Chinese nationalism and does not even consider the lives and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong and Macau.
Under imperialist oppression, nationalism gave the Chinese people a rallying point of unprecedented power.
However, after the imperialist withdrawal, nationalism can no longer build self-esteem for the Chinese people. There is only one path to self-esteem now: democracy.
That a strong, united China cannot tolerate the existence of democracy advocates and that it has to take a heavy-handed approach against the Falun Gong sect, clearly shows the crisis facing Chinese nationalism.
Foreign imperialists are no longer the oppressors; rather, it is Beijing's leaders, who consider themselves nationalists, who are oppressing their own people.
Taiwan was once ceded to Japan as a sacrifice to keep China's territory intact. From a historical viewpoint, Taiwan has already accomplished an era's mission for China.
Rather than trying every way he can to harass and humiliate Taiwan, Jiang should apologize and thank the Taiwanese people for having endured this historical injury on China's behalf.
Repaying kindness with enmity is in fact an imperialistic attitude. It will inevitably be rejected by the Taiwanese.
If Jiang is still capable of some historical understanding, he will remember that since the 1990 presidential elections the Taiwanese have turned away from candidates who embraced the "China concept."
Beijing supported Chiang Wei-kuo's (
To some extent, the election failures of the "China concept" formula have already had the impact of a referendum. In essence, all central and local elections in Taiwan are endowed with such significance.
While China does not have the courage to hold any election compatible with the spirit of democracy, the realization of democracy in Taiwan is exactly an act of resistance against Chinese imperialism.
If China can rewrite a century-old history of injury, Taiwan can do likewise with its history of humiliation.
As long as Beijing continues to use Hong Kong and Macau to overawe Taiwan, there will be no market for their stuff.
Taiwan will absolutely not become a Chinese colony; history will be the witness.
Chen Fang-ming is a professor of Chinese literature at National Chi-nan University.
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