A high-ranking KMT official recently said, "The new administration is calling for the `three links,' but this is impractical unless we have a clear national security consensus." This comment reflects the old closed-minded strategy so common in China, not the open strategy that is gaining ground in Taiwan.
The KMT used to view Taiwan as a base to retake "mainland" China. The "mainland" was the center of their strategy and Taiwan was peripheral to their thinking. Then the US established diplomatic relations with China in 1979, severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan and shattering the KMT's dream. In his last few years, Chiang Ching-kuo
Some people are afraid of change and unable to see how the world and Taiwan have changed over the past 20 years. Their previous mantra of "Retake the mainland!" has quietly evolved to "China could attack!" and they scream about national security every time the new administration mentions the "three links."
If Taiwan wants to build up its national security, it won't get any help from the decrepit, closed-minded strategy that fears the "three links." The only way to improve security is to bolster the nation's strength and raise its international status. Taiwan will have no national security concerns if it increases its strength, unites its people and earns greater international support.
How should Taiwan increase its national strength? It must take stock of its advantages and develop them. What advantages does Taiwan have? Three: freedom, democracy and a powerful knowledge economy. Taiwan won great international support for its democratic achievements when it realized a peaceful transition of power on May 20.
Taiwan is now seen as a paragon of democracy in Asia and even Japan is envious. A Japanese friend told me that the Taiwanese had to fight for the democratic system they now enjoy, whereas Japan's constitution and democratic system was imposed on them by the US after WWII. Japan now wants its own constitution, my friend said.
The World Conference on Information Technology (WCIT 2000) in Taipei attracted 1,600 foreign guests and 500 reporters,from 86 countries. The power and influence of the Congress could in the future rival that of the UN.
The real UN, saddled by debts, only represents the retreating age of military hege-mony. Each year a farce is played out in the UN: five powerful nuclear nations team up to deny Taiwan the right to represent itself in the world body. They are unable, however, to prevent Taiwan from becoming an important player in the emerging knowledge-based economy.
Times have changed: the era of freedom and democracy will replace the hegemonic era and the knowledge-based economy will inevitably replace the old economy based on industry.
Taiwan has changed. It is no longer on the periphery of China, nor a strategic link in the Pacific for the US and Japan, and it is certainly no longer a pawn of the US in the competition with China for regional supremacy. Taiwan is fast becoming a lighthouse of freedom and democracy in Asia and the center of the knowledge-based economy in the East.
For Taiwan to realize its advantages, it must give up the old closed-minded type of thinking it inherited from China and adopt its own open strategy based on its own interests. It should have the confidence of a modern, free and democratic nation with a modern economy.
Taiwan should continue to open to the world and continue to open to China. It will strengthen its political, economic, social and cultural position by adopting the "three links," making it an inevitable choice.
After both China and Taiwan enter the WTO would be an excellent time to expand their links. But Taiwan should not only further open trade and investment links with China -- it should also increase its influence over China in other areas, including culture, education, technology, environmental protection and tourism. Taiwan should seek to cultivate friendship and support from the people of China and throughout the world, which would be the greatest protection it could have.
The "three links" are a strategic development for Taiwan, not a contentious party issue. Both Taiwan and China would benefit from the "three links," which would increase the status of democratic Taiwan, bolster its national security and lead to increased freedom and democracy in China. The day the successive waves of freedom, democracy and the knowledge-based economy wash onto China's shores from Taiwan is the day the Great Wall of dictatorship will fall.
Ruan Ming is a visiting professor at Tamkang University and a former special assistant to former Chinese Communist Party Secretary-General Hu Yaobang
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