President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) set the tone for the visit by Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) during a TV interview when he said that the talks scheduled between Chen and Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) would be based on the premise of “facing reality, mutual non-denial, improving living standards, reform and peace across the Taiwan Strait.”
In reality, these words merely represent Ma’s personal wishes and will have no beneficial effects on Taiwan’s sovereignty.
While the public is concerned about the potential damage Chen’s visit will have on Taiwan’s sovereignty, the Ma administration is still fooling itself with talk of “equality and dignity” and is caught up in how China will address Ma during Chen’s visit.
During a TV interview, Ma said he hoped he would be “referred to by Chen as ‘president.’”
The problem with this is that China believes that Taiwan is part of China. The education that Chinese receive has made everyone, from top-level leaders to normal citizens, view relations between Taiwan and China as “area to area” relations.
It is therefore not only futile to request that Chen refer to Ma as president, it is also a form of self-deception.
In international law, equality between countries is based on the recognition of sovereignty. As long as China does not recognize Taiwan’s sovereign status as a country, any international exchanges that occur between Taiwan and China will be done on the basis of unequal relations.
China’s hegemonic attitude and the way it suppresses Taiwan on the international stage are pervasive and far-reaching, with Taiwan being excluded from international meetings of a voluntary, non-governmental nature.
Dignity comes from both self-recognition and recognition by others. As the ancient saying goes: “One must first respect oneself before one can earn the respect of others.”
How could someone who does not care about whether he is being belittled by someone else request that he be respected and treated with dignity?
In other words, it is impossible for a political leader who does not really relate to Taiwan’s status as a sovereign and independent country to demand that he be treated with respect and dignity when he meets a Chinese official who views Taiwan as a mere province of China.
“Attitude determines altitude,” and it is Chen’s attitude that will decide whether or not Taiwan will be treated with respect and dignity.
Ma’s claim that he hopes Chen will refer to him as “president” after he already called himself an “area chief” is just a cop-out and all the talk of dignity for Taiwan is just a way for the government to cover up its submissiveness.
Equality and dignity are not mere slogans; they represent a determination to uphold Taiwan’s sovereignty. Every Taiwanese has to show this determination and take affirmative action.
When our leaders knowingly and repeatedly say foolish things and ignore public dissatisfaction, their failure to uphold Taiwan’s sovereignty and failure to represent the will of Taiwanese, all we are left with is empty rhetoric that represents nothing more than the personal wishes and hopes of Ma and Ma alone.
Such rhetoric is nothing to look forward to.
Chen Ching-chuan is a doctoral candidate at National Sun Yat-Sen University.
TRANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS