Whether or not an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China is first presented to the legislature for debate, the fact remains that the Democratic Progressive Party stands to gain from any perception that the deal damages Taiwan’s political and/or economic interests.
The ECFA is a prelude to wider discussions of a political deal between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government and the Chinese Communist Party. We know this because the Chinese have said as much, and because it is consistent with KMT rhetoric, if not President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) hasty campaign pledge to avoid the issue.
Ma’s promise, while sensible in the context of an election, may have weakened the KMT’s ability to be taken seriously over the long term as both a unificationist organization and a nationalist political group.
Promising not to talk about unification may put fears to rest that difficult decisions would be forced upon people sooner rather than later, but it also suggests that the party has little capacity for developing a sales pitch outlining what unification would entail — assuming, of course, that Taiwanese would have some say in the matter.
A deal with Beijing could carry serious drawbacks for Taiwan, and it would be essential for the KMT to neutralize these by appealing to the emotions through promoting a concern for the fate of ordinary Chinese (recall the impressive Sichuan earthquake aid drive) and the dignity of a unified nation. Taiwan’s leading role in China’s future would need to be elaborated on for a sophisticated Taiwanese audience that gives no weight to the language of Chinese propagandists.
Without the ability to sell such a unification package to ordinary Taiwanese — whatever the fine print may be — havoc and bloodshed will be the KMT’s reward when the critical moment comes.
Intriguingly, the KMT does not seem to understand that for Taiwanese, unification with China would require a growing identification with ordinary Chinese — not their autocratic system of government.
As a party in a democratic state, the KMT will not be able to convince skeptics that it has honorable intentions if it continues to display ignorance of the circumstances facing the bulk of the Chinese population.
If the KMT continues to ignore the plight of exploited peasants, Chinese democracy activists, ethnic Tibetans, Uighurs, Mongolians and others, and cannot champion a country that is ruled by law rather than a technocratic-military clique, then its claim to speak for and defend Taiwan after unification would be laughed at, even by its own supporters.
Democracy activists in China frequently refer to the Taiwanese experience as an inspiration, if not exactly a template. The KMT could make tremendous use of this to advance an argument for unification with the principles (if not practices) that founded the Republic of China. But in doing so, the KMT would also have to demonstrate that it can help reform China — and that, for the foreseeable future, is a terribly far-fetched prospect.
There was a time decades ago when the Nationalist camp boasted genuine intellectuals who thought it important to develop a political philosophy that would unite and strengthen the country, while resisting the advance of communism. Their efforts were not always successful, but at least there was effort.
Those days are long gone. If the president really thinks unification is feasible, then he and his party are going to have to get a whole lot smarter.
The recent passing of Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), known to many as “Big S,” due to influenza-induced pneumonia at just 48 years old is a devastating reminder that the flu is not just a seasonal nuisance — it is a serious and potentially fatal illness. Hsu, a beloved actress and cultural icon who shaped the memories of many growing up in Taiwan, should not have died from a preventable disease. Yet her death is part of a larger trend that Taiwan has ignored for too long — our collective underestimation of the flu and our low uptake of the
For Taipei, last year was a particularly dangerous period, with China stepping up coercive pressures on Taiwan amid signs of US President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline, which eventually led his Democratic Party to force him to abandon his re-election campaign. The political drift in the US bred uncertainty in Taiwan and elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific region about American strategic commitment and resolve. With America deeply involved in the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, the last thing Washington wanted was a Taiwan Strait contingency, which is why Biden invested in personal diplomacy with China’s dictator Xi Jinping (習近平). The return of
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), known affectionately as “Big S,” recently passed away from pneumonia caused by the flu. The Mandarin word for the flu — which translates to “epidemic cold” in English — is misleading. Although the flu tends to spread rapidly and shares similar symptoms with the common cold, its name easily leads people to underestimate its dangers and delay seeking medical treatment. The flu is an acute viral respiratory illness, and there are vaccines to prevent its spread and strengthen immunity. This being the case, the Mandarin word for “influenza” used in Taiwan should be renamed from the misleading
Following a YouTuber’s warning that tens of thousands of Taiwanese have Chinese IDs, the government launched a nationwide probe and announced that it has revoked the Republic of China (Taiwan) citizenship of three Taiwanese who have Chinese IDs. Taiwanese rapper Pa Chiung (八炯) and YouTuber Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源) in December last year released a documentary showing conversations with Chinese “united front” related agency members and warned that there were 100,000 Taiwanese holding Chinese IDs. In the video, a Taiwanese named Lin Jincheng (林金城), who is wanted for fraud in Taiwan and has become the head of the Taiwan Youth Entrepreneurship Park
RSS