Fri, Oct 07, 2016 page8

• The Liberty Times Editorial: Opposing Beijing with freedom

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  Faced with an all-out push by China to squeeze Taiwan out of the international community, on Sept. 28 — the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) — President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) used her position as party chairperson to publish an open letter, which included the line: “We will fight Chinese oppression and develop our relationships with other nations.”

  This caught the attention of Beijing and a statement from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office swiftly followed.

  “The unification of China is a historical inevitability in the great resurgence of the Chinese people,” and “Any schemes for a breakaway or Taiwanese independence will never succeed,” it said.

  The tone adopted by Beijing is a consistent appeal to nationalism. Beijing’s strategy is to mobilize Chinese into viewing Taiwan as the enemy in order to shift attention away from dissatisfaction with their own government, while at the same time attempting to paint cross-strait relations as an internal political problem.

  To achieve this, Beijing has invented the lie that excluding Taiwan from participating in international organizations is a legitimate way of resolving a difference of opinion among Chinese.

  Engaging in this kind of manipulation within the closed society of a dictatorship usually does not bode well and contains an element of danger. How the Tsai administration chooses to respond in the coming months is a question of the utmost importance.

  One can be fairly certain that Tsai and the DPP’s pledge to “fight Chinese oppression” is much more than just a feel-good slogan or a venting of anger designed to placate the public. Therefore, the question that needs answering is: How exactly does the government intend to fight “Chinese oppression?”

  At the same time, the government should have given some explanation, or at least demonstrated that it had a plan ready to be put into action — only a fully worked-out opening gambit will be an effective counter to Beijing’s scheming. After all, as a small nation, it is not in Taiwan’s interest to increase animosity between the two sides.

  How then should Taiwan gain the strategic high ground in order to gain a commanding position from which to resist China?

  Beijing’s nationalistic flag-waving is obviously the product of a network of Chinese interests. At the very least, it is about 1.3 billion people taking on Taiwan’s 23 million, which of course conflicts with Taiwan’s position. Therefore, we cannot use logic to find an answer to the question.

  It is not a question of unification or independence. Taiwan has always existed as an independent state outside of the People’s Republic of China. This historical fact can never be altered — therefore, there is no need to engage in negotiations with China going forward. Taiwan should take the fight to China, strengthen its resolve and hold firm to its basic principles of democracy and human rights.

  China has aggressively promoted to the world the idea that “both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to ‘one China,’” but this naturally leads to the question: What is China?

  Since 1949, China has been defined by its leaders through a succession of horrendous events: the 1950 Land Reform Law, which led to the deaths of more than 1 million land owners; the 1957 Anti-Rightist Movement, which silenced all of China’s intellectuals; the 1958 to 1960 Great Leap Forward, which caused tens of millions of Chinese to starve to death; the 1966 to 1976 Cultural Revolution, which destroyed the fortunes of a whole generation; and the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, when soldiers turned their guns on student protesters and their supporters.

  To this day, the Chinese Communist Party has failed to reflect upon these terrible events, and there is not even a system of checks and balances in place to prevent similar events from occurring. A regime such as this naturally fills the hearts of Taiwanese with dread.

  This frightening country lacks democracy and human rights, and this is a fundamental problem in cross-strait relations. China’s new generation of leaders are incapable of dealing with the country’s and its people’s long-term development, so how can they be so shameless as to keep talking about “one China?”

  This is precisely why Taipei must build its resistance against China on democracy and human rights. With this strategy in mind as it promotes democracy and human rights, the government should not hesitate in taking the decisions it needs to take.

  For example, there is no reason to prevaricate or be overly cautious on the question of whether the Dalai Lama should be allowed to visit. Religious freedom, freedom of speech and the freedom of movement — basic human rights — are all respected in Taiwan.

  Despite the importance of the relationship between the US and China, US President Barack Obama still invited the Dalai Lama to the White House. Furthermore, Chinese rights activists are victims of political persecution, and it should not come as a surprise if actions of solidarity in Taiwan were to expand from civil society to official government actions.

  Taiwan’s democratic standards are universally recognized, and it would not be worth lowering those standards just to cater to China’s preferences — this is the attitude Taiwan should take as it resists China.

  There is no need to get involved in a war of words with China. Relying on democracy as it takes aim at Chinese nationalism is the best contribution Taiwan can make as it takes its place among the states of East Asia.

  Translated by Edward Jones and Perry Svensson
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