A house divided cannot stand. Sadly, such is the situation confronting Taiwan as Beijing shores up its “united front” tactics to undermine the authority of Taipei.
The latest case in point is the first Cross-Strait Private Sector Roundtable Forum that opened in Beijing yesterday.
Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀), who heads a 60-strong Taiwanese delegation to the annual event, said he hopes the forum — spanning several fields including economics, technology, culture and agriculture — would serve as a platform for cross-strait communications, dialogue and cooperation, and provide opportunities for China-based Taiwanese businesspeople planning to tap into Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Nothing is unattainable as long as both sides of the Strait cooperate, Chang told the forum, trumpeting the goal of “cross-strait economic collaboration, so that [we can] make money from the world together.”
Indeed, all sectors are encouraged to explore business opportunities, and flourishing cross-strait exchanges are certainly to everyone’s benefit, as they help promote harmony, defuse tension and enhance mutual understanding.
However, it is a different story when one side secretly tries to sow division in the other.
Beijing has suspended communications with Taipei since President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inauguration in May 2016, blaming the Tsai administration’s refusal to recognize the so-called “1992 consensus” that embodies the “one China” principle.
While Beijing refuses to engage in dialogue with Taipei, it engages in various activities with individuals and organizations outside the government to marginalize the Tsai administration.
The forum, for example, is but another “united front” ploy by China using its economic resources to entice Taiwanese under the guise of goodwill when in fact its ultimate goal is to undermine the authority of Taiwan’s elected government.
China has not forgone its objective of bringing Taiwan into its fold — by use of military force if necessary — and does not refrain from mixing politics with arts, sports, culture or any other matter to stifle Taiwan’s international space.
Its latest deception at the forum is not surprising, as its malicious intentions toward Taiwan are nothing new.
However, what needs serious consideration is the question why some Taiwanese willingly play along with Beijing’s schemes against themselves?
The forum’s Taiwanese participants’ “collaboration” with Beijing does not constitute a healthy cross-strait exchange, as it ultimately serves to fulfill China’s hidden agenda of bypassing the Taiwanese government and dealing with non-governmental actors.
Chang and his ilk have said that the forum aims to serve the well-being of China-based Taiwanese businesspeople, but the truth is that they are nothing but tools in Beijing’s political maneuvering against Taiwan.
Regrettable would be an understatement to describe the extent to which some Taiwanese willingly play into China’s hand.
Unless Taiwanese stand united, they will always be vulnerable to China’s ever-changing “united front” tricks.
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