The Hong Kong Education Bureau and the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority have proposed removing On the Six Fallen States, a Northern Song Dynasty treatise written by Su Xun (蘇洵), from the junior-high school curriculum.
The “six states” refers to the feudal administrations of China’s Warring States period that fell to the Qin Dynasty that ultimately unified China.
“The reason the six states succumbed was not because of a lack of armies, nor because they faltered in battle: Their folly lay in their bribing of Qin,” the treatise says.
Apply that to Taiwan today, and you see why the law, politics, the economy and history are the fundamental pillars of society. Each one is indispensable.
It is only when the importance of history is understood that the mistakes of those who have gone before can be avoided. Yet, a look at what is happening in the international community makes it a wonder that society is able to prevent itself from being cast into the same current that led to the demise of the six states.
However, the world moves on.
During the US Democratic Party’s national convention last month, it passed its 2020 presidential campaign platform, making major changes to its China policy, jettisoning the “one China” principle and reiterating its support for the Taiwan Relations Act. Differences remain in the respective stances on facing the Chinese communists of the Democratic and the Republican parties, but both still stand on the side of Taiwan.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) should be asked: Does it really intend to blindly cleave to the so-called “1992 consensus” until the end of times? Has it really not seen enough of the implementation of the “one country, two systems” model in Hong Kong?
The destinies of Taiwan and Hong Kong are linked. Perhaps they are both destined to be pawns in the hands of the major international players, but it is important to remember that nations have control over their own fate. Taiwan needs to stand up on its own and not rely entirely on the US.
The administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has endeavored to make Taiwan stand out in the international community through its successes in equal rights, pandemic response and technology, and needs to encourage Taiwanese to understand their achievements and to not sell themselves short. This approach will not only help them resist the Chinese communists, it will help them to turn crises into opportunities.
Taiwan must find hope in its small successes, galvanize itself and not be burdened by the weight of the sacrifices of the 228 Massacre or the White Terror era.
As Su wrote: “Today you cede five cities, tomorrow you cede 10, and then you obtain temporary respite. Then one day you rise and look around, and everywhere you see the armies of Qin. The territory of the six states shrinks, but Qin’s appetite is unsated. The more it gains, the more desperate the situation becomes.”
In the same way, Tsai has warned that the nation would not achieve peace through compromise on the issue of sovereignty or by failing to speak up in defense of democratic values.
Hong Kongers might have laid down their umbrellas, but they remain united and steadfast.
In his treatise, Su warns that even the states that did not compromise to Qin fell in the end, caught up in the same fate as the states that did. In these fraught times, everyone must stand together, or fall one by one.
It is the same for Taiwan and Hong Kong: Their combined strength is greater than the sum of their individual parts.
Jave Chan is a financial analyst.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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