Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency on Sunday described the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) as a “relevant political party from China’s Taiwan region” after the KMT congratulated the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on its 20th National Congress.
Xinhua said that the KMT’s central committee had sent a congratulatory message to its counterpart in the CCP, stating that on the basis of the so-called “1992 consensus” and the opposition to Taiwan independence, cross-strait exchanges and cooperation have yielded fruitful results.
At the end of the report, it noted that former KMT chairpersons Lien Chan (連戰) and Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) had also sent congratulatory letters.
However, the KMT’s gesture has come under fire from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
DPP Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said that the KMT’s response to China’s increasing aggression was not to protest or criticize it, but to pander to it.
In response, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hit back at the DPP by saying that the congratulatory message was a “tradition” and a gesture to “promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.”
Other countries that sent congratulations were mostly undemocratic, such as North Korea, Vietnam and Cuba.
As the global community underwent a rude awakening to the CCP’s ruthless nature, it seems that the KMT remains the only one left in a fantasy land where it thinks the CCP could be negotiated with.
The CCP has never wavered in its ambition or its iron-fist policies. It has only doubled down on its intimidation and threat concerning Taiwan. In its 20th party congress this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) opened his speech with the vow to never renounce using force to “reunify” with Taiwan, a statement that has not appeared in previous reports.
However, as the saying goes, you cannot wake a person who is pretending to be asleep. Facing the CCP’s increasing hostility, the KMT has never passed up an opportunity to kowtow to China, despite being exploited and belittled — seen from KMT Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia’s (夏立言) visit to China in August to the congratulatory message this week.
It is clear that the CCP was more than happy to use the KMT’s message as propaganda material, turning Taiwan into a party that has come to “sue for peace.”
As the largest opposition party in Taiwan, the KMT’s congratulatory message sends the wrong message that it is celebrating an authoritarian regime and showing support to the CCP’s stance, which is essentially the realization of China’s “one country, two systems” policy and opposition to any “foreign interference.”
With China’s relentless attempts to change the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait — with the scaling up of military drills and aircraft crossing its median line — the KMT should wake up to the fact that interaction and communication is bilateral and dynamic, and that “traditions” can always be broken.
As the local elections are to be held next month, the KMT should tread more carefully regarding cross-strait relations or risk losing further support from Taiwanese and the global community.
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