Fri, Jul 04, 2025 page8

• Time for China to be a civilized country

  • By Lee Min-yung 李敏勇
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  Let us first discuss the national experience of transitioning from the British Empire to the Commonwealth of Nations. During the Age of Discovery, all European maritime powers had colonies — Portugal in South Asia and South America, Spain in Southeast Asia and South America, and the British Empire in North America and Asia. When the people of Britain’s North American colonies gained independence and became a non-imperial nation-state, it influenced the independence of Britain’s other colonies.

  When the US gained independence, most of its citizens were originally British colonists, in addition to indigenous Native Americans. Later, the global changes brought on by World War I and II attracted immigrants from various — mainly European — countries, thereby shaping the US into a global superpower.

  Many immigrants criticize the US, but if forced to decide between the US and the countries they left, they would still choose to remain in the US. From colonization to immigration — in today’s world, the movement of nations and citizens has shifted from being forced to free choice. In the case of Taiwan and China, the citizens of the countries known as the Republic of China (ROC) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) can also choose to become citizens of other nations.

  China has constantly claimed Taiwan as its own — but this claim defies the principles of historical experience. After the US gained independence from the British Empire, many of Britain’s overseas colonies were also granted independence. The monarchy is now recognized only symbolically, and the king serves only as a ceremonial head of state of the constitutional monarchy.

  The UK is a civilized kingdom. Beyond the union of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the British Empire formerly included countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand — all of which are now independent member states of the Commonwealth of Nations. Should any of the association’s 56 member states choose to leave, it would not be an issue.

  When the PRC considers Taiwan’s national status, it often forgets the humiliation it went through and now seeks to impose such humiliation on others. It never imagined the kind of new international relationships that emerged when the British Empire allowed its colonies to become independent, thereby forming close bonds among nations. Those independent nations welcomed new immigrants — including those from China — and China itself has also accepted immigrants.

  The countries of today’s world are no longer defined solely by the vertical inheritance of family lineage. Now, it is people who choose their country.

  In 1895, the Qing Empire ceded Taiwan to Japan, which colonized the nation for five decades. Later, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — under the name ROC — held Taiwan hostage for more than 50 years. The now-democratized Taiwan must first break free from its history of colonization. China should not collude with the KMT — a party which once controlled Taiwan under the pretext of anti-communism, but now seeks to threaten Taiwan by aligning itself with the Chinese Communist Party.

  In many respects, China has already developed into a major global power, and thus should respect Taiwan’s break away from the KMT’s coercion. The two countries should develop bilateral relations based on national subjectivity. Peaceful and civil relations between Taiwan and China would earn global recognition. It is about time the PRC acted like a civilized country.

  Lee Min-yung is a poet.

  Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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