5 Steps To Annexation
Stages 1-2 are well under way. If Ma or a KMT President gets elected in 2012 expect rapid (though ambiguously worded) advancement of stages 3-5.
- Economic integration becomes economic dependency
- Cultural and Linguistic integration blurs boundaries of identity and reinvigorates the 'great Chinese nation race'
- Legal integration cedes authority over Taiwanese citizens to both CCP and KMT hegemonic governments
- Political integration blurs issues of sovereignty and renders self-governance of Taiwan impotent as a symbol of independence on the global stage
- Military integration and joint border controls prevent other nations from driving a wedge between Taiwan and China
Above all, this is not quantum mechanics but simple politics of nationalism, fear & insecurity, economic dominance and naval / military superiority. The writing is very clearly on the wall. Those who choose to ignore it out of 'pragmatism', defending the (shifting) 'status-quo', seeking win-win or refusing to believe it is happening will have a lot of explaining to do in the near future. What will the middle generation tell their kids I wonder? - "Sorry son, we gave up on Taiwan because we didn't have the courage of our fathers and mothers to fight for something we didn't know the value of" ....
posted Tuesday, September 07, 2010 @ 7:57 PM by Ben Goren
[Permalink]
Tweet
RSS Feed
9 Comments:
Scary. It is China's and KMT's scheme to simply lull people to sleep on this topic, to direct the Taiwanese into more daily concerns such as making money and away from sovereignty issues.
Wake up, people! Stop voting for people who sell out Taiwan!
Tim, Sorry but would you mind elaborating on #4??? I'm with you all the other points, just confused about #4's meaning. Thank you!!
Beauty Chest,
Thanks for your question.
4. Political integration blurs issues of sovereignty and renders self-governance of Taiwan impotent as a symbol of independence on the global stage
By this I mean that currently every day Taiwan exercises de facto independent customs control, national self-governance and sovereignty over a definable territory is another day when the country reinforces the impression on the world stage that it is a functioning country in its own right.
However, once political agreements that blur the boundaries of authority between the PRC and ROC go into effect, this will leave many other countries confused about the nature of political authority over Taiwan - does it lie with the Taiwanese people and their democracy or does it lie in cross-strait committees and party-to-party communication mechanisms?.
As the governance of Taiwan increasingly becomes subject to keeping Beijing happy, political strategists across the world may see less relevance in dealing directly with Taiwanese governmental officials, regarding the government as less self-determining and more like a satrapy of China.
In short, if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck and walks like a duck, it's probably a duck.
Hi All. I'm a new reader.
Just wondering about the Taiwan not being a province of China statement. I thought a near-totality of the world's power base is behind the "One China Principle" (including the Taiwan government), and further that the Beijing government (not Taipei) is the one that the world recognizes as having authority to operate that one China. Am I missing something?
Is the idea that Taiwan is not a province of China, but something like a Special Administrative Region or similar?
East Maverick, with all the conflicting (and frequently false) information out there, I suppose I can't blame you for being confused.
The Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) "one-China policy" differs from the PRC's, and both claim that Taiwan is a province of China.
The reality on the ground, however, is that Taiwanese don't pay taxes to Beijing, they directly vote for their own president (who has no power in the PRC) in multi-party democratic elections, and so much more.
The reality is also that "China" means the PRC -- not the ROC (which claims to rule all of China, plus Mongolia!) -- and that the PRC flag, as I say at the top of the blog, has never flown over Taiwan. There is no legal basis for the PRC's claims to Taiwan.
Therefore, Taiwan is neither a "province" nor a "special administrative region." It is a country, despite other countries' refusal to recognize it as one.
Read how "during its first 42 years of existence the US was recognized by only seven countries" and see much more relevant information in an earlier post on this blog.
Tim Maddog
Thanks a lot for the info.
Isn't it true, though, that the USA , unlike Taiwan, formally declared independence, and the people risked their lives and fortunes in order to fight for that ideal?
Ever since Lee Deng Hui's "Guo Yi Guo" trial balloon, Taiwan has backed further and further away from declaring independence, as China will consider it a de-facto declaration of a war that Taiwan people aren't prepared to endure.
Sadly, freedom isn't given-- it's taken!
East Maverik,
I couldn't agree with you more that freedom is rarely given, it is taken. However, in Taiwan's case when has there been a time when the Taiwanese had the right confluence of factors that would make taking their freedom even remotely feasible? They tried autonomy for about 3 months in 1895 and then the Japanese came in. Many Aboriginals fought them tooth and nail and were decimated as a result (ring a bell with USA?). When the KMT arrived as caretakers in 1945 it looked like self government might be a long term goal except that Chiang Kai-shek lost to Mao and fled to Taiwan, which then became the totality of the Republic of China leading to this absurd situation of 2 Chinas. After the 2-28 massacre in 1947 and the subsequent white terror period Taiwanese were unable to collectivise strongly enough to fight for their independence from the KMT/ROC. It was only in the late 1980s and early 1990s that martial law was lifted and allowed multiple parties and open dissent. Many people still suffer psychologically from that oppression and almost instinctively avoid confrontation, almost as if they don't really believe martial law has ended. Add to that the fact that the KMT and CCP have far more in common than the KMT and ordinary Taiwanese and you see why the hens won't lay when the snake is crawling around the henhouse floor.
The idea is that Taiwan is an independent democratic country which features one party that recognises it as a part of China whilst the other party recognises it as a nation unto itself. This is a site of continuous nation building and contestation. No firm conclusion either has been reached yet and Taiwanese, wary of China's petulance and aggression, are not stupid enough to come to a resolution either way without checking first for backup. Since the US cravenly refuses to recognise Taiwan or state openly that One China means only PRC (or even PRC+Taiwan), Taiwanese are stuck with a single superpower friend whose foreign policy is an ambiguity that leaves them in the diplomatic wilderness.
If the Taiwanese were absolutely sure of US support for independence they would vote for it tomorrow. They would certainly not vote for annexation into China as an SAR or whatever. That option is one they keep putting off, hoping to outlast the CCP. The CCP is keen not to let this drag out so watch the strait now for changes because the KMT-CCP are changing the status-quo as we speak, quietly and largely without the Taiwanese voters awareness or approval.
Ben,
The historical perspective you gave is interesting and informative. Thanks for that.
I propose to refine what you said about the hypothetical situation regarding certainty of US support for Taiwan independence and its resulting declaration by Taiwan.
Surely, even with US support, there would be an awesome loss of Taiwanese life and wealth. Knowing what we do about China, does anybody see China letting Taiwan go without the mother of all bitter fights? Would Taiwanese families resolutely send their sons to war and quite possibly to their death? Would families resolutely abandon their profitable factories and lifestyles on the Mainland? Would families resolutely accept a massive standard of living hit, probably for decades to come, for their dream of setting up a sovereign state?
The proposed modification is "sure of US support for independence and sure of very negligible loss of life and wealth". That being just about impossible per my points above, I can't see a Taiwan decision to declare independence happening, even with the support of the USA.
East Maverick,
I agree that even with US support, the threat of China would no doubt prevent a lot of Taiwanese for voting outright for independence. On reflection I wrote in error. What I should have written was ...
"If the Taiwanese were absolutely sure that a formal declaration of independence could be made without a military response from China, they would vote for it tomorrow".
Maybe not likely but I'd say that to illustrate the point that in a number of surveys Taiwanese have expressed a strong desire for independence once the China factor has been factored out. If no threat existed, Taiwanese would vote to formalise their existing de facto independence. You see , where we disagree is that Taiwanese already have their sovereign state, they are just trying to hold on to it. The KMT on the other hand, are busy selling it off with no guarantees of safety, physical or economic.
Its fine to throw your hands in the air and say China is such a threat nothing can be done. Its not fine to suggest, by implication, that most Taiwanese would not struggle to retain their existing tentative sovereignty and very real independence of government.
Post a Comment
<< Home