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‘Two areas’ proposal
has to be protested
By Lai I-chung 賴怡忠
Almost two weeks ago, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) honorary chairman Wu
Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) met with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) in Beijing, and
broached the “one country, two areas (一國兩區)” concept as, Wu said, he had been
entrusted to do.
The news caused an uproar in Taiwan. Although President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has
said the proposal is in line with the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution, vice
president-elect Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), knowing full well that Beijing intends to put
the Taiwan-based Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation (CSCMF) on equal footing
with its Hong Kong and Macau counterparts, still attended the Boao Forum for
Asia annual conference on Sunday in the capacity of the CSCMF’s chief advisor,
with Ma’s approval.
This is tantamount to the government announcing to the international community
that the “one country, two areas” proposal recognizes Beijing’s basic position
of the “one China” principle, in which “Taiwan is part of China.” Taiwanese are
seeing their room to maneuver in international law being appropriated by Beijing
at an ever-increasing rate.
In response to concerns over the new proposal, Ma has said it complies with the
Constitution, adding that neither of former presidents Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) or
Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) amended the relevant parts of the Constitution when in
office, thereby indicating their tacit agreement. They were, so Ma’s suggestion
goes, “one country, two area” presidents.
However, the Ma administration has been joining Beijing to attack Lee’s model of
a “special state-to-state relationship” and Chen’s “one country on either side”
of the Taiwan Strait.
Clearly, the pronouncements on the nature of Taiwan’s sovereignty by its
national leaders does have a considerable bearing on how Beijing and the
international community recognize Taiwan’s status. Otherwise, would Beijing have
hurried through the “Anti-Secession” Law despite no changes having been made to
the relevant parts of the ROC Constitution at the time?
The government thinks it can hide behind the Constitution to cover up that it is
complying with Beijing’s “one China” principle. The Constitution was the same in
the Lee and Chen periods, but Taiwanese were not worried about Taiwan losing its
sovereignty. However, concerns over Taiwan being annexed by China have risen
dramatically since Ma took office.
Now, regardless of how China defines the status of the CSCMF relative to similar
institutions in Hong Kong and Macau, Wu Den-yih’s attendance at the Boao Forum
constitutes an indication to the international community that the government’s
“one country, two areas” proposal comprises a tacit recognition of the People’s
Republic of China’s (PRC) position that Taiwan is essentially a region belonging
to it, with Taipei basically a regional government, and that it — the PRC — has
agreed to have Wu Den-yih attend the forum in a consultant capacity. No wonder
people suspect that the “one country, two areas” proposal is intended to pave
the way for political talks between Taiwan and China.
The Ma administration has overseen the unraveling of all the hard work and
consolidation of Taiwan’s sovereign status achieved through years of
democratization.
If Taiwanese fail to register our protest in the strongest terms and Ma
continues to confirm “one country, two areas” in international forums after May
20, we won’t be voting for a president in 2016 — we will be choosing our chief
executive.
Lai I-chung is an executive committee member of Taiwan Thinktank.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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