Taiwan is a sovereign state, not Hong Kong and Macau

Taiwan is not a “lost” territory of the PRC. The solution of the Taiwan issue is much more complicated. A wiser course is for the two sides to continue with their negotiations until a solution satisfactory to both sides is worked out.

Beijing should realize that is impractical to try to make Taipei accept the two systems reunification proposal. Implementation of this formula would relegate the ROC government to the status of a local government. The attempt to force the idea on Taipei will only serve to trigger a backlash, accelerating the tendency among Taiwan’s leaders to make a complete split with mainland China.

“Macau was a colony, so was Hong Kong, but we are not,” Vice President Lien Chan, the ruling Kuomintang’s presidential candidate, told supporters (Dec. 20, 1999). “The Republic of China has been a sovereign state since its founding in 1912. We would become citizens of a colony according to the way they treat us. Wasn’t it ridiculous?” he said.

For about Cross-Strait, the former Taipei mayor underscored that any changes to the status quo must be endorsed by the people through a referendum.

“It (referendum) will be the most powerful weapon, and the last-ditch weapon as well, to counter a Chinese invasion. Keeping this in mind, we should legalize referendums for any issue related to China, or any agreements on changing Taiwan’s status quo,” he said.

Macau became a special administrative region under China’s “one country, two systems” policy. Macau’s reversion to China, after more than 400 years of Portuguese administration, will bring only a few changes, at least in the first few years. After all, everyone, including the inhabitants, would like to see the region remain the way it is and continue to prosper, with its law and order improved and strengthened. In terms of political systems, Macau is only a tiny enclave, and too small in the eyes of the Beijing authorities to cause any problems as serious as might be encountered with Hong Kong.

Taiwan has a stake in continuing normal, friendly relations with Macau, and hopes Macau will gain greater economic prosperity and social stability. After all, more than 75% of airline passengers traveling to and from Macau are Taiwanese. Annual trade between Taiwan and Macau exceeds US$360 million.

China would also be pleased to see Macau maintain its current peace and prosperity. China should logically try to maintain the status quo of Macau. Macau’s small size makes it seem unnecessary for the Beijing authorities to wield a strong grip over the SAR territory, as in Hong Kong’s case. Yet Macau is too important to be ignored in terms of propagating China’s “one country, two systems” policy.

It is a mistake for the Beijing authorities to see the situation of the two former colonies, Hong Kong and Macau, as analogous with of Taiwan --- since Taiwan is a sovereign state. The “one country, two systems” doctrine presents many problems.

The “one country, two systems” policy was created to deal with the return of the two territories previously under Western colonial rule, since whether China liked it or not, it would had no way of assimilating Hong Kong and Macau into the communist regime without doing catastrophic harm to the life and institutions of those territories. However, it cannot be correct to assume that a policy adopted hurriedly in the early 1980s was meant from the beginning to deal with the case of Taiwan. China in fact wishes to subjugate Taiwan in the long run to show that it is the final victor in the Chinese civil war resumed from 1945 to 1949.

The “one country, two systems” policy serves therefore only to accommodate the automatic reversion of the two former colonies. If China wants to deal with Taiwan wisely and pragmatically, it should drop the “one country, two systems” policy and its “one-China” rhetoric. Through mutual respect, negotiation and cooperation, anything can happen, and possibilities remain open.

China should learn to deal with Taiwan and the outside world with pragmatism, wisdom and maybe sometimes just a little bit of wild imagination. Its advocacy of the “one country, two systems” policy should end now, with the return of Macau.

History told story, Taiwanese people were suffering from the bloody repression which followed the 2-28 massacre and were destined to endure several more years of the white terror. More than fifty years have passed and the tragedy of the 2-28 massacre has gradually faded away. Some people, in Taiwan, still ignited the mainlanders and native Taiwanese, because of some people love to link communist’s system.

Taiwan seems to have reached a state of freedom and democracy unprecedented in its history; why some people want to sell out Taiwan democratic sweet fruits? The development of the Cross- Straits relationship has made China’s intimidation remote and shallow. Taiwan’s only way is to return to the world stage and let Taiwan voice spread everywhere.

Taiwanese people should indeed be grateful for having the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of democracy and freedom. However, these sweet fruits did not grow easily, but had to be nurtured with the blood and tears of those who were willing to sacrifice their personal interests and life to strive for peace. We shall not only remember the lessons from that time, but also keep on working to retain what we have now and gain what we don’t.

Taiwan is still under a military threat from China. Despite the fact that international reality has changed, the Beijing regime has never renounced their intent to “liberate Taiwan by force.”

In our view, every Taiwanese people has a knee of awareness of the peace issue, and is willing to take responsibility for promoting peace, can true freedom and democracy be realized.