President’s
‘one China’ policy is illogical
By Cao Changqing 曹長青
Saturday, Jan 17, 2009, Page 8
Although I knew about the government’s suppression of public demonstrations
against the visit by Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), I was still startled when
I saw the documentary Red Caution (紅色戒嚴). The protesters were indeed as brave as
the theme song of the documentary said: “I want to reach out and test how hot
the flames are.”
It is never easy to protect freedom and rights. This protest alone resulted in
18 arrests and nearly 300 civilian injuries from police beatings. Chinese rocker
Ao Bo (敖博), who was persecuted and forced into exile in Sweden for supporting
Taiwan, sings in his latest song that Taiwanese democracy has been kidnapped and
Taiwanese freedom put in jail. This tells of the realities facing today’s
Taiwan.
This big step backward in the nation’s democracy and human rights is directly
related to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) “one China” policy, which is both
illogical and deceitful. In contrast, the green camp’s proposal to make a new
constitution, change the nation’s title and move toward becoming a new country
at least makes sense regardless of whether one agrees with the idea.
It was also logical for dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his son Chiang
Ching-kuo (蔣經國) to insist that the Republic of China (ROC) represented China,
and because they did not recognize the rule of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP)
People’s Republic of China (PRC) over China, Chiang Ching-kuo insisted on his
“three noes” policy — no contact, no negotiation and no concession. It was also
logical for former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) to refer to the relationship
between Taiwan and China as a “state-to-state” relationship because he
recognized the PRC rule over the Chinese mainland while pointing out that the
ROC existed in Taiwan with jurisdiction over only Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and
Matsu.
The Ma administration’s “one China” policy, however, is illogical. If you return
to the era of the two Chiangs and insist that there is only one China and that
the ROC represents that China, then you do not recognize CCP rule over the
Chinese mainland but view it as an un-free part of the ROC. Once Ma took power,
he not only initiated contact, but also compromised and cooperated with a CCP
that he should not have even recognized. During Chen’s visit to Taipei, Ma said
that if the government could not protect Chen, it could not call itself a
government. Worse yet, national flags were not displayed, but PRC flags were. It
is clear which China Ma recognizes.
Under the two Chiangs, anti-communist activities were supported worldwide.
However, Ma shows no sympathy toward the persecuted people in the “non-free
region,” and publicly commends the CCP for its “progress” while distancing
himself from anti-communist activities. The government didn’t even inquire about
the arrest of a member of the pro-Chinese pan-blue alliance because it was
afraid to displease China.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has never dared fly — and has even abandoned
— the national flag in Taiwan, China or at any international event. This tells
us that the Ma administration knows better than anyone that the ROC has come to
an end.
Although the cooperation between Ma and China makes the government seem strong,
it is not. Because his policies are entirely illogical, the government is unable
to reach China or Taiwan.
When a party’s policies are illogical, they are bound to fail. Despite all the
glorious talk about KMT-CCP cooperation, more than 80 percent of Taiwanese still
see themselves as Taiwanese. Regardless of what the Ma government does as it
strives for eventual unification, this is a force that can never be suppressed.
Cao Changqing is a writer based in the
US.