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Taiwan’s system will never mesh with
China
By James Wang 王景弘
While China is attempting to achieve “most favored nation” status with the US,
it has refused Washington’s pressure to improve its human rights record, saying
that China and the US have different social systems and ideologies and that they
should not interfere in each other’s internal affairs. China stresses “two
systems for two different countries and peaceful coexistence.”
If former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) had been more broad-minded and
farsighted by emphasizing the differences between Taiwan and China and
respecting the actual situation, then the ideal of “two systems for two
different countries” would have resulted in peaceful relations between Taiwan
and China while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was in power.
The dispute over Taiwan stems from China being unable to accept the differences
in political, social and ideological systems between Taiwan and China and the
tyrannical way in which Beijing wants to make Taiwan part of China. In Chinese,
“one” (yi, 一) and “difference” (yi, 異) share the same pronunciation, but have
different tones. This slight difference in tone is an unlimited source of
trouble.
Unless China faces facts and gives up its insistence on things being “one” and
instead accepts “difference,” Taiwan will have no choice but to go off in search
of the common strategic interests it shares with other counties around the
world. This is the only way Taiwan can resist China’s insistence on things being
“one” to uphold the “differences” that actually exist.
DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has proposed the idea of “seeking harmony,
but reserving the right to disagree” and “seeking agreement in a spirit of
conciliation.” This takes things out of the framework fixed on “one” and
highlights the differences in the values, system and identity between Taiwan and
China in order to make the search for “peaceful and stable relations” a common
interest and responsibility shared by Taiwan and China. This is something the
vast majority of Taiwanese can agree is the lowest common denominator of “two
systems for two different countries and peaceful coexistence.”
The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) reaction to Tsai’s proposal highlights the
similarities between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). These two
evil twins are in bed together, both clinging to the shaky so-called “1992
consensus” in an attempt to turn Taiwan into a part of China. The way this
supposedly makes Taiwan a part of China’s internal affairs has been the subject
of strong protest and debate.
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government has even gone as far as pulling out
Taiwan’s garbage Constitution to put pressure on Tsai. That Constitution is a
strong symbol of how the KMT raped the people of Taiwan. That Constitution,
which splits “China” into two areas, was drawn up by the KMT long before
Taiwan’s democratization and is out of touch with the current situation.
While the DPP government was unable to overhaul the Constitution or formulate a
new one, their insistence on upholding the “differences” that exist between
Taiwan and China and the concepts of independence and autonomy were well
respected by the international community.
However, the way the Ma government follows China’s idea of the “one China”
principle allows members of the international community to say that the People’s
Republic of China is the only side they will deal with.
A constitution is a fundamental piece of legislation that represents the will of
a people while also regulating governmental organization and the rights and
interests of a population. The “constitution” that Ma supposedly obeys is one
that is based on contradictions and distortions and will lead to the end of
Taiwan.
James Wang is a commentator based in Taipei.
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