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Cross-strait peace
relies on mutual respect: academic
By Shih Hsiao-kuang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff
writer
Speaking at a forum on Saturday, Academia Sinica researcher Hsu Ssu-chien (®}´µ»ü)
said that government treaties and cooperation between businesses should not be
the foundation on which cross-strait peace is built and that the people on
either side of the Taiwan Strait are the only ones who can usher in true peace.
There is no legitimacy in handling cross-strait affairs with a so-called peace
accord when democracy and constitutional law have not been fully implemented on
both sides of the Strait, Hsu said.
A possible political and military alliance Taiwan might enter with Beijing once
a peace accord is signed would only cause other countries in the region to
become more wary, which would not bring true peace to either Taiwan or China,
Hsu said.
Although Beijing has stated its intention to negotiate a cross-strait peace
accord, it is doing so from a nationalistic angle, one that places the value of
national sovereignty over the value of human rights, Hsu said.
Beijingˇ¦s proposed cross-strait peace is based on the ˇ§one Chinaˇ¨ principle, a
peace that would glorify the ˇ§Chinese Dreamˇ¨ and ˇ§usher in greatness for the
Chunghwa race,ˇ¨ but sacrifice Taiwanˇ¦s efforts over the past years, Hsu said.
He questioned whether such peace could bring stability to Taiwan, or on a larger
scale, to the region.
Conditional peace is not true peace, it is an alternate form of threat, Hsu
said, adding that true peace should not require the surrender of values by one
side to the other, but should be a value both parties in negotiation are willing
to accept.
Governmental accords or corporate interaction across the Strait should not be
the only channels through which cross-strait peace is brokered, Hsu said, adding
that citizens of the two nations on either side of the Strait should be to ones
to pressure their respective governments in implementing human rights policies.
Human rights should be the foundation for peace across the Strait, he said.
Hsu added that Taiwan should base its decision to establish an office in China
on the human rights situation in that nation.
Hsu said he opposed to the ability of political and economic elites, which were
in the minority, to impose political and economic monopoly over the public and
negotiate backroom political agreements or peace accords.
He also said he was against the threat of violence and forcing an agreement to
emerge.
Taiwan should not conduct any mutual military trust or peace accord overtures
with Beijing before China has completed its democratization process, and if and
when such peace accords are being negotiated, there should not be any issues
concerning sovereignty, Hsu said.
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