EXCLUSIVE -- China wants Taiwan peace despite new law

Story dated 01 March 2005

I wonder if the joint Japanese-U.S. security statement regarding Taiwan has anything to do with this. The People's Republic of China, after promising to 'crush Taiwan militarily' seems to be backtracking a bit. "There's a lot of speculation now that with the NPC (National People's Congress, or China's parliament) passing the anti-secession law that China is not ruling out war across the Straits," said Yang, commissioner of China's Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong.

"But Chinese leaders have said repeatedly that war is only the last resort. We have already waited 56 years."

"The central government wants a peaceful reunification . . . but at the same time, through legislation, we want to tell Taiwan people that independence is not a way out."

Of course, I think that this is just rhetoric aimed at making the U.S. and Japan less nervous about China's military adventurism. If you'll notice, the PRC is still espousing its willingness to wage war against Taiwan (a sovereign republic) if they formally declare their independence from Beijing, I don't see how it's any better that the PRC will only use military force as a 'last resort'. Allow me to reiterate that the PRC has never at any point controlled Taiwan. Their claim that Taiwan is some sort of 'rogue province' is patent nonsense. The government of Taiwan predates the PRC. It is therefore temporally impossible for the PRC to have a legitimate claim to Taiwan. Legally speaking, Taiwan has a much better claim to mainland China than the PRC does to Taiwan.

The encouraging thing about this story, though, is that the PRC is offering Taiwan a level of autonomy greater than that of even Hong Kong if they peacefully reunite with China. This is the "one country, two systems" model. In essence, Taiwan, under this model, would have 'dominion status'. The PR claims that they would continue to be self-governing, but I suspect their foreign policy would be controlled by Beijing.

I would like to point out that the PRC still has not allowed universal suffrage in Hong Kong, despite the high degree of autonomy they are apparently allowed. What is Taiwan's incentive to believe the promises of the PRC? Allow me to remind you that the PRC is still in the habit of locking up people who have alternative points of view as to government policy. This is hardly a practice that would engender feelings of trust.

posted by The Sovereign Editor | 8:34 AM

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