Dr. Wordman, US-China Forum Bilingual Columnist
Abstract
The title of this article may seem simple, but Taiwan has huge differences in opinion on this issue. Hence, Taiwan's future is uncertain. Pursuing Independence has impossible hurdles while accepting peaceful reunification requires most of the Taiwan people to truly understand the real meaning and advantages of One Country for Two Shores.
*****
Currently, China-US relations are tense, and each side is trying to figure out a way to its advantages. There is an undercurrent of political and economic ambiguity on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Traditional thinking dominates the mainstream media, but empathy has gradually emerged. Mainland China's policy is obviously to pursue peaceful reunification and to actively develop people-to-people exchanges as a driving force, aiming to awaken the Taiwanese people to understand the significance of reunification and to actively promote reunification. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was elected to power by less than half of the voting population. DPP embraces the U.S. and Japan in their policy of resisting China's rise and rejects reunification as its administrative principle. Although the US anti-China policy remains unchanged, its diplomatic behavior and tactics often change with people and time (the results of the presidential election and the ups and downs of the US political situation). Mainland China must observe and adapt, while Taiwan must wait and see actions and reactions in Sino-US relations before acting. Therefore, even if the DPP desires to make a move for Taiwan’s independence, it must adopt a passive stance.
During the current DPP Administration the opposition parties, Kuomintang and People's Party are cooperating to play the role of opposition with a majority in the Legislative Yuan to check and balance the DPP's administrative power. Therefore, Taiwan's political situation may be a little turbulent. In addition, Taiwan's pro-unification activists would certainly take advantage of the opportunity to increase their participation in cross-strait exchange activities to promote and seek reunification, they will step up efforts to awaken the Taiwanese people’s awareness of the interests and benefits of reunification versus the danger of independence movement. This work is very important. On the one hand, it is necessary to prove that reunification is the only option based on facts (pros and cons analysis), and on the other hand, it is necessary to elaborate on the true meaning of reunification (the pursuit of true democracy and true independence). The purpose of this article is to fulfill a common global citizen's duty to express his observations and opinions to support the thesis of this paper and to persuade the people of Taiwan.
Many theoretical articles published in the past are relevant to the title of this paper. We can briefly describe them in categories. The different theories are all persuasive to a certain extent, but they have also caused or been twisted to produce disagreements. This article will briefly but comprehensively discuss these theories and then proceed on a different track based on real facts and a realist approach to analyze the advantages of peaceful reunification taking into consideration the mentality of the people and government on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, we hope to prove the title correct and the paper convincing. We shall divide the discussion into four major categories (in Part I) and put the realist analysis into the fifth category with conclusions (in Part II).
Abstract
The title of this article may seem simple, but Taiwan has huge differences in opinion on this issue. Hence, Taiwan's future is uncertain. Pursuing Independence has impossible hurdles while accepting peaceful reunification requires most of the Taiwan people to truly understand the real meaning and advantages of One Country for Two Shores.
*****
Currently, China-US relations are tense, and each side is trying to figure out a way to its advantages. There is an undercurrent of political and economic ambiguity on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Traditional thinking dominates the mainstream media, but empathy has gradually emerged. Mainland China's policy is obviously to pursue peaceful reunification and to actively develop people-to-people exchanges as a driving force, aiming to awaken the Taiwanese people to understand the significance of reunification and to actively promote reunification. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was elected to power by less than half of the voting population. DPP embraces the U.S. and Japan in their policy of resisting China's rise and rejects reunification as its administrative principle. Although the US anti-China policy remains unchanged, its diplomatic behavior and tactics often change with people and time (the results of the presidential election and the ups and downs of the US political situation). Mainland China must observe and adapt, while Taiwan must wait and see actions and reactions in Sino-US relations before acting. Therefore, even if the DPP desires to make a move for Taiwan’s independence, it must adopt a passive stance.
During the current DPP Administration the opposition parties, Kuomintang and People's Party are cooperating to play the role of opposition with a majority in the Legislative Yuan to check and balance the DPP's administrative power. Therefore, Taiwan's political situation may be a little turbulent. In addition, Taiwan's pro-unification activists would certainly take advantage of the opportunity to increase their participation in cross-strait exchange activities to promote and seek reunification, they will step up efforts to awaken the Taiwanese people’s awareness of the interests and benefits of reunification versus the danger of independence movement. This work is very important. On the one hand, it is necessary to prove that reunification is the only option based on facts (pros and cons analysis), and on the other hand, it is necessary to elaborate on the true meaning of reunification (the pursuit of true democracy and true independence). The purpose of this article is to fulfill a common global citizen's duty to express his observations and opinions to support the thesis of this paper and to persuade the people of Taiwan.
Many theoretical articles published in the past are relevant to the title of this paper. We can briefly describe them in categories. The different theories are all persuasive to a certain extent, but they have also caused or been twisted to produce disagreements. This article will briefly but comprehensively discuss these theories and then proceed on a different track based on real facts and a realist approach to analyze the advantages of peaceful reunification taking into consideration the mentality of the people and government on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, we hope to prove the title correct and the paper convincing. We shall divide the discussion into four major categories (in Part I) and put the realist analysis into the fifth category with conclusions (in Part II).
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