THERE is considerable irony in the red carpet treatment being accorded this week by the Chinese government to an opposition delegation from Taiwan. These visiting politicians are successors of the old Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) mainland government that fled to the island of Formosa (Taiwan) after Mao Zedong’s Communists defeated them in 1949. There they maintained the fiction that they remained the legitimate government of all China.
Yet five years ago the KMT finally lost power in Taiwan, which has since been ruled by the more liberal Democratic People’s Party led by President Chen Shui-bian. It was the suggestion that Taiwan should declare formal independence from the mainland that has so upset Beijing’s leaders and led to the law threatening invasion if Taiwan tries any such thing.
That a KMT delegation has now traveled to China announcing its intention to “mend fences” between Beijing and Taipei is of course galling for Taiwan’s elected government. The mainland Chinese seem likely to further annoy President Chen’s administration by the red carpet they are rolling out for their KMT visitors, which even includes a visit to the tomb of Sun Yat-sen, KMT founder and architect of republican China. It is likely however that privately Taiwanese leaders will be more relaxed about the visit. The reality is that whatever the political differences, Taiwan’s economic future has to rest with the mainland. Indeed Taiwan investors, many of them KMT supporters, have over $100 billion invested on the mainland. This may figure prominently in the KMT delegation’s talks in Beijing later this week.
Unlike the DPP, the KMT has agreed that it would have no problem with reunification as and when China becomes a multiparty democracy. Though the Communist leadership is clearly unlikely to relinquish its control of China’s remarkable economic transformation, this is obviously a more acceptable approach than threats of Taiwanese independence.
At the back of all Taiwanese minds must be the knowledge that whereas ten years ago, China welcomed Taiwan’s capital and manufacturing expertise, the picture has since changed radically. Though there must still be serious concerns about the strength of the banking and financial system, the People’s Republic with its one billion plus population, has pretty well outgrown much of whatever the 24 million people of Taiwan have to offer.
President Chen’s administration would therefore be wise to tone down the bitter public criticism of the march the opposition KMT has stolen on it. The best way to handle any snub intended by Beijing is to look upon the KMT visit as a positive contribution to relations between Beijing and Taipei and go along with the KMT mission of fence mending. The biggest error however would be to allow this adroit piece of opposition politicking to boost the claims of the advocates of independence. Such a route offers little room for talks and even less room for compromise and promises instead much dangerous uncertainty.
