Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Taiwan's Quest for Democracy
President Chen Shui-Ban of Taiwan, who is currently facing a recount (which he is likely to win), is making some rather strident statements relating to Taiwan's future independence from China.
I support the notion that Taiwan should remain de facto independent from China. China is not a democracy, while Taiwan is. Hong Kong had only just been granted democracy within the final years of Britain's rule. Taiwan has long since given themselves democracy.
They are still a part of China, however, at least in theory. No official independence has been declared. That's partly an acccident of history, as the Kuomintang used to consider themselves the official (albeit exiled) rulers of all of China. Over the years, though, there were also practical barriers, as Mao liked to rile up his fellow Chinese with promises of reconquering their renegade province.
Politically, China CAN'T let Taiwan declare independence. They've been promising too long to reunite the "motherland," and that promise has worked its way into the national psyche. Really, how many Chinese would be "harmed" by the independence of Taiwan? None. It's all vague feelings of nationalism cultivated over many decades.
However, those vague feelings can be dangerous. Taiwain is practically independent, even if they aren't officially independent. They get lots of foreign investment, and now that China is part of the WTO, are integrated into the global economy (though they've always had preferential access to American markets). Why not persist the status quo for a few more decades, until China has matured to a point where they don't CARE what happens to Taiwan?
Unfortunately, Chinese on the mainland are as prone to nationalism as Chinese in Taiwan. That could be dangerous. I don't see any reason for people to die because of a title. I really wish Chen would concentrate on deepening Taiwanese democracy, and refrain from ANY statement related to independence. One might argue that the Taiwainese want independence, but one might ALSO argue that politicians have a tremendous amount of influence on the kinds of things people want.
Politicians aren't just expressions shaped by the inputs of democratic elections. Politicians have a lot of power to shape popular opinion. Chen has been doing that, IMO, to convince his fellow countrymen to push for indepence. I wish he'd stop doing that.
President Chen Shui-Ban of Taiwan, who is currently facing a recount (which he is likely to win), is making some rather strident statements relating to Taiwan's future independence from China.
I support the notion that Taiwan should remain de facto independent from China. China is not a democracy, while Taiwan is. Hong Kong had only just been granted democracy within the final years of Britain's rule. Taiwan has long since given themselves democracy.
They are still a part of China, however, at least in theory. No official independence has been declared. That's partly an acccident of history, as the Kuomintang used to consider themselves the official (albeit exiled) rulers of all of China. Over the years, though, there were also practical barriers, as Mao liked to rile up his fellow Chinese with promises of reconquering their renegade province.
Politically, China CAN'T let Taiwan declare independence. They've been promising too long to reunite the "motherland," and that promise has worked its way into the national psyche. Really, how many Chinese would be "harmed" by the independence of Taiwan? None. It's all vague feelings of nationalism cultivated over many decades.
However, those vague feelings can be dangerous. Taiwain is practically independent, even if they aren't officially independent. They get lots of foreign investment, and now that China is part of the WTO, are integrated into the global economy (though they've always had preferential access to American markets). Why not persist the status quo for a few more decades, until China has matured to a point where they don't CARE what happens to Taiwan?
Unfortunately, Chinese on the mainland are as prone to nationalism as Chinese in Taiwan. That could be dangerous. I don't see any reason for people to die because of a title. I really wish Chen would concentrate on deepening Taiwanese democracy, and refrain from ANY statement related to independence. One might argue that the Taiwainese want independence, but one might ALSO argue that politicians have a tremendous amount of influence on the kinds of things people want.
Politicians aren't just expressions shaped by the inputs of democratic elections. Politicians have a lot of power to shape popular opinion. Chen has been doing that, IMO, to convince his fellow countrymen to push for indepence. I wish he'd stop doing that.
