The Dilemma of Taiwan-China Issue

(2004/11/28 00:13)

(●作者隨筆目前在密西根州念碩士班，簡介上說國文教育只在台灣上到國中三年級，堅決當個好的地球人。本文為ETtoday.com網友投稿，言論不代表本報立場。●照片為資料照。※隨筆特區)

隨筆

這幾天我翻看了我在大學時期所寫過的文章與報告，無意間看找到了一篇有關兩岸統獨的英文短文，這篇文章是當初修英文寫作的時候，老師要求我們以「偏見」(PREJUDICE)為主題來描述任何族群之間的衝突(包括經濟、政治或是理念)，這也是我一生中唯一的一次以寫文章的方式來看待兩岸(統獨)之間的關係，因為我一直認為，抓著歷史上統獨的議題不放，我們就會永遠受到這議題的羈絆，也就無法就無法跳出我們自己畫的框框(雖然我在很多人的眼裡是個統派)。

這篇短文有趣的地方是，雖然文章是6~7年前的寫作，但是在文章中就已經敘述了，在台灣人的認知裡，只要大陸是民主與和平的，兩岸要統一並不是不可能(之前論壇上也曾被其他網友討論過)，至於在文章的結論也寫到，因為兩岸的理念不一樣，可能只會造成兩岸的關係更加惡化。

這篇文章雖然是英文，但是我還是抱著僥倖的心態來發表看看，或許主編會予以刊登(因為主編也登了一篇英文的投稿)，另外這篇文章還是有過時的敘述(包括形容國民黨為執政黨)，但是為了維持文章完整性，我並沒有對這篇文章做任何修改。

The Dilemma of Taiwan-China Issue

“Prejudiced attitudes tend to increase when times are tense and there is conflict over mutually exclusive goals. This is true whether the goals are economic, political, or ideological” (Aronson). When I read this paragraph from “The Causes of Prejudice” by Elliot Aronson, I could not help but think that the political and ideological situations between Taiwan and China utterly fit Aronson’s theory since the goals of both sides are mutually excluded. One side, Taiwan is pursuing independence from China and recognition by the international society, and the other side, China is desperately seeking political reunification with Taiwan.

Since the Kuomintang, Nationalist Party, lost the civil war to the Communists in 1949, two separate and opposing Chinese governments have been operating on each side of the Taiwan Strait. On the mainland, the People"s Republic of China, with its capital in Beijing, is ruled by the Communist Party of China and is recognized by most countries. On the island of Taiwan, the Republic of China, a democratic system, which has survived largely with American protection is now in place and led by the Nationalist Party with the official government based in Taipei. Less than 30 countries maintain diplomatic ties with the island. In the 1980s, Beijing opened the door to the reunion of war-split families, along with burgeoning cultural contacts and investment by Taiwan businesses that is now estimated at more than $30 billion. Yet the two sides have never signed a peace treaty, and Beijing has threatened to invade if Taiwan issues a declaration of independence.

However, Taiwan is, to all intents and purposes, an independent nation. The independence of its 21 million people is strengthened by its democratic system. It will not be dictated to by the present oligarchy ruling China. There might be reunification some time in the future, but it will not come by the force such that China has become accustomed to use over the years. It is more likely to come when China embraces democracy - that is, on Taiwan"s terms.

Unfortunately, for now, political reform is not on China’s agenda. Although a reduction in restrictions on cross-strait travel and trade would be counted a huge step forward for reducing the tension between Taiwan and China, any concrete negotiations on unification are unlikely to take place any time soon. In a signal that both sides have a long way to go, the top brass of Taiwanese government repeats Taiwan"s stance that it will not even begin to talk about reunification with the mainland until the government in Beijing becomes democratic.

On the other hand, although China"s leaders know that their best hope of reunifying Taiwan and China will rely on China"s transformation into a democracy, none of the top leaders in China, or even their advisers, dare to publicly promote such a policy. There are no signs that the Communist Party is willing to give up its monopoly on power in order to recover Taiwan, and virtually no one in Taiwan wants to reunite with Communist China.

For the time being, Beijing relies on the “Hong Kong Model” to seek the possibility to unify with Taiwan. Beijing asks, for example, if the capitalists of Hong Kong can accept special status within China - the "one China, two systems" model - why not Taiwan? However, the truth is that Taiwan has always been very different from Hong Kong. Both are sudden creations of the 20th century, built on the energy of Chinese enterprise working outside the orbit of the old Middle Kingdom, but Hong Kong was a colony, not democracy, for most of its existence. Hong Kong never developed sufficient inner political strength to resist its disposal by Britain into the hands of Beijing. On the other hand, Taiwan, since 1949, has been the seat of what claimed to be a Chinese government in exile. The Nationalist Party regime"s claim to be the legitimate government of China has been a rock on which to build and sustain the separate polity that has evolved in Taiwan over the past half-century. Also, this claim has created a major conflict with the political legitimacy of China.

Furthermore, increasing amounts of Taiwanese people are not willing to accept unification with China. This attitude is reflected by the local elections. On November 29 of 1997, Taiwan held the local elections for 18 county magistrates and 5 city mayors. Democratic Progressive Party (a pro-independence/grass-root opposition party), won a significant victory with 43% of the vote, surpassing the ruling party (Nationalist Party), for the first time in history. Even more importantly, the Democratic Progressive Party won many major cities and counties where 71% of the population resides.

In order to crack down ever-increasing pressure from the voice of independence of Taiwan, China tries to eliminate any Taiwan’s opportunity to involve in international affairs. This status vividly describes a prejudice existing between a dominant group, China, and a minority group, Taiwan. This prejudice tends to increase when the goals of both sides are mutually exclusive. Even we assume that the idea of unification is not impossible, we are definitely sure that the idea is far fetching. Even though China has in mind a model that would give Taiwan even greater autonomy than Hong Kong, including the ability to maintain its own military, Taiwan has demanded China undergo major political reforms. Without any doubt, conflict and prejudice will be expected, and the competition between Taiwan and China will be even more intensified. Thus, Aronson’s theory of the causes of prejudice is to be absolutely applicable to the dilemma of Taiwan-China issue.

(●作者隨筆目前在密西根州念碩士班，簡介上說國文教育只在台灣上到國中三年級，堅決當個好的地球人。本文為ETtoday.com網友投稿，言論不代表本報立場。●照片為資料照。※隨筆特區)