Tag Archives: Chiang Kai-Shek

International news, Uncategorized

While we looked the other way, two enemies meet

the-leaders-of-china-and-taiwan-just-had-their-first-meeting-since-1949

The world has been fixated on hot spots such as the Middle East, Africa and, to a lesser degree, Europe.

But while most of us were looking the other way, the leaders of two countries met, shook hands and talked to each other like neighbors rather than bitter political enemies.

China’s president, Xi Jinping, met with Taiwan’s president, Ma Ying-jeou. Why is this a big deal? It’s the first meeting between the nation’s heads of state since 1949, when Taiwan broke away from “Red China” and formed a new nation on an island just a few miles off the Chinese coast.

China doesn’t recognize Taiwan as an independent nation. It still considers the thriving island nation as a renegade province and has, over the decades, vowed to retake Taiwan.

Good luck with that.

Leaders meet for first time

I’ll stipulate here that I’ve visited Taiwan five times dating back to 1989. I’ve heard the Taiwanese side of the 65-year-old dispute. I haven’t heard the People’s Republic of China’s side of it.

The PRC launched a civil war after World War II. It sought to overthrow the government of Chiang kai-Shek. It succeeded in 1949. Chiang set up shop in Taiwan and proceeded to build a thriving nation that for decades operated under martial law; Taiwan lifted martial law in 1989 and it has become a bastion of freedom and democratic rule.

A lot has happened in Taiwan, as much has taken place in China.

At this moment, the vast majority of Taiwanese are natives of the island, with little direct tie to the mainland. The nation has operated as a de facto independent state, but without the perks that accompany sovereignty, such as membership in world organizations such as the United Nations or the World Health Organization.

“Today marks a new chapter in the cross-strait relationship,” Xi told journalists. “The separation of families on both sides of the Taiwan strait has caused deep pain and regrets to countless families.”

Ma, though, faces opposition in Taiwan to the meeting. He has sought to build closer ties with China. Opposition parties, such as the Democratic Progressive Party, want to declare formal independence.

The PRC is unlikely, so many years later, to reacquire Taiwan. For its part, Taiwan is likely to continue to thrive independently of the PRC. It’s a curious and deeply complicated relationship that the two nations are beginning to form.

My hope is that they keep talking. It is better to talk to your adversaries than to fight with them. Given the stakes involved in the event of all-out war — and the fact that the United States of America maintains a defense pact with Taiwan — the nations’ leaders need to keep the lines of communication wide open.

The meeting the other day is a start.

 

International news

Taiwan flag causes strange U.S. protest

There may be no stranger geopolitical relationship in the world than the one with Taiwan and, well, virtually the rest of the planet.

Consider what happened recently in Washington, D.C.

Some individuals at Taiwan’s unofficial “embassy” complex raised the Taiwanese flag over the building, causing the State Department to complain that the flag violates a long-standing U.S.-Taiwan agreement against the display of the flag.

http://news.yahoo.com/us-anger-raising-taiwan-flag-washington-211205938.html

This is a big deal? Well, yes — for reasons that drive me nuts.

I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Taiwan five times dating back to the late fall of 1989. It is without question one of the world’s most vibrant countries. Its economy flourishes. Its culture is rich and vibrant. It has a military that pound-for-pound is one of the stoutest in the world.

But the country has diplomatic relations with virtually no one on Earth. Why? Because most countries — such as the United States — recognize only one “China,” and that would be the People’s Republic of China, which since 1949 has claimed Taiwan as a “renegade province.”

Taiwan’s government fled to the island off the mainland coast when the communists won a bloody civil war. Mao Tse-Tung took power in Beijing; Chiang Kai-Shek did the same in Taipei.

For decades, the world recognized the Taipei government. Then in 1971, the United Nations voted to admit the PRC into its body; it expelled Taiwan. In 1978, the United States offered diplomatic recognition to Beijing and kicked Taipei out of its embassy.

The nations have had a vigorous cultural and economic relationship ever since. Taiwan’s “embassy” is in a luxury estate, but the inhabitants are prohibited from flying the Taiwanese flag in public.

Thus, the State Department has become angry.

Well, the folks at State should get over it. The presence of the flag will do nothing by itself to change the relationship between the nations. As for how China would react, well, the Chinese aren’t going to invade Taiwan or attack the United States of America.

It’s still a vital one at every level except the one that counts.

I should note that almost no one in Taiwan considers himself or herself to be “Chinese.” Virtually the entire population today was born on the island. They consider themselves to be Taiwanese. Yes, they are ethnic Chinese, but the nation state has forged an identity all its own.

The task for them and for others around the world is to persuade the communists who run the mainland to recognize Taiwan for what it has become: a flourishing independent nation.