China-Taiwan Cross-Strait Relations: A General Overview

The topic of Taiwan’s independence has been a decidedly sensitive subject for both those who are from either implicated party and outside nations alike, since the defeat of Kuomingtang (KMT) by the Communist Party in 1949. After so many decades of debate and political conflict, there has yet to be a concrete solution – the Taiwanese increasingly identify themselves as citizens of an independent nation, while the majority of the world has yet to recognize them officially as a nation separate from the PRC. Both parties involved – the PRC and Taiwan – have taken incredibly stubborn stances on this issue for the past several years, and it does not look like there will be an easy solution in the near future. China-Taiwan cross-strait relations are quite complicated, but for the sake of simplicity, it can be broken down into the period following the Japanese control over Taiwan, the defeat of the KMT, the period between the rise of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and contemporary times, and finally, the rest of the world’s – namely the US’ – involvement in the entire matter. Prior to 1949, China’s governing group was the KMT – a nationalist party, as they call themselves. For 50 years, the Japanese controlled Taiwan – though arguably, they did more good than bad, as Taiwan developed much quicker than mainland China through their help – but was forced to relinquish its hold in 1945, when the Axis Powers were defeated. In October of 1945, the US – on behalf of the Allied Forces – handed temporary control over Taiwan to the KMT. However, though the Taiwanese were initially grateful for their return to Chinese control, this quickly changed as they “became resentful of what they perceived as a high handed and frequently corrupt KMT authorities inclined to the arbitrary seizure of private property and economic mismanagement.”[1] This resentment eventually blew up into a rebellion that lasted for days in 1947, which ultimately lead to the infamous 228 Incident on February 28th, 1947. The KMT violently suppressed said rebellion, and an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 people died. Following this, the period of White Terror ensued until July 15, 1987, where thousands of Taiwanese scholars and intellectuals were imprisoned and some, even executed – the KMT feared that such people would lead rebellions against their rule. This – particularly the 228 incident – proved to be huge factors in the Taiwanese independence movement. This incident provides a strong legitimizing for the Taiwanese call for independence – it emphasizes the strife that Taiwan went through under the KMT rule. And of course, the event in itself is a great tragedy – despite its rather euphemistic name, it can essentially be labelled as a massacre. However, there may be justification for the other side of the argument, as outrageous as it may seem. For any – or at least, most – leaders, the choice to suppress a rebellion would be an incredibly difficult decision to make. However, at that point in time, the government in Taiwan was weak and disorganized, as all that was left was the remains of the Japanese colonization of Taiwan. As an argument for the KMT, creating a strong and stable government for Taiwan was a pressing matter, and suppressing the rebellions was essential to this ultimate goal for the good of the country. Of course, this doesn’t justify the means, nor the many deaths of innocent Taiwanese, but at least it may shed some light on exactly why the KMT might even go such lengths to prevent the rebellions. Back in 1949, the KMT was defeated by the Communist Party of China during the Chinese Civil War and were thus essentially chased out of Beijing and into the province of Taiwan, where they stayed up until now, initially hoping to one day claim Beijing back, and to rule a unified China and Taiwan. Even today, they continue to – to a certain extent – believe that they have the right to govern both the PRC and the Republic of China (Taiwan). The KMT did not support Taiwanese independence – rather, they have always viewed China and Taiwan as a part of “One China.” However, when in 2000 the Democratic Progressive Party was elected in, Taiwan took a decidedly more independence-oriented stance. Despite Chen Shui-bian, the elected leader of the DPP, being extremely corrupt by all standards, the DPP did help provide the framework through which Taiwanese independence takes a huge priority above the concept of “One China.” However, the PRC sets forth several arguments to counter the movement and even the legitimacy of the KMT itself. The Communist Party of China (CCP) argues that as the KMT’s successor as the government of China, it has the right to rule Taiwan as well, under “the succession of states theory.”[2] The Taiwanese, however, argue that this point is invalid, as Taiwan existed as a state past the establishment of the CCP’s power in China. They claim to meet all the criteria in Article 1 of the Montevideo Convention of statehood – “a permanent population, a defined territory, [a] government, and [the] capacity to enter into relations with other states”[3] – though China would counter this, arguing that they do not meet the fourth criterion – the capacity to enter into relations with other states. Taiwan is really only recognized as an independent country by some 20 nations from the UN, and is “denied access to international organizations such as the UN.”[4] Another major argument Taiwan sets out is that despite the nationalist rule of the KMT over her, many Taiwanese believe that the KMT is the government of China, and since Taiwan is not a part of China, the KMT should have no say over the Taiwanese population. The advocates of reunification within Taiwan argue however, that legally, the Chinese Civil War never ended officially. As such, this political separation between the two is only temporary, and once the entire issue has been sorted out, the only natural ending would be the reunification of China and Taiwan into one large state. The KMT’s claim to have the right of power over both mainland China and Taiwan – outdated or not – is not representative of the general Taiwanese perspective, whether that is independence or the less popular option of reunification. The KMT eventually lost power in Taiwan to the Democratic Progressive Party, and when they came back to the stage, “President Chen Shui-bian and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had engaged in policy that widely departed from the KMT, invigorating efforts to seek Taiwan’s sovereignty.”[5] The policies that the DPP engaged only promoted such mentalities among the Taiwanese citizens, who increasingly demanded independence from China, and even perceived themselves as already an independent nation. The idea of “One Country, Two Systems” as proposed by Deng Xiaoping that was implemented for Hong Kong and Macau was largely rejected by the Taiwanese, even the ones vying for reunification with the PRC, for various reasons. A number of alternatives were suggested – “One Country, Two Governments,” “One Country, Two Systems,” only under the control of the ROC rather than the PRC – were all rejected by the PRC. Currently, Taiwan is the official platform for the KMT, as the DPP were ultimately voted off by a landslide (though, arguably, it was a sign of rebellion against the lack of performance from the DPP, particularly regarding the extreme corruption of Chen Shui-bian rather than a preference for the KMT itself) and the KMT regained its footing as the governing body of the ROC in 2008. The relationship between China and Taiwan has calmed somewhat during recent years, as President Ma Ying-Jiu of Taiwan has called a diplomatic truce with China. Taiwan and China have agreed more or less to simply deal with the simple matters first, and to leave the difficult question of Taiwan’s sovereignty to a later date. The Taiwanese and Chinese governments are pushing mostly for stronger relations, through new implementations such as “direct flights, trade, investment, and movement.”[6] At this rate, Taiwan seems to be more or less simply maintaining the status quo; though there has been no official say as to whether Taiwan is an independent state or not, it holds good ties with a healthy majority of the world’s nations, including China itself, and is recognized as a sovereign state by more than twenty. At this point in time, it is rather difficult to judge where exactly the rest of the international community stands in this matter. Many can argue that the outside world, though not definitely not through official terms, and more so through the common people themselves, seem to more or less support the Taiwanese in this. This seems to be demonstrated through both the media and their economic ties with Taiwan. Though the US does not officially recognize Taiwan as an independent country – in fact, they signed and issued the Shanghai Communiqué, in which “‘the Government of the United States of America acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China,”[7] – they continue to trade with Taiwan; in particular, the US sold large amount of weapons to Taiwan. In three years, “$4.1 billion of Taiwan’s arms purchases were procured from the United States.”[8] It is true, however, that while the US supports trading with Taiwan in this sense, they have withheld trading some of the weapons that Taiwan requires the most. This is similarly the case between Taiwan and several other countries, though definitely not to the same extent; “only 28 countries against 160 have given their support to Taiwan’s freedom,”[9] but many more continue trade and unofficial diplomatic ties with her. If these ties were to be analyzed deeper, however, it may be noted that nations only hold such economic ties with either the PRC or the Republic of China (Taiwan); the Chinese may argue that it is impossible to have this situation in any other way, as the PRC and the ROC are part of one united state, and as such, trade can only be maintained in one link. The ties between said nations are not so easily analyzed, however. The US, for example, during George Bush’s time in office, did refuse to sell to Taiwan the weapons they required the most. They refuse as well to recognize Taiwan as an independent state; in fact, they even state that “the United States does not support Taiwan independence,” but rather, “insists on the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait difference and encourages dialogue to help advance such an outcome.” As they maintain strong but unofficial ties to Taiwan, the United States is definitely taking a bit of a back-seat on this issue; there is much to be lost and too much of a risk to support the more democratic Taiwan in its endeavours, as the United States’ economy depends highly on China, and vice versa. The future of Taiwan is a question that is decidedly difficult to answer. The relationship between the PRC and the ROC seem to be easing into one of less tension, and more than anything else, the KMT appears to be quite comfortable maintaining the status quo without pushing for independence, or even their initial viewpoint of their right to control both states as one united state. The US, too, pushes for a peaceful resolution, and refuses to take much more of an active stance. However, many people believe that China may follow through with its threats of violence towards Taiwan, and fear that demanding independence may ultimately lead to warfare, and inevitably, the military decimation of Taiwan, as China’s nuclear power is much more extensive. Many, however, doubt the legitimacy of China’s threats; what is to be gained through such a display of military power? The incorporation of Taiwan is much in China’s interest, and attempting to raze it to the ground is only a waste in resources, support, and one’s own (arguably) people. I am of the opinion that this issue will be solved in a more peaceful fashion; nothing is to be gained in the other option for either party, and even now, China appears to be integrating more and more into a more diplomatic stance. However, the question of whether Taiwan really will take on Taiwan as its official name, or whether it will remain the Republic of China, and whether it will become an independent state, is a question that I feel cannot be answered at this point in time. Neither party appears to want to budge in its stance, despite the compromise of “One Country, Two Systems” that was proposed, as it was largely shot down, and the world itself is at a stalemate. It has become largely a question of whether the nation in question values its economic ties and prosperity more, or whether it values supporting the democracy of Taiwan and its cause over the possibility of becoming a target of the PRC’s anger. The easing ties between China and Taiwan do nothing to answer the question, either; the respective leaders for each have more or less put off the question for later, both reluctant to be the cause of the ultimate solution. This problem has lasted many decades since the 1940s, and will, in my opinion, last at least several years longer, as no easy solution seems to have presented itself. Hopefully, the peaceful relations of today will last throughout this duration until a solution has finally settled.

References
“228 Incident,” Wikipedia, accessed March 27th, 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/228_Incident

“China-Taiwan Relations,” Council on Foreign Relations, accessed March 23rd, 2013, http://www.cfr.org/china/china-taiwan-relations/p9223

“Ma’s Unpopularity Cannot Help DPP,” Taipei Times, accessed March 28th, 2013, http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2013/03/11/2003556777

“Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States,” Council on Foreign Relations, accessed March 28th, 2013, http://www.cfr.org/sovereignty/montevideo-convention-rights-duties-states/p15897

“Political Status of Taiwan,” Wikipedia, accessed March 27th, 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_status_of_Taiwan

“The Taiwan Question in China-U.S. Relations,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, accessed March 26th, 2013, http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/topics/3713/3715/t19064.htm

"U.S. Relations With Taiwan." U.S. Department of State, accessed March 28th, 2013, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35855.htm

“When did Taiwan become Independent of China?” Taiwan Attractions, accessed March 27th, 2013, http://taiwan-attractions.com/files/when_did_taiwan_become_independent_of_china.htm

CHU, Yun-han. (2004) Taiwan's National Identity Politics and the Prospect of Cross-Strait Relations, University of California Press
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[1] “228 Incident,” Wikipedia, accessed March 27th, 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/228_Incident

[2] “Political Status of Taiwan,” Wikipedia, accessed March 27th, 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_status_of_Taiwan

[3] “Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States,” Council on Foreign Relations, accessed March 28th, 2013, http://www.cfr.org/sovereignty/montevideo-convention-rights-duties-states/p15897

[4] “Political Status of Taiwan,” Wikipedia, accessed March 27th, 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_status_of_Taiwan

[5] “China-Taiwan Relations,” Council on Foreign Relations, accessed March 23rd, 2013, http://www.cfr.org/china/china-taiwan-relations/p9223

[6] “Ma’s Unpopularity Cannot Help DPP,” Taipei Times, accessed March 28th, 2013, http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2013/03/11/2003556777

[7] “The Taiwan Question in China-U.S. Relations,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, accessed March 26th, 2013, http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/topics/3713/3715/t19064.htm

[8] “China-Taiwan Relations,” Council on Foreign Relations, accessed March 23rd, 2013, http://www.cfr.org/china/china-taiwan-relations/p9223

[9] “When did Taiwan become Independent of China?” Taiwan Attractions, accessed March 27th, 2013, http://taiwan-attractions.com/files/when_did_taiwan_become_independent_of_china.htm