Taiwan

For centuries, Taiwan has been ruled by alien regimes. Modern Taiwanese


history is a chronicle of the Taiwanese' struggles against oppression and


fight for independent survival. Since 1945, Taiwan under the Kuomintang


(KMT) regime has been subject to the threat of China's invasion. Even


though recently the tensions across the Straits of Taiwan has loosened


gradually, to Taiwanese, the unification policy stressed by both the KMT


regime and the Chinese government still poses a grave danger of a forced


and forcible merger with China.


On August 31, 1993, the People's Republic of China issued a


document titled, "The Taiwan Question and the Reunification of China."


Circulating in seven languages, this diplomatic white paper manifested its


intent and ambition of annexing Taiwan through its distortion of history,


misconstruction of international law and treaties, and disregard for the


will and welfare of the Taiwanese. Though less dogmatic and more pragmatic


than before, the KMT's response remains ambiguous and problematic: the KMT


still insists that the Communist regime cannot legitimately represent


China, while emphasizing its own capability of resolving this "Chinese


problem" eventually. Under such circumstances, we think it necessary to


explicate our point of view from the perspective of the Taiwanese.




China released a paper that states that "Peaceful Unification" and


"One Country, Two Systems" are the basic principles of its Taiwan policy.


The paper lists four guidelines: one China, coexistence of two systems,


extensive autonomy, and peaceful negotiation. China warns that the Taiwan


question is a purely domestic issue and thus to be solved under the


premise of "One China." It further pronounces that peaceful unification is


a fixed policy of the Chinese government. However, this...