Rebuild Mutual Trust: Acknowledge Mainlanders as Our Own People

Rebuild Mutual Trust: Acknowledge Mainlanders as Our Own People

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)

A Translation

April 21, 2016

Executive Summary:

"No thing is an issue with family” is a concept unique to Chinese culture. The expression, "our own people" is Taiwanese vernacular. Since we are talking about “family,” about “our own people,” nothing is off the table. Everything is communicable. The CCP and DPP do not trust each other in the least. Viewing the two sides as family, as our own people, is a good way to rebuild mutual trust. Tsai Ing-wen should give this serious consideration.

Full Text Below:

Peace is like the air we breathe. We seldom think about its existence. But once it is lost, we quickly suffocate. Over the past eight years, cross-Strait relations have been peaceful. Nevertheless, Mainland tourists appear everywhere on the streets of Taiwan. The two sides have signed 23 agreements. They conduct frequent economic and trade exchanges. Such images make it difficult for people to imagine that cross-Strait political differences have yet to be resolved, that a consensus on non-use of force has yet to be galvanized, nor that, legally speaking, a state of civil war still exists across the Strait.

Foreigners may find this incomprehensible: Legally speaking, even though the two sides are in constant contact, they are nevertheless still in a state of civil war. How can the two governments be in a state of hostilities, while people from the two sides drink and laugh together? The key is Chinese culture. People from the two sides share the same consanguinity. They share the same culture, language, living habits and customs, as well as religious beliefs. Despite their conflicting political positions, they are not enemies. The moment the government throws open the door, people will move their feet and follow their hearts across political boundaries.

May 20 is inching closer. Mainland leaders have repeatedly stressed the importance of the 1992 Consensus. The number of Mainland tourists arriving on Taiwan has suddenly been cut. Developments concerning the Gambia and Kenya, as well as the OECD iron and steel conference in Belgium, have rudely awakened people from their slumber: Cross-Strait peace may not persist. It may well become stagnant, even contracted or crumbled. The problem seems to be politics, the prospect that the ruling DPP soon to assume full power of government, probably will not accept the 1992 Consensus. What truly concernes Beijing is that the cross-Strait identity is rapidly disintegrating. Beijing feels it must halt this trend.

When referring to peace, academics specializing in international relations often refer to peace based on a balance of power, peace based on trade, peace based on hegemony, and peace based on democracy. But these theories about peace do not apply to Taiwan and the Mainland. Taiwan's political and economic strength is no longer match for the Mainland's. The Ma government's eight-year experience has shown that the deepening of economic ties does not necessarily spill over into the political arena. Trade does not necessarily ensure peace. The United States is no longer the sole hegemon in East Asia. It will no longer be giving Taiwan carte blanche in military security. For people on the Mainland, opposition to Taiwan independence is in their blood. Whether the Mainland is democratic has nothing to do with cross-Strait peace. Promoting or maintaining cross-Strait peace requires a common identity on both sides. It requires peace based on a common identity.

The biggest difference between identity-based peace theory and the various above-mentioned peace theories is that it is people-based rather than state-based. Consider the two sides of the Strait. If on the core issues, i.e., history, culture, and consanguinity, divergences emerge in identity, the window of cross-Strait peace is about to be shut.

Lee Teng-hui was the first leader to destroy “China identity” and “Chinese identity” on Taiwan. Over the past 20 years, through “Taiwan-centric History Education” and political manipulations via de-Sinicization, the identity on the part of people on Taiwa vis-à-vis their own history, nationality, and culture has undergone a substantial change. Most youth on Taiwan now assume that "I am Taiwanese, not Chinese." On the psychological and spiritual level, in the matter of identity, the gap has widened. This makes rational policy debate impossible and cross-Strait relations even more uncertain.

Unscrupulous politicians exploit identity politics. They polarize people by means of “us vs. them” categorization compounded by “friend vs. foe” polarization. This is the most inexpensive way to win votes. The 2014 Sunflower Student movement was "us vs. them” plus "friend vs. foe” polarization. It smeared the STA, a free trade agreement, first calling it a “backroom deal,” then casting it as "selling out Taiwan and pandering to [Mainland] China" issue, and inciting hatred of Mainland China. Once this “us vs. them” mindset becomes ingrained, it is easy to demonize others, making cross-Strait people-to-people friendship and mutual trust difficult to continue, or even undergo substantive change.

Beijing firmly opposes de jure Taiwan independence or political Taiwan independence. But the Sunflower Student movement, the DPP, and the New Power Party won a series of victories at the polls. Beijing realizes that identification with Taiwan independence based on nationality and Taiwan independence based on culture are spreading. When Tsai Ing-wen won the election, nearly every dove on the Mainland turned into a hawk overnight. Some even demanded reunification by force, and added, “better now than later.” Clearly, Mainland society is concerned about this divergence in national identity. Such private-sector concerns will exert pressure on Xi Jinping, and force him to get tough with Tsai Ing-wen.

Tsai Ing-wen's May 20 inaugural address will be an opportunity to address not just the two governments, but people on both sides of the Strait. As President, Tsai Ing-wen is no longer a political contestant. She must be a promoter of Taiwan’s development and cross-Strait peace. She must have the courage to end the internal populist manipulation of “identity on Taiwan.” She must view the relationship between the two sides rationally. She must boldly proclaim that "in terms of history, identity, and culture, people on the two sides of the Strait are one family.” 

"No thing is an issue with family” is a concept unique to Chinese culture. The expression, "our own people" is Taiwanese vernacular. Since we are talking about “family,” about “our own people,” nothing is off the table. Everything is communicable. The CCP and DPP do not trust each other in the least. Viewing the two sides as family, as our own people, is a good way to rebuild mutual trust. Tsai Ing-wen should give this serious consideration.

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