China-Taiwan relations: a modest proposal
Everybody's business * Negotiations without preconditions * Why war won't workChina's new strategyThe wind and the sun were arguing over who was stronger when they saw a man sitting on a park bench. "I can get the coat off that man in no time,"said the wind. "OK. Let's see you do it,"said the sun. "No problem,"said the wind, whereupon he summoned up huge volumes of cold air and discharged them at the man, who responded by tightening his coat up as firmly as he could. The harder the wind blew, the tighter the coat. "You can't do any better,"said the wind to the sun, grumpily. "Oh, yeah?"said the sun in classical Greek,"just watch this." And with that, he donned his Ray-Bans and beamed smilingly down on the man, who gladly removed his coat, put it on the bench and lay down on it to sunbathe. In short, the sun won. This story goes to show that force is less persuasive than kindness (and also that my memory of ancient Greek myths is flawed). What has it got to do with the stand-off across the Taiwan Strait? Simply that China will not easily get Taiwan by force. The more it blows cold winds in the form of military exercises and verbal threats, the more Taiwan will retreat into its well-armed shell. Why not try a softer approach? It can do no harm. If Taiwan doesn't respond, then what harm is there? Economic and cultural links can still develop and enrich lives on both sides. In fact, it might be more productive to refrain from imposing demands for unification on Taiwan and instead just set out the minimum conditions which Taiwan would have to meet if it wanted to join China, whether as a province in the existing unitary state or as a member of a confederation of some kind. Taiwan has frequently said it would not become a part of China until China has become prosperous and democratic. China considers this to be indefinite prevarication (which, by the way, doesn't say much for its confidence in its own economic and political development). Why doesn't China turn this round and insist that it will not let Taiwan join it until the island has dealt with its gangsters and its money politics? It would be difficult to integrate Taiwan into China if postal and transport links remained as indirect as they do at present. China can justly claim that Taiwan is at fault for refusing to accept outright China's perfectly reasonable "three links" (trade, transport and post) offer. China should make the full development of these links a precondition for unification--but not a precondition for talks about unification. The basic principle must be peaceful dialogue. The way to win Taiwan's heart, if, that is, it is willing to be won, is by offering bouquets, not bombs. © Ken Davies, May 2000. |
Taiwan page
Last updated 25 May 2000.
