Forswear Egocentrism: Cease Blaming Beijing Alone

Forswear Egocentrism: Cease Blaming Beijing Alone
China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
September 16, 2015

Executive Summary: Former legislator and television commentator Shen Fu-hsiung recently offered some cross-Strait policy recommendations. He thinks the Mainland faces a thorny dilemma, because all attempts to reunify, threaten, bribe, or intimidate Taiwan have failed. He suggested that the Mainland change its approach, and declare that "Taiwan is our long lost sister. We will never forget our love for her. She may find herself at the ends of the earth. But she will always have our blessing!" He said that if Xi Jinping uttered these words, Taiwan would never run away.

Full Text Below:

Former legislator and television commentator Shen Fu-hsiung recently offered some cross-Strait policy recommendations. He thinks the Mainland faces a thorny dilemma, because all attempts to reunify, threaten, bribe, or intimidate Taiwan have failed. He suggested that the Mainland change its approach, and declare that "Taiwan is our long lost sister. We will never forget our love for her. She may find herself at the ends of the earth. But she will always have our blessing!" He said that if Xi Jinping uttered these words, Taiwan would never run away.

Mainland officials charged with bringing Taiwan back into the fold find themselves on the horns of a dilemma. Shen Fu-hsiung's analysis is probably correct. But it inadvertently points out a blind spot in our own thinking about cross-Strait relations, and that is Taiwan's egocentrism. Suppose Taiwan does not see the Mainland as its sister. Suppose Taiwan does not see the Mainland as a loved one. If Taiwan persists in seeing the Mainland as its enemy, if it persists in fanning the flames of anti-Mainland hatred, how can anyone reasonably expect the Mainland to perceive Taiwan as its sister, and its loved one?

This egocentrism marches in lockstep with simplistic delusions of persecution. When the Mainland acts friendly toward Taiwan, that friendliness is dismissed as a "united front tactics". When the Mainland acts with hostility toward Taiwan, that hostility is denounced as "oppressing Taiwan". When the Mainland offers tariff reductions via ECFA or the STA and MTA, that generosity is characterized as "sugar-coated poison". When the Mainland develops high-tech industries, the creation of the Red Supply Chain is denounced as being “directed against Taiwan".  When the Mainland deploys missles as part of its national defense strategy, those deployments are described as "missile threats" against Taiwan, and demands are issued for their withdrawal.

If you were Xi Jinping, how would you feel? A recent editorial in this newspaper addressed the Red Supply Chain. Put ourselves in the Mainland's shoes for a moment. The Mainland has 1.3 billion people to feed. Of course it must promote industrial restructuring and upgrading. During the 1970s, Li Kuo-ting promoted Science Parks and guided the development of high-tech industries on Taiwan, for precisely the same reasons. What does any of this have to do with "blockading" or "oppressing” Taiwan? We see the 1500 short-range missiles the Mainland has deployed as directed against us. But this is a kneejerk reaction. Put ourselves in the Mainland's shoes. Taiwan is hardly the only military force adjacent to the Mainland. If we were in charge of the Mainland, we could hardly avoid the deployment of missiles along the Mainland coast.

This reveals the degree to which certain politicians and certain members of the public on Taiwan have wallowed in egocentrism and delusions of persecution. Each and every move by others is perceived as directed against them. They are akin to spoiled children who expect others to cater to their every need, but forget that respect must be reciprocated. How you expect others to treat you, is how you must treat others.

Pundits on Taiwan have often cited Mencius. They have lecture the Mainland about how "Benevolence is treating major issues as minor". But Mencius' very next observation was "Wisdom is treating minor issues as major". Have people on Taiwan done this? Many on Taiwan have not treated the Mainland with wisdom. They have responded to the Mainland with Boxer Rebellion style foolhardiness. Provocations against the Mainland are equated with courage and "love for Taiwan". These people are oblivious. They do not realize they are merely accelerating Taiwan's self-marginalization.

Consider Taiwan's international plight. The Mainland currently enjoys a huge advantage. During the Two Chiangs' era, Taiwan depended upon the Cold War standoff for survival. That era is long gone. Today, the United States is not about to intervene militarily against the Mainland on behalf of Taiwan. When the 2016 presidential election rolls around, will the United States dispatch an aircraft carrier battle group to the Taiwan Strait? No one can say. Taiwan's economy is no longer dominant compared to the Mainland's. During the Lee Teng-hui era, Taiwan could still get away with "avoid haste, exercise restraint" footdragging tactics. Today, even that is impossible. We must immediately change out attitude toward the Mainland. We must change our self-centered attitude. We must cease assuming that the Mainland must curry favor with Taiwan. Otherwise cross-Strait relations will remain insoluble. Worse still, Taiwan's self-imposed isolation will become more severe.

Calling for people on Taiwan to engage in introspection, does not mean that the Mainland is always in the right. Nor does it mean we can indulge in wishful, and assume that the  Mainland will never oppress Taiwan. Many of the Mainland's policies toward Taiwan need improvement. We have repeatedly called on the Mainland to acknowledge the Republic of China's indisputable existence. People on Taiwan want to participate in international activities. The Mainland must be more responsive to this. But goodwill cannot remain one-sided. People on Taiwan must also do more in this respect.

Taiwan must learn from history. The CCP may still oppress Taiwan. But if anyone had a right to complain, it was Taiwan under the Two Chiangs, 30 years ago. Between 1950 and 1960, the hot war between the KMT and the CCP continued to rage. Taiwan was at in danger of being inundated. As late as the 1970s, when the KMT and CCP ended their hot war, Taiwan endured unprecedented diplomatic isolation. It was forced to withdraw from the United Nations. The United States broke off diplomatic relations. Taiwan became the “orphan of Asia”. If anyone has a right to complain about outrages against Taiwan, it would be Taiwan under the Two Chiangs. Chinese Communist Party hostility toward Taiwan was a thousand times worse than it is today. But back then the government and the public had no time to feel sorry for themselves. A sense of urgency raised public morale, resulting in progress. Taiwan's economy took off and inspired international respect for Taiwan's economic miracle.

Treating the Mainland as the culprit, and the sole reason for Taiwan's current plight is easy. But it will not change the status quo or  overcome difficulties. On the contrary. Sealing our doors, complaining, and wallowing in self-pity, will only cut short self-introspection and halt further progress.

We must set aside our delusions of persecution. We must lay down our egocentrism. Mainland China's rise is irreversible. Boxer Rebellion style foolhardiness is unwise.  We should be thinking about how the rise of the Mainland is setting the stage for Taiwan's reinvigoration, by opening it up to new opportunities. This is how we must respond to concerns over cross-Strait relations and Taiwan's worrisome future.

勿存自我中心 不要只會怪罪北京
2015年09月16日中國時報

前 立法委員與電視評論人沈富雄提出了他對兩岸政治的分析與建議。他認為大陸對台工作已陷入棘手的困境：「統她、打她、收買她、恫嚇她都不行。」繼之建議應換 基調：「台灣是我失落多年的姊妹、是我永難忘懷的摰愛，不管妳在天涯海角，妳永遠有我的祝福！」他認為，如果習大大講了這句話，台灣就跑不掉。

大陸對台工作確實陷入怎麼做都不對的困境，沈富雄的實然分析應屬正確，應然建議卻點出了台灣思考兩岸關係的盲點：「以我為中心」。試問，如果，台灣不把大陸當姊妹，不把大陸當摰愛，甚至把大陸當仇敵，持續燎燒反中仇中野火，又如何期待大陸把台灣當姊妹、當摰愛？

自 我中心，伴隨把問題簡化的「迫害妄想」。大陸對台灣友善時，認為是統戰伎倆；不友善時，是打壓台灣；透過ECFA或服貿貨貿要對台灣減免關稅、降低貿易障 礙，是糖衣毒藥；大陸發展高科技產業，是衝著台灣來的紅色供應鏈；為落實總體國家安全戰略而發展、部署飛彈，持「飛彈威脅論」要求大陸撤飛彈。

如 果你是習大大，能怎麼辦？以本系列社論前曾討論的紅色供應鏈為例，如果換位思考就能理解，大陸有13億人口要養，當然要推動產業轉型升級。這和李國鼎在 1970年代力推科學園區，引導台灣發展高科技產業的心情如出一轍，這和「封殺台灣」、「打壓台灣」何干？我們對中國大陸部署的1500枚短程飛彈，解讀 為對付台灣，也完全是一種膝射反應，如果換位思考，大陸的鄰邊不是只有台灣，你是大陸主政者，也不可能不思考包括部署飛彈在內的國防布局。

這反映了台灣部分政治人物與民眾，長期以來過度沉溺在自我中心的恐中慣性裡，覺得別人一舉一動都是衝著自己來的。於是像個任性的小孩，只單方面要別人配合自己的需要，卻忘了「尊重」是相對的，要別人如何對待自己，也應調整一下自己對待別人的態度。

常有人引孟子的話，要大陸「以大事小以仁」，但孟子下一句「以小事大以智」也很重要，台灣有做到嗎？台灣近來別說「以智」對大陸，甚至充斥著義和團式的蠻勇，只有嗆大陸才是真有勇氣、真愛台灣。卻不知結果只是加速台灣的自我邊緣化。

看 看今日台灣所處國際情勢，以今天大陸的大國優勢，台灣不但早已沒有兩蔣時代依賴冷戰格局生存的條件，美國斷無可能為台灣與大陸正面軍事對抗，甚至2016 台灣大選，美國會不會再度派出航母戰鬥群到台海，都非常不確定；與大陸對比，台灣經濟不再立於優勢地位，目前甚至連李登輝時代以拖待變、戒急用忍的籌碼都 已不復存在。如果我們不即刻調整對大陸的心態，還持續自我中心主義，認為大陸必須討好台灣，兩岸關係不但無解，台灣閉鎖的困境只會更加嚴峻。

當 然，呼籲台灣反省，並不代表大陸的作為全然正確，也不代表一廂情願的認為大陸對台灣不曾打壓、不會打壓。大陸對台政策確有許多必須改進之處，我們曾多次呼 籲大陸，要正視中華民國存在的客觀事實，必須更積極的以善意行動回應台灣人民參與國際社會的願望。但「善意」不是單面的，台灣也有非常多做得不夠之處。

台 灣應學著從歷史借鏡，就算今天中共對台灣的打壓仍然存在，但如果要怨要怪，30年前兩蔣執政時期的台灣更有資格怨怪。1950到1960年代國共餘火未 熄，台灣處在隨時可能傾覆的高度危險之中，即便到了1970年代國共止戈，台灣卻陷入空前的外交孤立，退出聯合國、中美斷交，變成了亞細亞的孤兒。論威 脅、論蠻橫，當年的中共對台灣的敵意與打壓遠超過今天的千倍、萬倍。但那時的政府與社會，沒有時間哀聲嘆氣，反而因為強大的憂患意識，激起全民的鬥志，奮 發向上，讓台灣經濟起飛，拚出了讓國際社會尊敬的台灣奇蹟。

把大陸變成台灣不順遂與困境的唯一理由與罪魁禍首很容易，卻不會因此改變現狀、突破困境；相反的，關起門來怨天尤人、自憐自艾的心態，會讓台灣停止自我反省，也失去惕勵進步的能力。

收起被迫害妄想，放下自我中心主義，在中國崛起不可逆的今天，逞義和團式蠻勇是不智的，應思考如何在中國崛起的舞台與龍共舞，為台灣開創新機遇、尋找新機會，這是我們對兩岸關係、台灣發展憂心之餘，所做的誠摰呼籲。