Do Not Let Hatred of the Mainland Provoke Hatred of Taiwan

Do Not Let Hatred of the Mainland Provoke Hatred of Taiwan
China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC) 
A Translation 
July 29, 2016

Executive Summary: We would remind President Tsai and the DPP that Chen Shui-bian once tried to maintain peace and stability in cross-Strait relations. But long term green camp incitement of anti-Mainland hatred, eventually led to extremism, confrontation, and self-destruction. The DPP has returned to power. The cross-Strait balance of power has already undergone a reversal. Do not allow opposition to the Mainland, demonization of the Mainland, and hatred of the Mainland, ignite flames of anti-Taiwan hatred among the Mainland public.

Full Text Below:

In 2000, Tsai Ing-wen became Chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council under President Chen Shui-bian. Over the 16 years since then, her opposition to the 1992 Consensus has never changed. The DPP's party platform and important resolutions, all presume that "Taiwan and China are independent of each other". None of them has ever accepted the 1992 Consensus. During the 2016 election, the DPP did not merely win. It acquired “absolute power”. Any hope that the Tsai Ing-wen regime, which now enjoys “total government”, will change its long held opposition to the 1992 Consensus, is sheer futility. It is akin to drilling ice in search of fire.

President Tsai may avoid harsh rhetoric when referring to the Mainland. She may maintain a low profile. Nevertheless she obdurately refuses to accept the 1992 Consensus, and persists in her efforts to separate the two sides permanently. This newspaper has long noted that the Tsai regime's cross-Strait stance, is revealed not by what she says, but by what she does. Consider two important indicators. First, whether the DPP will persist in cultural de-Sinicizaton. Second, whether Tsai will relinquish sovereignty over the South China Sea U-shaped line. The first would sever cultural and historical links between the two sides. The second would abandon the South China Sea in order to sever relations with the Mainland. It would make Taiwan part of the United States and Japan anti-Mainland strategic circle.

In fact, President Tsai's May 20 inaugural address already provided Beijing with the answer. First, regarding cultural identity, Tsai is fabricating a "History of Indigenous Peoples" divorced from Chinese history. Second, regarding trade, Tsai yearns to bid farewell to economic dependence on the Mainland. Third, regarding security, she longs for an "alliance of values" with the United States and Japan. Fourth, regarding the South China Sea, she hopes to retain sovereignty over South China Sea islands, but hopes to renounce the U-shaped line. None of the above four points affirms the 1992 Consensus. On top of which, Tsai would split Taiwan off from the Mainland culturally. She wants economic relations with the Mainland diluted. She wants an adversarial relationship in the South China Sea that distinguishes between “China” and “Taiwan”.

President Tsai recently told the Washington Post what she told voters in her May 20 inaugural address. She said cross-Strait relations must meet with the approval of the Taiwan public and democratic principles. She and the DPP claim that their election victory amounts to a public rejection of the 1992 Consensus. President Tsai trotted out her "natural independence" argument, in an attempt to legitimize her separatism.

But such claims are baseless. People did not vote for the DPP because they disagreed with the KMT on cross-Strait policy. They voted for the DPP because they were unhappy with Ma Ying-jeou's handling of public welfare issues. Any dissatisfaction with the KMT's cross-Strait policy, was not over the 1992 Consensus. It was over the fact that the benefits of cross-Strait exchanges were not shared equally by ordinary people. Opinion polls are nearly unanimous in showing support the 1992 Consensus, which has brought Taiwan security, stability, and a diplomatic truce. Most people want a peace agreement and a formal cross-Strait peace mechanism.

A sense of regional identity is indeed universal. A "natural identification with Taiwan" is a foregone conclusion. But a "natural identification with Taiwan" can hardly be equated with a "demand for political independence". It certainly does not mean Taiwan must sever its connections with the Mainland. Green camp spin doctors persist in conflating "natural identification with Taiwan" with a "demand for political independence". They persist in inciting hatred against the Mainland, in demonizing the Mainland, and in opposing the Mainland, in order to fabricate a “demand for political independence".

The DPP regime is deliberately spinning the KMT's election defeat as a rejection of the 1992 Consensus. It is deliberately misrepresenting a "natural identification with Taiwan" as a "demand for political independence". It is deliberately turning it into a pretext for political separatism, and for joining a US-Japanes alliance against the Mainland. Such an approach is doomed, and can only bring disaster to Taiwan. The Tsai Ing-wen regime has painted itself into a corner. Tsai's willingness to be the United States' lackey elicited no sympathy from the United States. Even her willingness to forsake the U-shaped line, elicited no sympathy from the United States. The United States, based on its own strategic interests, was determined to classify Taiping Island as a reef. A single leaf announces the arrival of autumn. Over the next four years, the DPP regime is destined to become the United States and Japan's pawn in East Asia, at the expense of Taiwan's own security. Is this the DPP's so-called "love of Taiwan"?

The KMT and the people of Taiwan support peaceful cross-Strait and people to people relations. They want Taiwan to remain culturally Chinese. Cultural Chineseness is not limited to cultural identity. It also places Taiwan and the Mainland on an equal footing. It enables Taiwan to continue to benefit from its shared identity with the world's second largest economy. It tells people that hostile cross-Strait relations work against Taiwan's security. In the South China Sea, the two sides should work together to defend their shared economic interests. Only this can persuade Beijing not to give up on cross-Strait peace.

We would remind President Tsai and the DPP that Chen Shui-bian once tried to maintain peace and stability in cross-Strait relations. But long term green camp incitement of anti-Mainland hatred, eventually led to extremism, confrontation, and self-destruction. The DPP has returned to power. The cross-Strait balance of power has already undergone a reversal. Do not allow opposition to the Mainland, demonization of the Mainland, and hatred of the Mainland, ignite flames of anti-Taiwan hatred among the Mainland public.

勿使反中仇中招來反台仇台
2016/7/29 中國時報

蔡英文總統在2000年擔任陳水扁政府的陸委會主委時，就曾率先反對「九二共識」，16年來從未改變。民進黨的黨綱及所有的重要決議文，沒有一個不是以「台灣與中國主權相互獨立」為基礎，也從來沒有接受過「九二共識」。這一次2016年的大選，民進黨不是險勝而是大勝，正處於享有絕對權力、完全執政的蔡英文政府，要其放棄原有的反九二共識立場，無疑是緣木求魚、鑽冰取火。

蔡總統對大陸態度雖然柔軟，姿態也非常謹慎，但她不僅不會接受「九二共識」，反而會繼續創造兩岸永久分離的主客觀條件。本報很早就指出，檢驗蔡英文政府兩岸關係政治立場的觀察點，不在於她說什麼，而是做什麼。其中兩個最重要的指標就是：一、民進黨是否繼續走文化去中國路線；二、蔡英文是否放棄南海U形線的立場。第一點是要切斷兩岸的文化歷史認同的連結，第二點是要以放棄南海權益的方式來切割與大陸的法理關係，加入美、日戰略防中圈。

其實蔡總統在520的就職演說中，已經給了北京答案。第一、在文化認同上，她要建立「原民史觀」，其意涵是要脫離中華史觀。第二、在經貿上，她要「告別」對大陸的依存關係；第三、在安全上，她要加入美國與日本的「價值同盟」；第四、在南海上，她主張南海諸島的主權，但絕口不提U形線。以上四點，沒有一點接受「九二共識」，而且是要與中國大陸在文化上脫離、在經濟上冷卻、在安全上對抗、在南海上切割。

蔡總統在接受《華盛頓郵報》專訪時，做了與520就職演說時同樣的表述，即兩岸關係的政治基礎必須符合台灣民意與民主原則。她及民進黨都認為，大選獲勝就表示民眾不接受「九二共識」。蔡總統並發展出「天然獨」的說法，為其分離主義建立正當性。

但這種思維是站不住腳的，民眾把票投給民進黨，並非完全是對國民黨的兩岸政策不認同，更多是對馬英九政府在民生議題上的治理能力不滿意。即使對國民黨的兩岸政策不滿，也不是因為「九二共識」，而是兩岸的交流成果並沒有讓全民共享。幾乎所有的民意調查均顯示，民眾對於「九二共識」為台灣所帶來的安全穩定、外交休兵還是滿意的，更有過半數以上的民眾主張應該簽署和平協議，為兩岸建立制度化的和平機制。

鄉土認同是任何人都擁有的天性。「天然台」是一個必然存在的認同，但是「天然台」並不必然等於「天然獨」，希望台灣能夠有主體性，也並不表示一定要與大陸完全切割。綠營人士硬要把「天然台」解釋成「天然獨」，並散播「仇中／醜中／反中」情緒，為「天然獨」創造政治基礎。

民進黨政府必須了解，將國民黨的敗選等同於「九二共識」的挫敗、刻意將「天然台」詮釋為「天然獨」、用被誤解的民意為理由以堅持「分離主義」立場、不惜與美日同盟來對抗中國大陸，這樣的做法注定會給台灣帶來災難。但蔡英文政府已把自己逼到了牆角，她對美國的扈從政策並沒有得到美國的善意回應，即使放棄了U形線，也沒有得到美國的同情。美國基於自己的戰略利益，硬是將太平島視為太平礁。一葉知秋，民進黨政府未來的4年，注定要成為美、日在東亞的棋子，置台灣安危於不顧，這難道就是所謂的「愛台灣」？

國民黨及台灣支持兩岸和平發展路線的民間力量應該奮起，堅持台灣在文化上不脫離中國，「文化中國」不僅是文化認同，更是台灣與大陸平起平坐的優勢；在經濟上不需要放棄與全球第二大經濟體連結的任何機會；在安全上要告訴民眾，敵意對抗的兩岸關係不可能給台灣安全；在南海上，兩岸應該攜手共同捍衛南海的經濟利益。只有這樣，北京才不至於完全放棄兩岸和平的希望。

我們也要提醒蔡總統及民進黨，陳水扁曾經希望維繫兩岸關係的和平與穩定，但在綠營長期創造的仇中反中社會氛圍桎梏下，最後還是走上激進與對抗之路，終至覆滅。民進黨再度執政，兩岸實力對比已經翻轉，切莫讓台灣反中／醜中／仇中情結，孕育出大陸民眾反台火種。