Civil Wars have No Heroes: Internal Conflict Prevents a Nation from Developing

Civil Wars have No Heroes:
Internal Conflict Prevents a Nation from Developing
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
October 27, 2012

Summary: Taiwan Retrocession Day was once a red letter day. One invoked deities, honored one's ancestors, held banquets, and received guests. The atmosphere was summed up in the verse, "wang shih guang fu tai wan re, jia ji wu wang gao nai ong." In other words, on such a day we must recall who recovered Taiwan; we must express gratitude to our elders. But since reunification vs. independence confrontations became the "norm," the importance of Taiwan Retrocession Day has been downplayed. This year this newspaper published a special edition discussing Taiwan Retrocesson Day. President Ma wrote a facebook post. Otherwise the public would have completely and utterly forgotten the special significance of October 25.

Full Text below:

Taiwan Retrocession Day was once a red letter day. One invoked deities, honored one's ancestors, held banquets, and received guests. The atmosphere was summed up in the verse, "wang shih guang fu tai wan re, jia ji wu wang gao nai ong." In other words, on such a day we must recall who recovered Taiwan; we must express gratitude to our elders. But since reunification vs. independence confrontations became the "norm," the importance of Taiwan Retrocession Day has been downplayed. This year this newspaper published a special edition discussing Taiwan Retrocesson Day. President Ma wrote a facebook post. Otherwise the public would have completely and utterly forgotten the special significance of October 25.

President Ma spoke in general terms about why Taiwanese have forgotten Taiwan Retrocession Day. He said it was because the Chinese Civil War never ended. President Ma "thanked the nation's men in arms for their sacrifice and dedication. Following Taiwan's retrocession they continued to defend Taiwan, build up Taiwan, and protect Taiwan. They enable us to live on Taiwan, to breath the air of freedom and democracy." What Mr. Ma said was correct as far as it went. But he deliberately avoided mentioning the full significance of the eight-year long War of Resistance against Japan, and the 50 year long struggle of Taiwan compatriots against Japanese colonial occupation.

When the Marco Polo Bridge Incident erupted, the Chinese people on the Mainland were being invaded, and their compatriots on Taiwan were enduring over four decades of Japanese colonial occupation. If the two groups still refused to resist the Japanese, the nation would perish, and they would become victims of genocide. Our forebears had powerful motives to resist the Japanese. It was not only to recover Taiwan. It was also to inspire a renaissance of the Chinese nation, and to ensure the survival of China's venerable culture. Resistance to Japanese colonialism was a shared reaction. It was all Chinese saying no to being abused by another people. Delinking Taiwan retrocession from China's modern history amounts to "contemplating the heavens from the bottom of a well." It also deludes later generations. During the Chiang Kai-shek era, the Black Cat and the Black Bat risked their lives to reunify and strengthen China. They were assuredly not, as today's propagandists would have us believe, concerned exclusively with defending Taiwan and sacrificing for Taiwan. They represented a tragic chapter in the Chinese Civil War. They were heroes who aspired to far more than just the defense of Taiwan.

Ma said, "The Diaoyutai Islands are liked Taiwan's children. In 1895 the Japanese invaded and abducted them. They were like newborn infants who were kidnapped soon after birth. Their names were forcibly changed. Japan's abduction of our flesh and blood has kept them apart from us for 50 years. Those stolen years cannot be reclaimed. For the moment the name remains changed. But the flesh and blood relationship remains an iron-clad fact, a fact of history that no one can change."

Diaoyutai and Taiwan are each others' flesh and blood. Yet they have been forcibly kept apart. But more than just Diaoyutai and Taiwan have been kept apart. Taiwan and the Chinese mainland have also been kept apart. Japan took Diaoyutai, an offshore island of Taiwan, from Taiwan. But Japan also took Taiwan, an offshore island of China, from China. President Ma spoke in generalities. He stressed only Diaoyutai's link to Taiwan. He refused to address Taiwan's link to the Mainland. This would never have happened before the advent of Taiwan independence.

We realize that in today's political climate, President Ma cannot spell out the situation too clearly. The two sides are still in an adversarial relationship. But this is why so many people on Taiwan are unwilling to negotiate a peace agreement with the Mainland based on the one China premise. This is why the de jure state of civil war cannot end. Many people on Taiwan still see the other side as the enemy, rather than as family. A divided sense of national allegiance, historical confusion, the Cold War, and the Chinese Civil War have all taken their toll. Mutual trust, mutual love, and a shared vision for the future have been lost.

Comb through history, and one will discover that many Taiwan independence advocates have prettified Japan's occupation of Taiwan. They were unhappy with early Kuomintang rule. They were subjected to years of anti-communist indoctrination. They witnessed the Communist Mainland's bungling during the Cultural Revolution. The desire of people on Taiwan for reunification has diminished greatly. But can we really throw the baby out with the bath water?

Famous Taiwanese writer Chen Ying-chen found himself in hot water as a result of his leftist ideology. He was imprisoned by a so-called "foreign regime" for seven years. He had good reason to hate the KMT. He had good reason to hate the Chinese Communist Party and Mainland China. He had good reason to champion Taiwan independence. Yet this victimized Taiwanese concluded instead that only Chinese reunification and progress could ameliorate the suffering of people on both sides of the Strait. When Chen was serving his sentence, foreigners came to his rescue. But Chen's father turned down their offers of help. He said the Chinese people's affairs should be handled by the Chinese people themselves. This father had extraordinary insight. When he visited his son in prison he said, "First you are a child of God. Then you are a child of China. Only then are you a child of mine."

Lin Shu-yang passed away a few days ago. He was imprisoned the longest of any political prisoner on Taiwan. This Taiwanese was ungrudgingly and unreservedly pro-reunification. His concern for the long-term growth of the nation, far exceeded any concern he had for his own suffering.

Consolidate national allegiance. Improve the political structure. Implement public policy. These are the Three Peoples Principles: National unity, civil rights, and the public weal. National allegiance is the foundation. Only when allegiance is consistent, can people share both the bitter and the sweet. Only on such a foundation can one construct a sound political structure. People speak of "ballots instead of bullets." But the necessary precondition is that people must perceive each other as members of the same nation, and as members of the same family. If their allegiances clash, if they are determined to fight to the death, how can democracy possibly flourish? Only within a sound political structure, can one hold rational discussions, and implement sound economic policy. Therefore one cannot shelve differences over national allegiance. They are even more pressing than issues of civil rights and the public weal.

China has endured a prolonged civil war. This has led alienation on both sides of the Strait. This has led to military confrontation as well as economic weakness. This has enabled the US and Japan to take advantage of our weakness. We must not repeat our folly. Only a return to the one China premise can restore reason to cross-Strait relations, and truly end the civil war. Only then can we end internal conflict. Only then can we live normal lives.

內戰沒有英雄 內耗無法發展
    2012-10-27
    中國時報

　早年台灣，光復節是迎神、祭祖、辦桌、宴客的大日子。「王師光復台灣日，家祭勿忘告乃翁」就是當時的氛圍與寫照。統獨對峙以來，光復節已被淡化。今年若非本報推出光復節座談特刊，以及馬總統寫了一篇臉書文章，台灣社會幾乎遺忘了十月廿五日的特殊意義。

　馬總統為何語氣籠統，台灣人為何遺忘光復節，都與中國的內戰沒結束有關。馬總統「感謝國軍弟兄的犧牲奉獻，在『光復台灣』之後，繼續『保衛台灣』、『建設台灣』」與『守護台灣』，讓我們能生活在台灣這塊土地上，呼吸民主、自由的空氣」。馬先生所言皆對，但他刻意躲閃了中華民族八年抗戰，與台灣同胞五十年抗日的完整意義。

　七七事變後，被日欺凌的中國人，以及被日統治四十餘年的台胞，若再不抗日，就要亡國滅種。先人先烈抗日的目的，不僅要光復台灣，還渴盼復興中華民族、延續中華文化。抗日是兩岸全體中華子民面對外族欺凌的奮力一擊。把台灣光復與中國近代史切割，不僅以管窺天，更誤導後代子孫。正如蔣介石時代，黑貓、黑蝙蝠中隊所以出生入死，為的是追求中國的統一與富強，絕非今日所宣傳的保衛台灣、偏安台灣。他們代表中國內戰悲劇的一章，不是保台的「英雄」。

　馬又說：「釣魚台列嶼這個『台灣囝仔』，它在一八九五年被日本侵略竊佔，有如出生不久就在襁褓中被人抱走、被迫改名的嬰兒；日本的竊佔，使得我們骨肉離散五十年…。被抱走的歲月喚不回，被改的名字猶在，但血脈相連的關係是鐵一般的事實，是任誰也無法改變的歷史印記。」

　血脈相連卻骨肉離散的，豈止是釣魚台和台灣而已，台灣與大陸亦是如此。被日本強擄的，豈止台灣旁邊釣魚台這個「台灣囝仔」而已，神州大陸旁邊台灣這個「中國囝仔」也是如此。但馬總統語帶籠統，只強調釣魚台與台灣的連結，卻不願觸及台灣與大陸連結，這情況在台獨興起前，是不可能發生的。

　我們理解今日台灣的環境，不容許馬總統把話講完全。因為兩岸還處在不正常的敵對關係。但這是因台灣不願在一中前提下與大陸談判和平協議，導致法理上的內戰狀態無法結束，台灣仍把對岸當敵人，而不是家人。台灣社會的互信互愛與發展遠景，就在國格分裂、歷史錯亂與「冷內戰」的折磨下，逐漸流失。

　梳理歷史脈絡之後，我們發現部分獨派民眾美化日本治台貢獻，反應的乃是對早期國民黨統治的不滿。復由於長期的反共教育，以及中共文革的不當，遂使台人求統意識大幅下降。但是倒洗澡水，怎能把嬰兒一起倒掉？

　著名台籍作家陳映真因思想左傾賈禍，被「外來政權」下獄七年。他有充分理由恨國民黨，連帶也恨中共與中國，進而鼓吹台獨。但這個受害的台灣人卻認定中國的統一與進步，才能免除兩岸人民的苦難。陳服刑期間，外國人士試圖救他，但被陳父婉拒。他說：中國人的事情，還是由中國人自己承擔。這位見識不凡的父親，探監時對兒子說：「首先你是上帝的孩子，其次你是中國的孩子，最後你才是我的孩子。」

　日前過世的林書揚，是台灣坐牢最久的政治犯。這個台灣人也是無怨無悔的統派，他對民族長期發展的關心，遠超過自己遭遇的苦難。

　凝聚國家認同、完善政治結構、妥行公共政策，就是三民主義中民族、民權、民生的精義。國家認同是最底層建設，認同一致的人，才能休戚與共。在這基礎上，才能建構完善的政治結構。所謂「以數人頭代替打破人頭」，必得先接受對方是同胞、是家人。若是認同歧異，巴不得你死我活，哪有民主發展空間？有了完善政治結構之後，才能理性討論、推行民生政策。如此說來，解決國家認同不但不該擱置，更是比民權、民生更優先的議題。

　中國長期內戰，已經造成兩岸情感的分離、軍事的對峙，以及經濟實力的互相抵銷，更讓美、日見縫插針，吾人何其不智。唯有回到一中立場，理順兩岸關係，全面終止內戰，我們才能停止內耗，也才能正常發展與生活。