SPECIAL - Taiwan and the right to s

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Subject: SPECIAL - Taiwan and the right to self-determination

THE NATION - August 4, 1999 

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      Taiwan and the right to self-determination

      PHILIP Bowring in his article ''The route to reunification''
(South China Morning Post, Friday July 23, 1999) wrote that geography
and history have given Taiwan the reality of ''one country, two states''
not ''one country, two systems''. This argument needs to be emphasised. 

      Firstly, the notion of ''one country, two states'' is, in reality,
a misnomer. Taiwan has always been a country in every sense of the word
and one only need to look back at the past decades, when it was a full
member of the United Nations, until expelled in favour of the People's
Republic of China. 

      If the so-called UN and international community have given in to
the bullying of PRC to withdraw the recognition of Taiwan, it is their
own responsibilities and choices. But the fact remains that Taiwan has
been a country with all trappings and bearings of a nation-state, even
without a UN seat, before the PRC was even born. Thus, the PRC and
Taiwan are two separate entities and the notion of ''one country, two
states'' should be corrected as ''two countries, two states''. 

      Secondly, the KMT occupation and colonisation troops, which by 28
February 1947 had massacred 10,000 to 20,000 indigenious Taiwanese
resisting its rule, is a stark reminder that the relationship between
the mainlanders and the Taiwanese is nothing but ''colonial''. 

      Thirdly, the KMT's recent change of heart to embrace
''democratisation'' and toying with the idea of ''independence'' and
''nation-state'' are in line with the Taiwanese aspirations. The
Democratic Progressive Party, which has been spearheading the
establishment of an independent nation-state, is, more or less, also in
agreement with President Lee, at least where self-determination of the
people of Taiwan is concerned. 

      Fourthly, if ethnicity alone is going to play a significant role
in determining the existence of a country or nation-state, the Thais
should have built a vast country encompassing part of China, Shan State,
Laos and even part of Vietnam, where the Tais are settled. The same will
also be true for the German ethnic groups where they are spread out all
over Europe. The examples could go on and on. The fact that ethnicity
alone should have a final say in determining the boundry of a country is

not a valid or acceptable notion. Then why should Taiwan and China be
the exception. Apart from that, the Taiwanese don't even consider
themselves to be of the same kind with the mainlanders. 

      Given such circumstances, the UN or international community should
give the Taiwanese electorate a chance to decide for itself, in a
referendum, whether it would like to be part of PRC or want to be left
alone. We should not let the size and influence of Beijing force the
rest of the world to swallow the notion that there can be only one
Chinese state. 

      The United Nations' Secretary General Kofi Annan once said that
''the struggle for independence, for self-rule -- for the right of a
people to be a master of its own destiny -- is the struggle for human
rights''. If so, why should we leave out the Taiwanese from exercising
their right to self-determination. 

      Sai Wansai 

      Shan Democratic Union, Europe Coordination Office 

      GERMANY