Taiwan independence
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Template:Unreferenced Taiwan independence (Template:Zh-tp, Pe̍h-oē-jī: Tâi-oân To̍k-li̍p; abbreviated to 台獨, Táidú, Tâi-to̍k) is a political movement whose goal is primarily to create an independent and sovereign Republic of Taiwan (out of the lands currently administered by the Republic of China) that its supporters consider to be politically, culturally, and geographically separate from China.
This movement is supported by the Pan-Green Coalition on Taiwan and opposed to different degrees by the Pan-Blue Coalition and the People's Republic of China, which favor Chinese reunification. The movement is internationally significant because a formal declaration of independence could lead to a military confrontation not only between the People's Republic of China and Taiwan, but could also draw in other regional powers such as the United States, Japan, and Russia.
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Different interpretations
Although the name itself might sound straightforward, "Taiwan independence" has varying definitions with different degrees of support. Currently, there are three major views.
The first view, put forward by the People's Republic of China government, defines Taiwan independence as "splitting Taiwan from China, causing division of the nation and the people." What "China" constitutes in this statement is somewhat ambiguous, as some statements by the People's Republic of China (PRC) seem to identify China solely and uncompromisingly with the PRC, and others indicate a broader and more flexible definition suggesting a cultural and geographic entity in which both mainland China and Taiwan are part but divided politically due to the Chinese Civil War. The PRC considers itself the sole legitimate government of all China, and the Republic of China to be a defunct entity replaced by itself as a legitimate government in the Communist revolution in 1949. Therefore, assertions that the ROC is a sovereign state are construed as support for Taiwan independence while proposals to change the name of the ROC to Taiwan are paradoxically met with even more disapproval since this would be the equivalent of formally dropping the notion that Taiwan is part of the greater China entity (as a side of an unresolved Chinese civil war).
The second view considers the move for Taiwan independence as a nationalist movement. This is the opinion, historically, put forward by such pro-independence groups on Taiwan as the tang wai movement (which later grew into the Democratic Progressive Party), which argue that the ROC under Kuomintang has been in the past a "foreign regime" forcibly imposed on Taiwan. Since the 1990s, supporters of Taiwan independence no longer actively make this argument. Instead, the argument has been that in order to survive against the growing power of the PRC, Taiwan must view itself as a separate and distinct entity from "China". This involves removing the name of China from official and unofficial items in Taiwan, rewriting history books to focus exclusively on Taiwan as a central entity, promoting the use of the Taiwanese language, reducing economic links with the PRC, and in general thinking of Taiwan as a separate entity from any notion of China. In this view, China is a foreign entity, and the goal of this movement is to create an internationally recognized state which is separate from any concept of China. Under this view, Quemoy and Matsu on the coast of Fukien, and some of the islands in the South China Sea, which are historically not part of Taiwan, but are retained by the ROC amidst the civil war, are to be excluded from the proposed state of Taiwan.
A third view is that Taiwan is already an independent nation with the official name Republic of China, which has been independent (i.e. de facto separate from mainland China) since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, when the ROC lost mainland China, with only Taiwan (including the Pescadores), Quemoy and Matsu on the coast of Fukien, and some of the islands in the South China Sea remaining under its administration. Although previously no major political faction adopted this pro-status quo viewpoint, because it is a "compromise" in face of Chinese threats and American warnings against a unilateral declaration of independence, the DPP combined it with their traditional belief to form their latest official policy. This viewpoint has not been adopted by more radical groups such as the Taiwan Solidarity Union, which favor only the second view and are in favor of a Republic or State of Taiwan. In addition, many members of the pan-blue coalition are rather suspicious of this view, fearing that adopting this definition of Taiwan independence is merely an insincere stealth tactical effort to advance desinicization and the second view of Taiwan independence. As a result, supporters of pan-blue tend to make a clear distinction between Taiwan independence and Taiwan sovereignty, while supporters of pan-green tend to try to blur the distinction between the two.
History of the Movement Template:Citation needed
The modern-day political movement for Taiwan independence dates to the immediate post-1945 period but became a viable political force within Taiwan only in the 1990s.
With the end of World War II in 1945, Japanese colonialization ended, but the subsequent rule under the Republic of China's autocratic KMT revived calls for local rule.
During the martial law era lasting until 1987, discussion of Taiwan independence was forbidden in Taiwan, at a time when recovery of the mainland and national unification were the stated goals. During that time, many advocates of independence and other dissidents fled overseas, and carried out their advocacy work there, notably in Japan and the United States. Part of their work involved setting up think tanks, political organizations, and lobbying networks in order to influence the politics of their host countries, notably the United States, Republic of China's main ally, though they would not be very successful until much later.
Within Taiwan, the independence movement was one of many dissident causes among the intensifying democracy movement of the 1970s, which culminated in the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was eventually formed to represent dissident causes.
After the lifting of martial law in 1987, and the acceptance of multiparty politics, the DPP became increasingly identified with Taiwan independence, which entered its party platform in 1991. At the same time, many overseas independence advocates and organizations returned to Taiwan and for the first time openly promoted their cause in Taiwan and gradually built up political support. By the late 1990s, DPP and Taiwan independence have gained a solid electoral constituency in Taiwan, supported by an increasingly vocal and hardcore base.
As the electoral success of the DPP, and later, the DPP-led pan-green coalition grew in recent years, the Taiwan independence movement shifted focus to identity politics by proposing many plans involving symbolism and social engineering. The interpretation of historical events such as the 228 incident, the use of broadcast language and mother tongue education in schools, the official name and flag of the ROC, slogans in the army, orientation of maps all have been issues of concern to the present-day Taiwan independence movement. With the cross-straits political process stalled, this is likely to be the focus of the movement for the foreseeable future.
History as a Taiwan Independence Movement
Template:Citation needed Many supporters of independence for Taiwan view the history of Taiwan since the 1600s as a continuous struggle for independence and use it as an inspiration for the current political movement. In this view, the people indigenous to Taiwan and those who have taken up residence there have been repeatedly occupied by groups like the Dutch, the Ming and Qing dynasties, Koxinga and the Ming loyalists, the Japanese. From a pro-indeoendent supporter's point of view, Taiwan is currently still under the occupation of Chinese nationalists despite the government being democractically elected. Under this view:
- Taiwan independence movement began under Manchu rule in the 1680s which led to a well known saying those days, "Every three years an uprising, every five years a rebellion". The people of Taiwan have been occupied in partial or in whole by various groups from the 1600s, the Dutch, the Manchu, Koxinga and the Ming dynasty loyalists, the French, the Qing dynasty, the Japanese, and then by Chinese nationalists. The Taiwan independence movement under Japan was ironically supported by Mao Zedong in the 1930s as a means of freeing Taiwan from Japanese rule. With the end of World War II in 1945, the Allies agreed that the Republic of China Army under the Kuomintang would "temporarily occupy Taiwan, on behalf of the Allied forces."
- After the Kuomintang began to rule the island, the focus of the movement was as a vehicle for discontent from the native Taiwanese against the rule of "mainlanders" (i.e. mainland China-born people who fled to Taiwan with KMT in the late 1940s). The 228 incident in 1947 and the ensuing martial law policies which lasted until 1987 contributed to a so-called sense of White Terror on the island. In 1979, the Kaohsiung Incident, occurred as the movement for democracy and independence intensified.
- Between 1949 and 1991, the official position of the ROC government on Taiwan was that it was the legitimate government of all of China and used this position as justification for authoritarian measures such as the refusal to vacate the seats held by delegates elected on the mainland in 1947 for the Legislative Yuan. The Taiwan independence movement intensified in response to this and presented an alternative vision of a sovereign and independent Republic of Taiwan. This vision was represented through a number of symbols such as the use of Taiwanese in opposition to the school taught Mandarin Chinese. Taiwan independence has been some of the motivation behind the Taiwanese localization movement.
Support
The official opinion of the People's Republic of China has always been against Taiwan independence, and it has stated that a formal declaration of Taiwan independence will trigger military intervention. They often state that independence is wanted by only a small group, which is trying to brainwash others into thinking the same thing. Most people on the mainland would have a similar view although no reliable study has been made in the academia as to whether people suggesting unification are in the majority or not. What is clear though is written in the 2000 White Paper that Chinese government does not believe the 22 million people of Taiwan have the power to unilaterally declare independence through a referendum or otherwise, and that eventual unification is the only option.
In Taiwan itself, the situation is much more complicated. As mentioned previously there are two different interpretations in Taiwan. For the nationalist one of seeking total separation from China, support has grown steadily over the last decade. This change by no means translates into support for independence, which still represents a minority within which there are factions advocating several different, often incompatible approaches.
The view that the status quo is sovereign self-rule enjoys near universal support within Taiwan. An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese and virtually all political parties would agree that the Republic of China is a sovereign state (they do disagree bitterly on such details as territory, name, future policies and history though), and a smaller percentage would support the view that China is a hostile, enemy nation. When the two-states policy was put forward by President Lee Teng-hui, he received 80 percent support. Similar situations arose when President Chen Shui-bian declared that there was "one country on each side" of the Taiwan Strait . However, the Pan-Blue Coalition and the People's Republic of China believe that Lee and Chen intend on publicly promoting a moderate form of Taiwan independence in order to secretly advance deeper forms of Taiwan independence, and that they intend to use popular support on Taiwan for political separation to advance notions of cultural and economic separation.
Image:Taiwan-protest1.JPG At the same time, polls indicate that most Taiwanese do not think that Taiwanese culture is or should be separate from Chinese culture, and efforts to remove the symbols of "China" can provoke very strong reactions from some sectors of society. Some elements of the Taiwanese society would even consider Taiwan to be the "true heir" to Chinese culture considering the degradation and rejection conducted during the Cultural Revolution, and the adoption of Simplified Chinese on the mainland. In addition, many sectors of society, especially the business community, are wary of the efforts to reduce trade with mainland China.
This complex situation is perhaps best demonstrated when on October 25, 2004, in Beijing, the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Taiwan is "not sovereign", provoking strong yet varying comments from both the pan-Green and pan-Blue coalitions. From the DPP's side, President Chen declared that "Taiwan is definitely a sovereign, independent country, a great country that absolutely does not belong to the People's Republic of China". The TSU, in addition to mocking Powell, questioned why United States sold weapons to Taiwan. From the KMT, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou announced that "the Republic of China has been a sovereign state ever since it was formed [in 1912]". James Soong called it "Taiwan's biggest failure in diplomacy".Template:Citation needed Although the reasons for the various groups claiming Taiwan already possessing sovereignty vary in the specifics, they generally view the de facto exercise of sovereignty by the current government clear backing of de jure sovereignty, at least at the present.
Some have attributed the independence movement to be associated with the far-right, and it is supported by the far-right politicians of Japan and the United States. It is also thought that if independence were achieved, Taiwan's foreign policies would lean further towards Japan and the United States. However, within the Taiwanese political spectrum, the right wing is considered to consist of staunch supporters of Chinese reunification (in the mold of Chiang Kai-shek) while the DPP is considered left leaning and the TSU bills itself as the centrist alternative to the DPP.
Significance
Image:Flag of Taiwan proposed 1996.svg
Domestically, the issue of independence has dominated Taiwanese politics for the past couple decades. This is also a grave issue for mainland China.
Internationally, this movement is also significant in that a formal declaration of independence is one of the five conditions the PRC has stated or implied under which it will take military action against Taiwan to force reunification — the other four being that Taiwan makes a military alliance with a foreign power, there is internal turmoil in Taiwan, Taiwan gains weapons of mass destruction, or Taiwan refuses to negotiate on the basis of "one China". (Recently, the PRC warned that if the situation in Taiwan becomes worse and spirals out of control, they will not look on "indifferently.") By law, military action against Taiwan by the PRC would be seen as a serious threat to peace and seem to obligate the United States to come to the aid of Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act, thus possibly causing a superpower conflict in East Asia. However, this interpretation of the Taiwan Relations Act is somewhat flawed. The President of the United States, an act of Congress signed by the President, or a declaration of war would be required to approve of military action, just as they do normally for other conflicts.
Formal Taiwan independence is also recently seen by Japan as one of the three situations in which another Sino-Japanese war would be triggered. Japan has evaluated that in event of Taiwanese independence, the PRC would launch a pre-emptive strike against Japan to prevent U.S. troops stationed there to reinforce Taiwan. (The other two scenarios are: armed struggle for the resources in the Pacific and a PRC attack to regain the disputed islands between the two states.)
Current status
In more recent years, with the existence of democratic and direct elections, the focus of the movement has changed to that of insuring the independence and dignity of Taiwan against the possibility of rule by the People's Republic of China, and as such has been more willing to take on the symbols of the Republic of China. The movement has also moderated in recent years because of decreasing friction between "Mainlander" and "native" communities on Taiwan, increasing economic ties with mainland China, continuing threats by the People's Republic of China to invade if it declares independence, and doubts as to whether or not the United States would support a unilateral declaration of independence. Since the late 1990s, many supporters of Taiwan independence have argued that since Taiwan, as the ROC, is already independent from the mainland, a formal declaration of that fact is not urgent, and in 1998, the Democratic Progressive Party formalized this position in its party resolution.
After the October 10 speech by president Chen in 2004, support for independence increased. Polls suggest that nearly 30% of Taiwanese residents now support independence, and an even higher percentage would support the construction of a Republic of Taiwan in 2008, as the final step after the proposed constitutional revisions in 2006. Support for One Country, Two Systems, the proposed solution by the PRC, is between 5-7%. The majority (just below 60%) still support the status quo, which is to leave Taiwan's status exactly the way that it is and to leave the issue of whether to become independent or reunify for a future date. One advantage of this option is that it avoids the necessity of defining exactly what Taiwan's status really is.
During Chinese President Hu's US visit on 20th April 2006, US President George W. Bush reaffirmed to the world about his opposition toward's Taiwan independence, aligning with the Chinese President's interest.
See also
- Flag of the Republic of China
- History of the Republic of China
- Four-stage Theory of the Republic of China
External links
Template:Politics of Taiwan footerzh-min-nan:Tâi-oân to̍k-li̍p ūn-tōng ja:台湾独立運動 no:Taiwansk uavhengighet zh:台灣獨立運動