Letters | Why Taiwan’s assertiveness towards Beijing is not a fleeting trend

There is increasing bipartisan consensus on the issue, even from the traditionally pro-Beijing opposition Kuomintang, supported by the Taiwanese people

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Taiwanese honour guards fold the island’s flag in Taipei on June 22. Photo: EPA-EFE

Letters

Published: 12:30am, 8 Jul 2021Updated: 12:02pm, 9 Jul 2021

There is an emerging bipartisan consensus in Taiwan that espouses greater assertiveness towards Beijing.

First, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Kuomintang (KMT) both condemned the violence at Yuen Long MTR station on July 21, 2019, with the DPP accusing the Hong Kong authorities of listening more to Beijing than to its people. Then, on May 29, 2020, both parties worked together in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan to issue a bipartisan statement rebuking China’s plan to enforce the national security law in Hong Kong.

Furthermore, both parties have publicly expressed their opposition to Beijing’s proposal of “one country, two systems” for future unification. Current President Tsai Ing-wen of the DPP rejects it outright while former president Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT said in March that it was “officially dead” after China proposed sweeping electoral reforms in Hong Kong.

These are not aberrations, but harbingers of Taipei’s growing bipartisan assertiveness towards Beijing.

The political trend has long been building. A prime example is the subtle recalibration of Ma’s China policy during his leadership. It was originally designed to maintain the status quo of cross-strait relations so as to prepare Taiwan for future unification with the Chinese mainland. Yet, the Ma administration gradually shifted its focus to prolonging the status quo.

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This was exemplified by the Ma government’s reluctance to restore the National Unification Council, which was established in 1990 to formulate guidelines for Taiwan’s future unification with China, and abolished in 2006.