Despite US pundits, the Taiwanese do not want war
Apr 3, 2023
By some strange reasoning NATO, the US and the pundits seem to think the current war between Russia – Ukraine is a precursor to hostilities they expect to see between Taiwan and China.
It is an unlikely scenario. Travel between Taiwan and China is frequent. Official Taiwan figures for people permitted to work in China is around 400,000. But unofficial figures put the numbers entering China to work at around 2 million, mostly in cheap labour-intensive manufacturing plants in the Guangzhou area of southern China. Work permits are issued automatically. Before the pandemic, direct flights brought large exchanges of tourists. Air or sea travellers to China enter through special fast entry-gates with only perfunctory passport checks. Students travel freely between the institutions of both sides, though with some fall-off since recent tensions. Both sides speak the same standard Mandarin.
True, polls indicate few Taiwanese want to come under direct Beijing rule. But from voting totals it is claimed a majority of the population – 6 to 5 – favour the KMT party seeking talks with Beijing rather than the ruling DDP party.
The DDP denies the one-China consensus reached between Beijing and the KMT in 1992 and seeks to make its way independently, much to Beijing’s ire.
But for the moment it seems very unlikely Beijing plans a resort to arms.
In February KMT deputy leader Andrew Hsia visited China for nine days for talks with Beijing’s Taiwan affairs office head, Song Tao, and other top leaders.
Currently former KMT leader and president of Taiwan 2008-2016, Ma Ying-Jeou, is making a personal visit to China.
In the 2002 mayoral elections the KMT romped home – 22 to 5. In national elections scheduled for next year DPP leader, Tsai Ying-wen, cannot stand and the KMT with its rising star, the popular mayor of Taipei, Chiang Wan-an, great grand-son of former China leader, Chiang Kai-shek, is tipped to do well, though younger Taiwanese are said to be moving more against Beijing.
Gregory Clark was the first postwar Australian diplomat trained in Chinese, with postings to Hong Kong, Moscow and the UN before retiring in protest against the Vietnam War. After PhD studies at the ANU he became Japan correspondent for The Australian. A spell in Canberra’s Prime Ministers department led to professorships at Tokyo’s Sophia University and presidency of Tama University, before becoming co-founder of the very successful English language Akita Kokusai Daigaku. He has now retired to Latin America (Peru) and Kiwi fruit growing in Boso peninsular south of Tokyo.
His works include ‘In Fear of China’ (1969) and several books in Japan on education and foreign policy.
He used to speak Chinese and Russian with fluency. He now speaks Japanese and Spanish.
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