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An Ancient Cure for Chinese Woe 159
A pronouncement by the Imperial Conference of
1926 described Great Britain and the dominions as
“autonomous communities within the British Empire,
equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in
any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though
united by a common allegiance to the Crown and freely
associated as members of the British Commonwealth of
Nations.” Internationally, the dominions were recognized
as separate states, entitled to have separate representation
in the League of Nations and other world organizations,
to appoint their own ambassadors, and to
conclude their own treaties. At the same time, the dominions
were not considered to stand in the same relation
to the United Kingdom or among themselves as
foreign countries. After 1947 the phrase “members of
the Commonwealth” came into use. The British Commonwealth
of Nations was taken over by the Commonwealth
of Nations in 1949. The birth of the modern
Commonwealth was set in train with India’s and Pakistan’s
independence in 1947. In the London Declaration
of 1949, the word “British” was dropped from the association’s
title to reflect the Commonwealth’s new reality,
for both countries have presidents as their heads of state.
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom has the new
designation “Head of the Commonwealth. She fills two
distinct roles for the Commonwealth. For the newer
republican members, such as India and Pakistan, she
was the symbol of the free association of the Commonwealth
while for the older members she was also
the head of the government and society to whom their
peoples gave allegiance. The Commonwealth facilitates
consultation among member states through meetings of
prime ministers and finance ministers, and through a
permanent secretariat. Members consult on economic,
scientific, educational, financial, legal and military
matters, and try to coordinate policies. Commonwealth
countries work together to build a better world.
The People’s Republic of China claims Taiwan is
one of its provinces, which has to be brought back to its
hold by force, if necessary. Beijing has ruled out possibilities
that Taiwan becomes part of a reunified China
as a dominion or free state, because it is afraid such an
arrangement may encourage Tibet, Xinjiang (Chinese
Turkistan), Inner Mongolia and other provinces to follow
suit in the belief that a change of China’s polity
into a confederation or union might elevate their rights
to govern themselves and weaken its centralized control
over them.
China’s hard stance is likely to change. It is rising
as a world power. It is now more self-confident than
ever before as a major world power playing an increasingly
important role in Asian as well as international
affairs. A more self-confident China is more likely to
accept Taiwan’s dominion status as an indispensable
arrangement for its reunification. Beijing may emulate
the British crown that has granted dominion status to
Canada and Australia. Taiwan as a dominion and the
People’s Republic of China should be, under this arrangement,
“autonomous communities within China,
equal in status, in no way subordinate each to the other
in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs,
though united in the name of the Chinese nation and
associated as members of the Chinese Commonwealth.”
The president of the People’s Republic of
China is the ex officio head of the commonwealth. It is
virtually the same as Deng Xiaoping’s “one country,
two systems” principle, applied to the former British
crown colony of Hong Kong. Internationally, Taiwan as
a dominion can be recognized as a separate state, entitled
to have separate representation in the United Nations
and other world organizations, to appoint its own
ambassadors, and to conclude its own treaties. At the
same time, it is not considered to stand in the same relation
to the People’s Republic of China as foreign
countries.
Then it is up to the People’s Republic of China to
create a Chinese commonwealth, which will greatly
benefit the People’s Republic. For one thing, Beijing
would be able to solve the question of Tibet, if it were
admitted to the commonwealth as a dominion. People
in Tibet rose against China in the lead-up to the Olympic
Games in Beijing in August 2008. The Dalai Lama
wants nothing more than autonomy. Should full au-