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An Ancient Cure for Chinese Woe 161
armed force, which further drained the meager coffer.
As a consequence, the Texans voted for annexation by
the United States; and the proposition, rejected twice by
Washington was finally accepted in 1845. Texas ceased
to be an independent, sovereign state in 1846 when the
transfer of authority from the republic to the state of
Teas took place.
Asia is emerging as the world’s largest trade bloc.
China, Korea and Japan are joining the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to form a free trade
zone in a few years. As Taiwan is excluded from this
ASEAN-plus-Three scheme, it will be marginalized
economically, for its export trade will wither and may
dry up. Ma Ying-jeou’s way out of this dilemma is a
common market across the Taiwan Strait. His vice
president, Vincent Siew, took part in the Boao economic
forum of 2008 in his capacity as chairman of the
Cross-Strait Common Market Foundation, and met with
Chinese President Hu Jintao. Lien Chan, honorary
chairman of the Kuomintang, and Wu Poh-hsiung, the
incumbent, followed it up with their respective meetings
with Hu Jintao, who doubles as general secretary
of the Chinese Communist Party. Lien, in particular, is
an advocate of Chinese confederation, an idea similar to
the Chinese commonwealth which alone may be endorsed
by the United States, Japan and other world
powers. All of them want the status quo between Taiwan
and China. Their national interests will be hurt if
Chinese reunification takes place as Beijing now wants.
Neither do they want Taiwan to get too closely associated
with China. If Taiwan remains a dominion within
the Chinese commonwealth, they will be able to best
safeguard their respective national interests.
The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), a government-funded
organization in Taipei charged with
conducting current relations between Taiwan and China,
held a “summit” meeting with its Chinese counterpart
Association for Relations across the Taiwan Strait
(ARATS) on June 11-14. Their chairmen signed agreements
to start direct flights across the strait and let
Chinese tourists visit Taiwan. The resumption of
cross-strait dialogue, suspended since 1998, marked the
beginning of a rapprochement between Taipei and Beijing.
The Beijing meeting was followed up by the signing
in Taipei of four agreements between Taiwan and
China. Chen Yunlin, ARATS chairman, came to Taipei
on November 3 and signed with his SEF counterpart
P.K. Chiang the four accords on daily charter flights
along much shortened routes, direct maritime shipping,
better postal service and food safety three days later.
President Ma also received Chen at the Taipei Guest
House before his departure for Beijing on November 7.
It was made possible after both sides accepted the consensus
of 1992, a tacit agreement on one China, with a
respective interpretation, which is a modus vivendi.
Issues over economic and cultural exchange have to be
solved through this arrangement to effect a workable
compromise in the immediate future, but the time will
come sooner than later for the two sides to address
themselves to the fundamental issue in dispute they
now do not want to settle permanently, their reunification.
China is now more amenable to the idea of commonwealth.
In meeting SEF chairman P.K. Chiang in
Beijing on June 14, President Hu said China would
consider Taiwan’s joining the World Health Organization,
which requires statehood for membership, in an
appropriate capacity. That is proof of Beijing’s willingness
to end its persistent and often malicious opposition
to Taipei’s participation in international activities as a
quasi-sovereign state. It was a far cry from Mao Zedong’s
vow to wash Taiwan with blood, and a marked
change from Deng Xiaoping’s opposition to the use of
the ROC. Lin Yang-kang, former president of the Judicial
Yuan, visited Wang Daohan, the deceased ARATS
chairman, in Shanghai in 1996. Lin proposed a reunification
with Taiwan joining as a dominion or free state
under the name of Zhong-hua gong-he-guo ( 中 華 共 和
國 ). Wang promised to study the idea. When they met
in the following year, Wang said Deng, the supreme
leader, did not like the English translation of the proposed
title of the reunified nation. The translation might
be the “Republic of China” or “ROC.” Zhong-hua is