the "anti-secession law" invited a lot of debate on the web:
The American Civil War was fought over a bunch of territories trying to secede from the Union. In a more modern context if California announced it was going Communist and leaving the USA, would the rest of America accept that blindly?
many western readers refuse to see this simple fact that no country would ever allow a part of it become a antagonistic force. and in addition to this pure national interest consideration, the equally important fact is - taiwan IS a chinese soil.
Brian Dunn states the Chinese will invade Taiwan. (via IP). His proof? China's military modernisation program, the newly passed anti-secession law and an article in the Taipei Times.
by giving a 3 prerequisites of "non-peaceful means" against taiwan secessionism, mainland china has in fact given the right of initiating a war to taiwan, in this way, the status quo could be kept and "cold peace" maintained. sounds absurd? go to study the "game theory" microeconomics
In some respects it shows restraint from previous policy positions
sharp eyes, indeed. read carefully the previous statement and the statement in "anti-secession law" : "There is only one China in the world. People's Republic of China is the only lawful government of China. Taiwan is part of China." vs. "There is only one China in the world. Both the mainland and Taiwan belong to one China".
This piece of legislation will treat Taiwan as part of the territory of the People's Republic of China. There is thus no such as issue as the question of how or when unification should take place, but only the question of how to correct Taiwan's current separation from the PRC.
the above piece of shit comes from taipei times, which makes me laugh out loudly. but i doubt the guy really believes what he says, what a poor guy.
The fact that China initiated the anti-secession legislation despite the outcome of last year's legislative elections in Taiwan is a sign that its policies toward Taiwan are being directed by hardliners.
again, it is from taipei times, it is true that mainland china's policies towards taiwan are being directed by hardliners in taiwan. i doubt the mainland could ever develop such a law if taiwan secessionists didn't aggressively pursue changing the status quo.
But if that was so, how could a legal bill about to be passed be so unclear and the process so opaque that there has been no public debate at all?
the debate has been going for years, the public has pushed the launch of such a law for years, fortunately the government was not kidnapped by nationalistic sentiment and only when the situation becomes unbearable, the law is launched to contain taiwan secessionism fundamentalists.
it seems the writer of this article in taipei times (the director of foreign policy studies at the Taiwan Thinktank), terribly failed to understand the cause of "anti-secession law", while an american engineer who works in shenzhen, pointed out clearly in a post comment what makes mainland china feel urgent to launch the law:
Ironically, China, the large power whose goal is to reclaim control over the smaller one, seems prepared to tolerate the status quo arrangement for quite some time, despite what Tkacik thinks, while Taiwan, the small highly vulnerable player - though not under attack or imminent threat of attack - seems ready to destroy the framework that has guaranteed the peace.
and i find another comment that shows how ignorant "the director of foreign policy studies at the Taiwan Thinktank" is on mainland china:
But as the communist government is unable to carry out domestic reform, heightened tension with the outside world is the best way to retain its hold on power.
he should listen to this american who works in mainland china:
...so-called "Communists verses Capitalists" is also very anachronistic! China today is an example of bureaucratic state capitalism - it has nothing whatsoever to do with the ideals or concepts of "communism" - and it never has
hmmm, this commentator don't believe the law will actually benefit taiwan.
Of course, the People’s Daily thinks the law is in Taiwan’s best interest!But the question I have is, will the western world make the mistake of World War II and appease China?
without "anti-secession law", taiwan's extremists will push the secession like madman, and you expect mainland china sit doing nothing? the logic is simple and clear - by containing those taiwan extremists, the status quo could be kept and a gradual and peaceful re-integration could become possible. any trouble to understand this?
a final note, seems many commentators have different misconceptions of the issue, including some ignorance, which make the debate like building a skyscraping without cornerstones.
update 3/17:
jing made a similar comment yesterday in simon world:
but I have found that the conservative blogging circuit to be generally obnoxious, borderline paranoid, detached from reality, and pitifully ignorant when it concerns asia-pacific affairs. Prone to leaps in logic and judgement and erratic to the extreme...
other links:
the china syndrome