MIM Notes 192 August 15 1999

Taiwanese demonstrate substance of national question 

The Chinese people have thousands of years of history together as 
a people with their own Mandarin alphabet and language. Yet on 
July 9th, the governor of Taiwan--Lee Teng-hui--made separatist 
remarks to a German radio station.(1) 

Currently, U.$.-China tensions are higher than they have been in 
decades. On July 30th, Uncle Sam agreed to pay China $4.5 million 
for the 27 injuries and 3 people killed by the May 7th bombing of 
the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia. As MIM reported before, China 
still does not accept the U.$. explanation of the bombing as being 
a result of faulty intelligence.(2) 

The Taiwan matter is something that China has always held 
suspicions toward the United $tates on, because originally Uncle 
Sam recognized Taiwan as having the official government of China. 
It wasn't until a generation after Mao's liberation of China that 
the United $tates warmed up to so-called Mainland China. 

Tensions regarding Taiwan are so high that "When a short circuit 
triggered an air-raid siren in the city of Tainan, many jittery 
citizens rang up police stations to ask if 'communist fighter jets 
have arrived,' the United Evening News reported."(2) At the same 
time, many attributed a two day blackout of electricity to the 
Mainland Chinese's preparing invasion. 

While the posturing by Taiwanese politicians has aggravated the 
situation, it is not possible to rule out that financial 
speculation was the underlying cause. Stock markets in Taiwan, 
Hong Kong and China instantly dropped(3) as Taiwanese leaders made 
remarks that would predictably lead to talk of war to bring Taiwan 
back to China. An 82-year-old so-called envoy named Koo Chen-fu 
from Taiwan stressed that Taiwan still favored reunification with 
China some day. 

Ultra-right-wingers around the world are now standing for Taiwan 
to separate from Mainland China. People like Senator Jesse Helms 
stand for a strong pro-Taiwan policy for the U.S. Government. 

Gradually since Mao liberated China in 1949 and sent the landlord 
and U.$. lackey families packing to Taiwan, the Taiwanese have 
lost their Chinese identity. The reasons are three-fold: money, 
money and more money. 

Older people in Taiwan remember living on the Mainland, but 
younger people are more concerned with the economy. They believe 
they will pay higher taxes if reunited to the Mainland, because 
the rest of China is poorer than Taiwan. 

Taiwan is excellent proof of the economic reality underlying 
nationalism. With enough money, a people can give up thousands of 
years of history. 

Notes: 1. Beijing Review, Vol. 42, No. 31, 
http://www.china.org.cn/bjreview/ 2. USA Today 
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/nwsfri01.htm 2. 
http://cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9907/30/BC-Taiwan-Blackout-1.ap/ 3. 
http://cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9907/30/BC-TAIWAN-
CHINA.reut/index.html