In it Great Palace of the Peoplewith much solemnity and applause, was received on Friday a Taiwanese politics. The first meeting in one decade of one general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and a Kuomintang (KMT) leaderbitter rivals in the civil war, revealed the harmony that the Formosa Strait would enjoy today if the latter governed Taipei. It happens that he is solidly established in the opposition and the harmonious reunification desired during the day is unlikely.
Xi Jinping y Chen Li-wun They praised peace in these turbulent times. “Today the world is far from peaceful and there is nothing more precious than peace,” Xi said. “The compatriots on both sides of the Strait are all Chinese and belong to a single family that desires peace, development, exchanges and cooperation,” he continued. “When a family is healthy, all members prosper,” he added. Only the independence movement, he clarified, generates problems. “China will never tolerate or forgive him,” he vowed.
Chen had presented his visit to China like a “journey for peace” that would measure “Beijing’s sincerity to engage in peaceful dialogue.” Today he has delved deeper into that path. “Taiwan must stop being a point of tension for potential conflicts and become a symbol of peace protected by the Chinese people on both sides of the strait,” he stated. “Although we live under different systems, we will respect each other and get closer to each other, we will look for solutions to avoid war,” he wished. If the KMT governs Taiwan, it has promised, it will invite Xi to the island. There are two years until the next elections: let it continue Xi in Beijing it is very likely; that he KMT breaking his three-game losing streak is much less so.
A “problematic” trip
Chen is a controversial figure In a society as polarized as Taiwanese. She says that “it is natural to feel Chinese,” but only a third of the Taiwanese population shares this, and many accuse her of getting too close to what they perceive as the enemy. The Democratic Progressive Party (PDP), now in power, has called the trip “politically problematic.”
It is no coincidence that Chen will land on Tuesday in Nanjing. It was the chinese capital during the KMT government. The victory of Mao’s communists forced the flight of Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalists to Taiwan and hostility continued for decades, with both claiming to be the legitimate Government of China, until burying the hatchet at a summit in Beijing in 2005. KMT supported the reunification in one Democratic China while the PDP defends independence theses.
It is usual that Beijing reward the first governments with more commercial, economic and tourist exchanges to convince the Taiwanese that their life will be more prosperous and secure in the arms of the Motherland. For the latter, on the other hand, there are only threats and campaigns to erase their already tenuous mark on the world. It is symptomatic that Chen I will request today Xi that would allow Taiwan a more visible role, at least in regional economic organizations, and that he saw it “in a positive way.” The carrot and stick strategy, with which Beijing sought a progressive rapprochement, has proven calamitous. He Chinese sentiment recedes on the island and The KMT has moved from hegemonic to oppositional.
“Goddess of reunification”
Just talk Beijing with Chen, applauded from the Chinese networks as “the goddess of reunification”while ignoring the offers of the president, Lai Ching-te, disdained as an independence arsonist. The visit of Chen coincides with the parliamentary noise in Taipei. The majority of the KMT has paralyzed a special allocation of 40 billion dollars in Defense. The Government judges that the opposition endangers the security of the island. “History tells us that compromises with authoritarian regimes always cost sovereignty and democracy and never bring freedom or peace,” Lai warned this week. For the KMT, on the other hand, there are greater urgencies than enriching the American arms industry.
It also flies over the island the understandable concern to become a pawn of the volatile US geopolitical interests. Taiwan will be a priority issue for Beijing at the imminent summit Xi y Donald Trump. The arms sale signed in December for $11 billion, one of the largest between Washington and Taipei, irritated China and endangered trade peace.
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