Chinese Reunification - Current Proposals

Current Proposals

The People's Republic of China officially asserts itself to be the sole legitimate government of China, and that Taiwan is a province of China. It has proposed reunification with Taiwan under the principle of "One Country, Two Systems", as has been done for both Hong Kong and Macau. According to the proposal outlined by CPC General secretary and President Jiang Zemin in 1995, Taiwan would lose sovereignty and the right to self-determination, but would be permitted to keep its armed forces and to send a representative to be the "number two leader" in the PRC central government. Thus, under this proposal, the Republic of China would be made fully defunct. However, changes in the political situation in Taiwan has led the PRC to take a more flexible stance.

The current Kuomintang government of Taiwan asserts the position that the Republic of China is the sole and legitimate government of all of China. Proposals among reunification supporters in Taiwan have varied in the recent past since the 1990s, with more extreme supporters in Taiwan such as Li Ao advocating "One Country, Two Systems" while more moderate supporters arguing to uphold the status quo until mainland China democratizes and industrializes to the same level as Taiwan. In the 2000 presidential election, independent candidate James Soong proposed a European Union-style relation with mainland China (this was echoed by Hsu Hsin-liang in 2004) along with a non-aggression pact. In the 2004 presidential election, Lien Chan proposed a confederation-style relationship (though he later moderated his stance amid a tight race). Beijing objected to the plan claiming that Taiwan, being part of China already, is not a state and therefore could not form a confederation with the PRC. Proposals for reunification were not actively floated in Taiwan and the issue remained moot under President Chen Shui-bian, who refused to accept talks under the pre-conditions insisted on by Beijing until 2008 with the presidential election of Ma Ying-Jeou, agreeing to the One China policy and stating the official government of the Chinese state is the Republic of China.

Under the administration of Hu Jintao, reunification under "one country, two systems" lost emphasis amid the reality that the DPP presidency in Taiwan would be held by pro-independence President Chen until 2008. Instead, the emphasis shifted to meetings with politicians that opposed independence. A series of high-profile visits in 2005 to mainland China by the leaders of the three pan-blue coalition parties was seen as an implicit recognition of the status quo by the PRC government. Notably, Kuomintang Chairman Lien Chan's trip was marked by unedited coverage of his speeches and tours (and some added positive commentary) by the government-controlled media and meetings with high level officials including Hu Jintao. Similar treatment (though marked with less historical significance and media attention) was given during subsequent visits by PFP Chairman James Soong and New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming. The Communists and the Pan-Blue Coalition parties emphasized their common ground in renewed negotiations under the alleged 1992 consensus, opening the three links, and opposing Taiwan independence.

The PRC passed an Anti-Secession Law shortly before Lien's trip. While the Pan-Green Coalition held mass rallies to protest the codification of using military force to conquer Taiwan, the Pan-Blue Coalition was largely silent. The language of the Anti-Secession Law was clearly directed at the independence supporters in Taiwan (termed "'Taiwan independence' secessionist forces" in the law) and designed to be somewhat amicable for Pan-Blue Coalition. It did not explicitly declare Taiwan to be part of the People's Republic of China but instead used the term "China" on its own, allowing flexibility in its definition. It made repeated emphasis of "promoting peaceful national reunification" but left out the concept of "one country, two systems" and called for negotiations in "steps and phases and with flexible and varied modalities" in recognition of the concept of eventual rather than immediate reunification. Both under President Chen and current President Ma Ying-jeou, the main political changes in the cross-straits relationship involve closer economic ties and increased business and personal travel. The current president Ma Ying-Jeou advocates as well for the revitalization of Chinese culture, as in the re-introduction of Traditional Chinese in texts to mainland China used in Taiwan and historically in China before the communist revolution in 1949. It is willing to be flexible in allowing Simplified Chinese to be used for informal writing. The re-introduction was to re-establish and revive ancient Chinese cultural and historical heritage that was largely eradicated from the mainland due to the strict ideological fixation by the government of the People's Republic of China on Communism, but was kept intact under the administration of the ROC.