A New Coordinate within Cross-Straits Relations

By staff reporter LU RUCAI

At the end of 2004, the 10th National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee initiated the Anti-secession Law legislative process. The law which was ratified with an overwhelming majority at the Third Session of the 10th National People’s Congress (NPC), represents the Chinese people’s common will to safeguard China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Development of Cross-Straits Talks

At the end of 1987, the Taiwan authorities lifted their ban on visits to the Chinese mainland, ending Taiwan’s almost 30-year estrangement from the motherland. Since then there has been a steady increase in human resource, economic and cultural exchanges. In order to resolve problems that occurred in the course of cross-Straits exchanges, the Taiwan authorities amended its “no contact, no compromise and no negotiation” policy. And on November 21, 1990, established and authorized the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), a non-governmental, intermediary organization handling civil affairs across the Taiwan Straits. On December 16, 1991, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) was set up, propelled by the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and Taiwan Work Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, for the purpose of holding regular meetings with the SEF. It was stipulated that all negotiations and agreements between the SEF and the ARATS should proceed under the auspices of the “one-China” principle.

During the 1992 talks between the ARATS and the SEF, the Taiwan side agreed that both sides of the straits should adhere to the “One-China principle,” and that peaceful reunification was to be sought, but the two sides failed to reach agreement on a written expression of the One-China Principle. The eighth draft of the SEF states: “In the process of seeking national reunification, both sides of the Straits adhere to the one-China principle, but differ as to their understanding of the meaning of one China.” It proposed that: “Each side expresses its own stance verbally, in a context acceptable to both sides.” The ARATS elaborated on the main points of its unwritten expression i.e. both sides of the straits adhere to the One-China Principle and strive for national reunification, but confirmed that the political meaning of the term One China would not arise in cross-Straits talks. This was the “1992 Consensus” that so considerably ameliorated cross-Straits relations.

According to Lee Teng-hui’s two-states fallacy, however, the “1992 Consensus” does not promote cross-straits exchanges in the right direction. When Chen Shui-bian was reelected in 2004 he repudiated the five “nos” (no declaration of independence; no change in “national title;” no “state-to-state description within the constitution;” no referendum to change the status quo; no abolition of the National Unification Council or of the Guidelines for National Unification) stated in his 2000 inauguration speech. The Taiwan authorities then launched its “name rectification” campaign that proposed changing the names of government agencies, including overseas representative offices and embassies and state-owned businesses, from “Republic of China (ROK),” to “Taiwan” and also the names of Taiwanese universities and colleges with the word “China” or “Chinese” in their titles. This made obvious the Taiwan authorities’ intention to “de-Sinolize” and to promote the concept of “one country on each side”. Moreover, it set a “timescale for Taiwan independence,” thereby setting a plan in motion to realize “legal Taiwan independence” through constitutional means.

By No Means a “War Mobilization Law”

The legislative process as from initiation of the Anti-secession Law on December 25, 2004 to its being passed took only three months, but this is an issue that has long been under discussion among academics focusing on Taiwan affairs. Zhu Weidong, a noted research fellow at the Institute of Taiwan Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said, “At the Seminar on Cross-Straits Relations held in 1991 at the Institute of Taiwan Studies, Chinese and foreign scholars proposed standardizing reunification work in a legal format.” Following the “two-states fallacy” put forward by Lee Teng-hui in 1999, the Institute’s researchers proposed promulgation of a reunification law.

As Zhu points out, this law is by no means a “war mobilization law.” It is, on the contrary, a law that will promote peaceful reunification, and maintain, rather than change, the status quo. Its specific purpose is to oppose and prevent any attempts by Taiwan’s secessionists to secede Taiwan from China in the name of “Taiwan independence,” and maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits. Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), elaborated further on formulation of the Anti-Secession Law, saying: “The Anti-Secession Law will adhere to the basic principle of ‘peaceful reunification and one country, two systems; put in a codified form the policies of the Chinese Government over the past 20 years to move towards a peaceful solution of the Taiwan question, and embody our consistent position of utmost sincerity in the all-out effort towards peaceful reunification.”

This Law has been formulated in accordance with the Constitution, for purposes of opposing and preventing Taiwan's secession from China by secessionists in the name of "Taiwan independence"; promoting peaceful national reunification; maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits; preserving China's sovereignty and territorial integrity; and safeguarding the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation.

The first part of the Four-point Guidelines on Cross-Straits Relations set forth by President Hu Jintao during the 2005 NPC & CPPCC session states: “We welcome all efforts by individuals or political parties in Taiwan towards recognition of the one-China principle. No matter who the individual, or which political party, we are willing to talk with them on the issue of developing cross-Straits relations and promoting peaceful reunification, no matter what they may have said or done in the past, as long as they recognize the one-China principle and the ‘1992 Consensus.’” Hu also said: “China will never give up its efforts to seek peaceful reunification,” that it would “ …never vary from the principle of placing hope in the Taiwan people,” and that China would “never compromise in opposing ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionist activities.” Hu Jintao went on to declare: “Anything beneficial to Taiwan compatriots and conducive to the promotion of cross-Straits exchanges, maintenance of peace in the Taiwan Straits region and the motherland’s peaceful reunification, we will do correctly and with utmost effort. This is our solemn commitment to the broad masses of our Taiwan compatriots.”

Promoting Continuous Exchanges across the Taiwan Straits

The law demonstrates the common will of the entire Chinese people to safeguard China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and never to allow ‘Taiwan independence.’ As long as there is still a ray of hope for peaceful reunification, we shall do our utmost to achieve it. This is the spirit on which the Anti-Secession law is based.

Premier Wen Jiabao said that the Anti-Secession Law does not target Taiwan compatriots, but aims at opposing and preventing “Taiwan independence” secessionist activities. He stated: “It is not a law for war but for peaceful reunification of the motherland,” continuing “It is not a law intended to change the status quo whereby both sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to one China, but is one endorsing peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits.” Wen pointed out that the Anti-Secession Law states clearly its aim to promote exchanges between people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. It will encourage and facilitate economic cooperation, the three “direct links” and exchanges in education, science and technology, culture and other fields. The law also stipulates that the legitimate rights and interests of Taiwan businesspeople resident on the mainland shall be protected. When talking about the kind of measures that should be taken to promote cross-Straits exchanges, Wen said that China will move towards regularizing cross-Straits direct passenger charter flights that currently run on festivals and holidays as soon as possible, and that it will promote sales of farm produce from central and southern Taiwan, to the mainland. Premier Wen also said that China would seek to resume and resolve the matter of exporting labor from the mainland to Taiwan’s fishing industry.

Lin Yifu, CPPCC national committee member and renowned economist, who was born in Taiwan, stated that enactment of the Anti-Secession Law makes policies more transparent, and as such is a help in anticipation of behavior. The law is, therefore, of great benefit to cross-Straits economic exchanges.