“One Country, Two Systems”: the View from Taiwan
The Sunflower Student Movement emerged in
Taiwan in March 2014
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The protests that have gripped Hong Kong have led many to start talking about a possible worsening of Beijing’s relations with other problematic regions of the PRC, in particular with Taiwan. Anna Kaimova, senior teacher in the Chinese history department at the Moscow State University Institute of Asian and African Studies, talked to the RIAC editorial staff about how the Hong Kong events are perceived in Taiwan.
The protests that have gripped Hong Kong have led many to start talking about a possible worsening of Beijing’s relations with other problematic regions of the PRC, in particular with Taiwan. Anna Kaimova, senior teacher in the Chinese history department at the Moscow State University Institute of Asian and African Studies, talked to the RIAC editorial staff about how the Hong Kong events are perceived in Taiwan.
The Occupy Central student movement in Hong Kong has recently been in the spotlight all over the world. This is not surprising, since the reputation of the present leadership of the PRC – one of the leading players in global politics and economics – depends on the outcome of these events. In addition, how the Hong King crisis is resolved could have a significant influence on the fate of the so-called “Taiwan problem”, in other words the question of how to unify the two shores of the Taiwan Strait on the basis of the “one country, two systems” formula that operates in modern Hong Kong. If the disturbances in Hong Kong are put down by force, this formula, which is constantly used in the rhetoric of the Chinese authorities, in particular that of PRC president Xi Jinping, will be substantially discredited in the eyes of the international public and also, no less importantly, of the Taiwanese themselves.
It has to be said that the number of inhabitants of the island who are calling for unconditional unification with the mainland is extremely small. Public opinion polls in recent months have shown steady growth in the number of people who welcome Taiwan’s independence, while the number of those who are not sure of their preference or who want to see the status quo maintained remains stable at a high level of 40–50%. There is no doubt that Beijing’s harsh actions in relation to the Hong Kong events are hardly likely to help shift this category of Taiwanese towards favouring unification with China.
Ma Ying-jeou, President of the Republic of China
Even if we put to one side the question of the so-called “Taiwanese identity”, i.e. the question of how the inhabitants of the island see themselves as an ethno-cultural community separate from the Chinese, there is no denying the fact that the Taiwanese have a special political culture, in which the idea of the inviolability of democratic rights and freedoms is very strong. That’s why the attitude of the majority of Taiwanese to the Hong Kong residents involved in the Occupy Central movement could confidently be described as sympathetic.
In my view, the attitude of any given group of people to particular events directly depends on their mentality and the characteristics of their political culture. In particular, the Russian press is full of opinions that the protests in Hong Kong are the work of the USA’s hands. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that such a major geopolitical figure might be trying to one degree or another to take advantage of these events in its own interests. As far as I know, however, no proof of American involvement has yet been found. On the other hand, there are more than enough internal reasons to explain the emergence of the Hong Kong crisis.
Conversely, the fact that the Taiwanese are convinced that the Beijing regime is essentially anti-democratic means they are inclined to exaggerate the desire of Hong Kong’s residents to defend their civil rights (which no one actually promised them, since the system of electing the head of Hong Kong from candidates approved in advance by Beijing was from the very beginning written into the Basic Law of the Xianggang SAR when it was transferred from the United Kingdom to China) and to underestimate many other factors, in particular the dislike of the majority of Hong Kong people for Leung Chun-ying, the present head of the administration, the dissatisfaction with the growing presence of migrants from the mainland in Hong Kong’s economy, and so on. Incidentally, the latter factor is also fairly substantial in Taiwan itself, where following the lifting of a whole range of restrictions on the movement of PRC residents into the island people are constantly expressing fears that their influence on Taiwan politics could grow, as well as feeling dissatisfied with these people’s everyday behaviour, which is significantly different to the habits of the Taiwanese themselves.
The actions of the Hong Kong police, which used tear gas against the demonstrators within just a few days of the protests’ starting, are moreover the subject of close attention in Taiwan. This is also linked with the traditions of expressing protests on the island itself. For example, the Sunflower Student Movement emerged in Taiwan in March 2014, and after occupying legislative and government buildings those involved managed to secure a review of the terms of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement. At the same time it is worth noting that there were virtually no casualties as a result of provocations or scuffles during the protests. I also managed to witness the major movement calling for President Chen Shui-bian to resign in autumn 2006, the so-called “Red-Shirt Army”, which, despite the fact that it did not achieve its aim and Chen Shui-bian did not leave his post early, was also entirely peaceful and non-violent in nature.
Thus the conviction of the Taiwanese that it is possible and necessary to defend the ideals of democracy by peaceful protests and demonstrations also explains their sympathetic attitude to the Hong Kong events. It should be noted that they also had the same attitude to the recent Ukrainian events. However, while Ukraine is a relatively long way away from Taiwan and only a few people on the island know its history and can form an adequate impression of what’s happening, and the rest get their information from western media, as far as Hong Kong is concerned, the Taiwanese have a personal interest, since they see in Hong Kong an example of what might happen to the island’s residents if at some time the two sides of the Taiwan Strait were to be united on the basis of the “one country, two systems” formula.
Sympathy with the Hong Kong events is currently also being expressed at an official level in Taiwan. When Ma Ying-jeou, President of the Republic of China, made a speech in honour of the 103rd anniversary of the state’s formation, he expressed “firm support” for the Hong Kong people’s movement in support of holding a “true” general election for the head of the Hong Kong administration and called on the PRC leadership to satisfy Hong Kong’s desire for democratisation, which in turn should promote the movement of the whole Chinese nation towards democracy. In my view the appearance of such a speech by the president, who currently enjoys a rating of only 9% in Taiwan, owing in large part to the islanders’ dissatisfaction with his persistent desire for a political and economic rapprochement between the two shores of the Taiwan Strait, also suggests that representatives of various political forces in Taiwan recognise the need to take account of the mood of large parts of the Taiwanese public.
Prepared by Darшa Khaspekova, portal editor.
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