Taiwan and China Exchange Empty Words, On Two Parallel Paths
United Daily News, January 2, 2021
At the beginning of the new year, the leaders of both sides of the Taiwan Strait each mentioned their hopes for future cross-strait relations. Both delivered well-intended wishes, but both are putting the responsibility on the other. In President Tsai Ing-wen’s New Year’s Day address, the content largely resembled the sentiment from National Day on October 10 and did not positively respond to Taiwanese business people’s wish to restore normal relations between Taiwan and the mainland. China also adopted the attitude of only accepting the 1992 Consensus, and nothing else. There is no new year, new vibes at all. Even if the two sides are unalike two trains directly running into each other, they certainly are on two parallel lines that will never meet.
Regarding the current political deadlock across the Taiwan Strait, it takes more than one cold day for a river to freeze three feet deep. The international environment, factors revolving the United States, and the internal political and social atmosphere in both Taiwan and the Chinese mainland make it difficult to resolve the deadlock. In this delicate state, experts on both sides of the strait have repeatedly issued warnings of worry since last year, calling on both sides to avoid misjudgment, have better crisis management, and not to allow the spiral of hostility to change from quantitative to qualitative changes, taking cross-strait relations to the point where it is difficult to ever recover. With mainland Chinese aircrafts frequently disturbing Taiwan, it increases the risk of conflict between the two.
Regardless of the lofty political goals and ideals of the Taiwan and mainland China governments, the real protagonist of cross-strait exchanges is always the people of both sides. Both governments said that they have goodwill to develop cross-strait relations. In this case, goodwill should be implemented on being kind and friendly to citizens on both sides. Last year, in the name of the epidemic prevention, the government in Taiwan imposed stricter "bans" on mainland Chinese spouses, Taiwanese children of mainland citizenship, mainland spouses, and mainland tourists than those imposed on any other country, which has strengthened a sense of discrimination against mainland Chinese people.
Now that the poor political atmosphere on both sides of the Taiwan Strait has begun to affect cross-strait non-governmental exchanges, it has caused a rise in the hostility of the people on both sides. Taiwan and mainland China should both be cautious, jointly control the crisis and not let the temporary war of words ruin cross-strait relations again. In the new year, as today coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Three Links, which opened postal, air transportation, and trade links between Taiwan and the mainland, it is a perfect opportunity for both sides to show goodwill.