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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jiang (talk | contribs) at 05:15, 17 December 2003. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Please explain whether Chinese reunification means:

1. incorporating Taiwan into Communist China; or,
2. establishing a new country out of China and Taiwan

If the article is about the first alternative, it should mention what changes Taiwanese worry may result, if their island is incorporated by the mainland government. Would they lose freedom of religion, freedom of speech, the ability to travel abroad or even emigrate?

If the article is about the second alternative, it should clarify what sort of government the new nation will be: democracy, or dictatorship, or what?

--Uncle Ed 14:33, 2 Dec 2003 (UTC)

None of this is clear. It depends on who "wins" or when reunification happens. The PRC would like the first option. Actually, the government advocated implementing one country, two systems, but would also allow Taiwan to keep its own military. The unificationists on Taiwan would either like to (eventually) have the mainland reincoporated by the ROC (unlikely) or have them form a joint democratic government. --Jiang 21:02, 2 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Chinese reunification is often stereotyped as being the ideology of the Mainlander community on Taiwan, although there are many non-Mainlanders who support reunification and many Mainlanders who oppose it. In addition, the parties which do support reunification often command considerable support for reasons that have nothing to do with cross-strait relations. This is doubletalk. Who finances these 'unification' parties? Are there in fact more than one? What are the polls actually telling us? Why would non-Mainlanders want to follow the fate of Hong Kong? Wetman 12:51, 16 Dec 2003 (UTC)

I don't see your point about doubletalk. The unificationist parties make up the Pan-Blue Coalition.

According to the Taiwan independence article, "Opinion polls suggest that between 70 to 80 percent of Taiwanese support the 'status quo' which is to leave Taiwan's status exactly the way that it is." While the majority is not in support of independence, One country, two systems has only 10% support with the population, so few unificationists (most notably Li Ao) advocate reuniting with the mainland under that system. Instead, they stress breaking down barriers with the mainland, such as opening the three links and promoting the sovereignty of the Republic of China. For example, in the last elections James Soong proposed a non-agression pact along with an EU-style trade relationship with the mainland. Some unification politicans also express harsh rhetoric against the PRC, and would like to see the ROC back in the UN, establishing diplomatic relations, etc. So no, they are nowhere near suggesting that they surrender. In contrast, supporters of independence want to see the ROC renamed "Taiwan" and oppose further links with the mainland that could make reunification, which they believe is a bad thing, inevitable.

Supporting reunification does not necessarily mean endorsing the idea of reunification under the PRC or under one country, two systems. It could mean eventual reunification under a democratic China. It can also mean promoting the notion that both the Taiwan and mainland are part of a geographical entity named "China" and that there are two Chinese states. Opposing Taiwan independence may be the wise thing to do provided that Taiwan independence amounts to nothing more than an identity change, since Taiwan makes up the ROC and the ROC is already functioning as an independent country - this is not something people would want to fight a war over. --Jiang/talk 05:15, 17 Dec 2003 (UTC)