Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: Lai Ching-te/Facebook
A PROPOSAL ADVANCED by the DPP legislative caucus to rid the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area of the long-enshrined distinction between the “Mainland Area” and “Free Area” is unlikely to advance. The KMT and its ally, the TPP, currently hold the majority in the legislature together and are unlikely to support such a bill.
In particular, the bill would shift the relationship between Taiwan and China to not one between the “Mainland Area” and “Free Area” but replace mention of “area” with “territory” and refer to relations between Taiwan and the PRC in the name of the bill. Mention of the eventual unification of Taiwan and China, framing the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area as temporary legislation that would be invalid after unification, would further be removed. The move is framed as providing the legal basis for the de facto two-state relationship between Taiwan and China.
Indeed, it is true that the de facto relationship between Taiwan and China is that of two states. China does not, after all, administer Taiwan even if it claims it as part of its integral territory. Taiwan has its own borders, democratically elected government, currency, economy, military, and other characteristics of a nation-state. It is because of Chinese international pressure in which recognition would entail military retaliation, however, that Taiwan is not acknowledged as a nation-state even if it is de facto independent. Taiwan has de facto independence but lacks de jure recognition.
That being said, it is not surprising to see as to why the KMT and TPP would dig their heels in about the issue. The KMT has historically framed Taiwan as part of China and called for the eventual reunification of Taiwan and China. Current KMT chair Cheng Li-wun has been upfront about her view of herself and other Taiwanese as Chinese, stating that she hopes to see Taiwanese proud to be Chinese.
The DPP proposal would probably go a long way in allowing many of the complexities of cross-strait law to be simplified. For example, it has historically been difficult to take legal action against spying cases in Taiwan because Taiwan and China are not legally separate entities. To this extent, the rights of Chinese, Hongkongers, and Macanese residing in Taiwan, whether as spouses of Taiwanese or on another legal basis, have often been complicated because they are not technically foreigners.
Apart from its broader cultural and political identification with China, the KMT often positions itself as a defender of the rights and interests of Chinese residents of Taiwan. Consequently, it is further unsurprising that the KMT would position itself against the DPP’s proposal. The KMT’s antipathy toward framing China as another state even extends to cases of political disloyalty, with KMT legislator Weng Hsiao-ling previously advancing a proposal that would decriminalize former military personnel singing the Chinese national anthem or pledging allegiance to the PRC flag.
Otherwise, the KMT has framed the proposal as another plot of the DPP aimed at advancing Taiwanese independence. As part of its election campaigning, the KMT has sought to depict the DPP as ideologically dead set on independence, even if this means risking military reprisals from China–or risking the loss of support from the US. Certainly, it is possible that the proposal gives the KMT ammunition in this light. The Mainland Affairs Council itself warned in a statement that any changes to the legal framework on cross-strait relations will require significant social consensus.
It is unclear if the move from the DPP legislative caucus is unstrategic, then, or whether it is intended to bait the KMT into some reaction that the DPP itself could use for political ammunition. Current KMT chair Cheng Li-wun seems to have no hesitation about statements and actions that raise hackles with the public when it comes to expressions of overt pro-China sentiment. It is also known that Cheng hopes to meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping in the coming year, with concerns that Cheng may seek to circumvent Taiwan’s democratically-elected government as part of dealmaking with Xi. The DPP’s aims with its present proposal may be precisely with the aim of using Cheng’s plans for a summit with Xi for political ammo.