PRC and ROC coexist

PRC and ROC coexist

The main points in my letter to your newspaper (Feb. 12, 1996) were: To ask the Chinese Communist regime to back off from threatening Taiwan, and to stop blockading Taiwan from reentering international organizations with its official name, the Republic of China, so the world can know Taiwan as a part of "China".

In his response to The Jakarta Post (Feb. 23, 1996), Mr. Xu Chuhui of the Chinese Embassy accused me of overtly preaching two Chinas or "one China, one Taiwan". This was simply twisting of my intention. I stated a historical fact that the two Chinas had coexisted since 1949. Thus, there was no need for me to "work up public opinion for the independence of Taiwan."

Mr. Xu's account about Taiwan's historical connection with "China" is a truth that we fervently espouse and would adhere to without hesitation. But, his memory about modern Chinese history since 1949 is incredible. First, Chinese Communists did not "overthrow" the Republic of China (ROC). Instead, the communists usurped power, ruling the Chinese mainland after rebelling against the ROC government. The ROC moved to the province of Taiwan to continue its legal administration over that part of China.

For the past 47 years, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has never ruled ROC-dominated Taiwan, and Taiwan has never paid a penny of tax to the PRC. Any international law would disprove Xu's claim that the PRC and the ROC have not coexisted. Obviously, most countries recognize the PRC instead of the ROC because they are more concerned about the geopolitical power and the economic might of the massive Chinese mainland in international affairs; but it does not mean they agree with the PRC's belief that the ROC has disappeared.

Ironically, since the PRC pressed the world to reject Taiwan's representatives by its official name, the Republic of China, Taiwan became less and less associated with China by the world. This eventually created the prevailing belief among countries that Taiwan is a nation with no natural relationship with "China".

We inherited our blood and culture from China, but China is not the People's Republic of China founded on the basis of communism. We cherish our ancestors' great achievement, and are happy that some of our Chinese compatriots' have improved their living standard in recent years, but we are definitely against the undemocratic way of ruling hurled at the people by the Communist regime. We are all for a united China, and look forward to seeing it happen soon, but the PRC should remember that it is "China" we belong to, not Communist China.

PHILIP K. LUO

Information Officer

Taipei Economic and Trade Office

Jakarta