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