Beijing’s Taiwan white paper: the messages for home and abroad
- The first document of its kind in two decades is aimed at international and domestic consumption, observers say
- White paper will chart China’s reunification process for next few years, analyst says
10 Aug, 2022
On the same day as it announced a formal end to unprecedented military
exercises encircling the island, Beijing released the first white paper
on Taiwan in over two decades, titled “The Taiwan Question and China’s
Reunification in the New Era”. It clearly laid out China’s position,
saying it would never allow any attempt to separate Taiwan but also
would try its best to achieve unification by peaceful means.
“We
will work with the greatest sincerity and exert our utmost efforts to
achieve peaceful reunification,” the white paper said, adding again that
the option to use force would not be renounced, and if adopted, would
target external and separatist activities, rather than the people on the
island. “We will only be forced to take drastic measures to respond to
the provocation of separatist elements or external forces should they
ever cross our red lines. Mainland China military exercises continue
around Taiwan beyond announced deadline
The document was released
on Wednesday jointly by the Taiwan Affairs Office and the Information
Office, both under the State Council, Beijing’s cabinet. It also said
“some forces” in the United States were trying to “use Taiwan as a pawn
against China”. “Left unchecked, it will continue to escalate tension
across the strait, further disrupt China-US relations, and severely
damage the interests of the US itself,” it said.
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Beijing’s
first white paper on Taiwan was published in 1993, after the two sides
reached the 1992 consensus, an oral agreement on the one-China
principle. A second came in 2000, after Macau’s return to Chinese
sovereignty, leaving Taiwan the only missing piece to the unification of
China.
The third white paper on Wednesday came in the wake of
Pelosi’s unannounced visit to the island, which Beijing had repeatedly
warned against. Soon after her departure on Thursday, the People’s
Liberation Army launched unprecedented exercises in the Taiwan Strait.
The
document was intended for the international community, according to Lu
Xiang, a specialist on US-China relations at the Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences. “On the Taiwan issue, Beijing anticipates for the world
to understand how it will resolve it and wants the world to see its
stance … It will not give up on any opportunity for a peaceful
reunification,” Lu said, adding that its position of prioritising peace
without compromising sovereignty had been consistent since the 1970s.
Beijing’s
assurances came after reports surfaced that business communities and
authorities in countries in the region were drafting plans to evacuate
assets and personnel in case of a conflict.Japan and the Philippines are
reportedly considering ways to transport their citizens out of mainland
China and Taiwan if the tensions escalate.
Xie Maosong, a
senior researcher at Tsinghua University’s National Institute of
Strategic Studies, said the white paper had a domestic purpose as well,
saying it was not just another policy document but “a well-prepared
historical document for the Communist Party” to chart China’s
reunification process for next few years. “Traditionally, the Chinese
government issues an official call to arms when embarking on key policy
directions,” Xie said.
“While the military exercise marks the
official start of the process of [cross-strait] reunification, the white
paper is the call to arms, which tells the people within and outside
China about the historical background, the situation now and China’s
official stance.” The document calls for more cross-strait
communication, including the annual Straits Forum, where representatives
from both sides would meet to discuss cultural and economic
integration.
It also reiterated that the island would become a
special administrative region of China, which was mentioned in the 1993
paper. Fleshing out plans for Beijing’s proposed governance model for
the island, the paper said other countries would be allowed to continue
developing cultural and economic relations with the island. With the
approval of the central government, those nations may set up consulates
or other official and semi-official agencies in Taiwan, while
international organisations will be allowed to establish offices. This
is the first time a commitment about foreign consular relations with
Taiwan has been made.
The application of “one country, two
systems” in Hong Kong and Macau had had a “constructive impact” on
resolving the Taiwan issue, the paper said. “We will continue working
with our compatriots in Taiwan to explore a two-systems solution to the
Taiwan question and increase our efforts towards peaceful
reunification,” it stated, adding the views and proposals of people on
both sides of the strait will be considered.
It leaves defence
arrangements open, meaning it is unknown whether the mainland would
station troops on Taiwan or send officials to govern it
post-unification. “While giving Taiwan clearer promises on what benefits
it can expect after reunification, [Beijing] left out details on the
military and governance, indicating that those are for negotiation,” Xie
said.
But the white paper’s effect in the West will be limited,
according to Deng Yuwen, commentator and former deputy editor of the
Study Times, the Central Party School’s official newspaper.
Deng said
the document tackled flawed comparisons between Taiwan and Ukraine –
the former an island and the latter a sovereign state – but China hawks
had already painted the island as “China’s Ukraine”.
“Pelosi’s
trip has shown that Taiwan is increasingly becoming a major liability
for Beijing,” said Deng, who suggested the island, like Hong Kong and
Xinjiang, were pressure points that Western countries used to counter
China. “Since Beijing gained better controls over Hong Kong and
Xinjiang, these two places are less effectively used in countering
China. It is Taiwan that still has value.”
After returning to
Washington, Pelosi stood by her decision to visit Taiwan and called
Chinese President Xi Jinping a “scared bully” with “problems with his
economy”. “It was worth it,” she said in an interview with NBC. “We
cannot allow the Chinese government to isolate Taiwan. They may say to
them, ‘you can’t go to the World Health Organization’, but they’re not
going to say who can go to Taiwan.”
However, she echoed US President
Joe Biden’s lack of concern about military escalation in the region,
saying “what the Chinese are doing is what they usually do”.
Alfred
Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said Beijing’s promises to Taiwan
were somewhat similar to those for Hong Kong.
]“That is why Beijing
needs to prove that one country, two systems worked well in Hong Kong
before it can convince the Taiwanese people. I am not sure how many
Taiwanese will find this prospect attractive,” Wu said. Taiwan’s
Mainland Affairs Council dismissed the white paper as “wishful thinking
and disregarding facts”
Wu said while the white paper was meant
to communicate Beijing’s official stance to the Taiwanese people, it is
also an effort to spell out its position to the people on the mainland,
where nationalism is on the rise, with some demanding more drastic steps
against the island.
Beijing has to handle the backlash that rose
from nationalistic sentiment,” he said. “Besides the drills, it also
needs a comprehensive narrative to clarify its stance among its own
people.” Andy Mok, senior research fellow at the Centre for China and
Globalisation, a non-governmental think tank in Beijing, said that while
the Taiwanese people would prefer to maintain the status quo, they
would also find life on a reunited island “more than tolerable”.
Beijing’s
pursuit of a reunification would include informational, economic and
military diplomacy. “The white paper is a part of this approach and is
intended to work in concert with military drill and other tactics,” Mok
said.
Additional reporting by William Zheng