Taiwan Today

After Communist "Marshal" Yeh Chien-ying's so-called nine-point propos­al for peace talks was exposed as a propa­ganda ploy by the Republic of China, another aging Chinese Communist leader has fired a new salvo in Peking's peace offensive. This time, it is Teng Hsiao-ping, using Professor Winston Yang of Seton Hall University in New Jersey as his messenger. According to a Newsweek report (August 8), Teng told Yang that Red China recognizes the "Taiwan local government's right to follow its own in­ternal policy" and added that if Taiwan acknowledges Peking's Leninist sover­eignty, "it may have some exclusive rights that other provinces" do not have. "Taiwan may also keep its own armed forces so long as they do not constitute a threat to the mainland," he gushed. Teng listed major pre-conditions for the peace talks: the Republic of China government must consider itself a local government and must observe the Chinese Communist constitution. The Chinese Communist regime offers the constitutional government of this sovereign state the opportunity to give up its legal status even before the talks begin. The replacement local government is then to follow its own in­ternal policy in the framework of a Peking constitution which may be rewritten whenever the Communist power holders shift gears. Mao Tse-tung wrote his constitution, Hua Kuo-feng wrote his constitution, and Teng Hsiao-ping wrote his constitution—all serving only the specific purposes of their factions. What entity can guarantee that the Teng Hsiao-ping constitution will not be rewritten or even that it will be observed, either during his lifetime or after his death? Article 31 of the current Chinese Communist constitution says clearly that "the systems to be instituted in special regions shall be prescribed by law enact­ed by the National People's Congress in the light of specific conditions." This actually means that the rubber-stamp congress is entitled to rescind or enact any law the Communist power elite wishes in governing a special region. Teng said that the Republic of China may keep its own armed forces so long as they do not constitute a threat to the mainland. But he did not also mention that the Chinese Communists are increasingly modernizing their weapons systems, increasing the constant threat of Communist invasion of the Republic of China, while trying to see to it that modern arms do not reach the ROC armed forces. His real intention is very clear-to let the Republic of China "die on the vine." Teng elaborated: "Since Taiwan will retain its armed forces after reunification, it will of course be allowed to acquire weapons from foreign countries." In this case, he even did not use the term defensive weapons, much less advanced weapons. We must remember, however, that the Peking regime in its most recent such action, lodged a strong protest against the U.S. sale of US$530 millions worth of defensive weapons to the Republic of China. Since Teng Hsiao-ping's regime attempts to prevent even a single foreign country from selling wea­pons to the Republic of China before reunification, how will it tolerate sales by more foreign countries to a local govern­ment of Taiwan, bound by the Chinese Communist constitution? At such a time, the Peking regime would, no doubt, confine Taiwan to buying small arms only, arguing that all other weapons would constitute a threat to them, and would be unnecessary. According to the Newsweek report, Teng got carried away, and is quoted as saying that "Taiwan would keep independent foreign relations and issue passports." Only a month ago, his regime served notice on foreign embass­ies in Peking that their governments were not to allow the ROC offices in their countries to issue visas. Did Teng Hsiao-ping, then, speak (as we say in China) from his heart or from his lips? It is not too difficult to see that he regards Westerners as both naive and forgetful. Teng's rhetoric is, in reality, verbal narcotics for the consumption of certain addicts in Washington and for opposition factions on the Chinese mainland. Though this interview took place at the end of June, its contents were not released until a month later, when the U.S. government announced the most recent sale of defensive weapons to the Republic of China. He seemed to be telling the U.S., "You may sell weapons freely to Taiwan after Taiwan agrees to talk, after Taiwan is reunified with the Chinese mainland ... but not now. So you better be patient and push Taiwan to the negotiation table." He also implied to ultra­ leftist opposition factions, "U.S. sale of defensive arms to Taiwan was not a bitter pill for us to swallow, since we will allow the U.S. and even more countries to sell weapons to Taiwan after the reunification." The latter package is no more than a typical face-saving strategem. Teng Hsiao-ping's aim is to create pressure on the Republic of China to talk with his regime, but the results of such talks are not what is on his mind. He knows quite well that if the ROC agrees to start talks—actually to start bargaining away the freedoms of its people—the very decision will snap the backbone of our people's morale, alienate the ROC from its anti-Communist friends in the world, and unleash a massive night of capital from Taiwan—a neat hat trick. At stake here are the life-and-death interests of the Republic of China. Accordingly, nobody should attempt to shout and shove this country into taking Teng Hsiao-ping's heroin. Those who take the bait of a drug peddler, soon find it is too late to repent. Nobody should ever expect the Republic of China to be willing in any way to trade its people's freedoms for the dictatorship of the proletariat, its prosperity for Communist poverty, its democracy for a Marxist­ Leninist regimen.