North Korea’s alleged torpedoing of a South Korean warship, and the Red Shirts of Thailand, protesting for major reforms to a political system they claim favors an urban elite over the rural poor, have captured the world’s attention. These two events carry important lessons for Taiwan.
From the bloody incidents in the Korean peninsula and Thailand, Taiwan can gain greater understanding of its strengths, for a better grasp of the way forward in cross-strait relations and democratic government.
Korea is a “divided country,” analogous to Taiwan and mainland China, but cross-strait relations are clearly more stable.
The two Koreas seem more likely to have balanced relations than Taiwan and mainland China, as both are members of the U.N. Meanwhile, in 2000 South Korean President Kim Dae-jung met with Kim Jong-il, his North Korean counterpart, in the first Korean leader’s summit, signing the North-South Joint Declaration. For this development Kim Dae-jung was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 2007, his successor President Roh Moo-hyun also had talks with Kim Jong-il, and they signed the Declaration on the Advancement of North-South Korean Relations, Peace and Prosperity. The image of Roh and his wife walking across the 38th parallel was front-page news around the world.
Peace and prosperity, however, are nowhere to be seen, with the two sides often exchanging fire. The north’s Korean Workers’ Party cannot sort out its own problems, so that even the choice of national and party leader is stuck in the hereditary line from Kim Il-sung to Kim Jong-il to Kim Jong-un.
The party uses isolationism to maintain its hold on power, but the more isolated it is, the more precarious its position becomes, and the more insecure its position, the more savage it becomes to its own citizenry.
As things get worse, it threatens regional security with missiles and nuclear weaponry, stymieing the international community’s best intentions.
Behind the strength of mainland China’s reforms and opening up, and Taiwan’s free and democratic system, cross-strait relations in general have been able to gradually move into line with the global mainstream, and with the aspirations of the people on both sides. The tensions between North and South Korea constitute a global flashpoint, while cross-strait relations stand ready to make a major contribution to civilization and world peace.
Thailand, like the ROC a newly developed democracy, suffers from frequent coups, while the ROC has witnessed the peaceful transfer of power. The conflict between the Thai Red Shirts and Yellow Shirts, who opposed the government of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, has dragged on for three years already, and images of Bangkok in flames still fill TV screens around the world.
In a staggering contrast, over 100,000 of Taiwan’s Red Shirts, protesting the corruption of then President Chen Shui-bian in 2006, flowed like lava through the streets of Taipei and ended their protests peacefully, without upsetting the social order in the slightest. In the end, a year and a half later, the voters ousted Chen, and he and his wife have been tried in the courts of justice.
Taiwan is not lacking in politicians who see themselves in a Thaksin-like role, accomplished manipulators trying to divide society. However, while former President Lee Teng-hui’s “special state-to-state relationship,” and Chen’s referendum on entering the U.N., “scorched earth diplomacy” and manacled hands raised to the sky all seemed poised to unleash a storm, in the end none could destabilize the island.
Although Taiwan’s political environment may appear fragile, it cracks but never breaks. It may seem to be open to populist hysteria, but things always settle down. If a few Molotov cocktails are thrown, the protest leader always ends up condemning the violence.
In Taiwan the president gets heavily criticized every day, but has still managed to lay out a vision for a “golden decade.” Not a word is allowed against the Thai king, yet the constitutional monarchy could soon collapse. Taiwan’s military has been severely reprimanded for its slow disaster response, while the Thai army is shooting civilians in the streets.
Thailand’s constitutional court, electoral commission and law have been completely ineffective during the unrest, allowing the exiled Thaksin to become the spiritual leader of the Red Shirts through high-tech telecommunications links. In Taiwan, former President Chen and his wife have been sentenced to life imprisonment. The differences are overwhelming.
That cross-strait relations are more stable than those between the two Koreas is not an accident, but the result of hard work and vision. That Taiwan’s democracy functions better than Thailand’s is no fluke, either, but the result of the application of wisdom and restraint. Looking at the two Koreas and Thailand, Taiwan should take heart, increase its vigilance and work even harder to promote democracy. (THN)
(This commentary originally appeared in the United Daily News May 22.)
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