Andrew Scobell Quotes
Taiwan is the one issue that goes to the heart of the domestic and international legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to rule China. The CCP claims to be the only group that was capable of unifying China and making it strong enough to stand up to the bullying of Western powers and imperial Japan. The existence of Taiwan as an autonomous political entity which is de facto independent of the PRC calls into question these claims.
Andrew Scobell, Political Scientist, “China and Taiwan: Balance of Rivalry with Weapons of Mass Democratization”, Political, Science Quarterly, Fall 2014
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This was the first of what has come to be known as "the three communiqués" that were issued to open the way for Richard M. Nixon and Kissinger's opening of relations with Communist China. It articulates what has come to be known as the "one China policy," and has subsequently been reiterated by other American administrations.
This has been the case ever since WWII. In the Great March where the Communists avoided capture by the Nationalists, the army, the party, and many of the people were in a single amalgam living on the move. The positive and fair behavior of the Communist army during the Great March did a great deal to convince the Chinese peasants that the Communists were not corrupt and greedy as were most of the Nationalist officials they ran into. From a strict military point of view, there was little for the Army to do for defense and national security since the overthrow of the Nationalists. So they have been great supporters of development of the nation after the revolution, but by the 21st century had developed some of their own corruption and built companies to produce funds for the army (and some of its leaders personally.
He began an anti-corruption campaign, that executed many and jailed thousands. However, the Chinese Party Council has more billionaires than any other national legislature in the world. Most of these fortunes were made via corruption; these high level figures and those of the army by 2014 were not prosecuted. However, it was a start.
This quotation illustrates a huge reversal of policy. When Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists were defeated by the Communist Chinese in the Civil War, the Nationalists retreated to the island of Formosa (Taiwan) which was the only Chinese Province they held. There was the thought of setting up a separate nation on Taiwan, but Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists insisted that there was only one China and that they were the rightful government. At the time they held the Chinese UN Seat. The Communists also insisted that there was one China and Taiwan was a part of it with the Nationalists there being rebels. Chiang Kai-shek maintained that the people really wanted the Nationalists and they could take back the mainland. That turned out to be unrealistic and then the UN seat was given to the Communists as they were the de facto government of all of China except the province of Taiwan. There was nothing that the Nationalists and Communists agreed upon except that there was one China and Taiwan was a part of it. That, and the request of the Nationalist Chinese, has been the U. S Policy for decades. However by the 21st century, it was clear, even to the most fervent Nationalists, the Chinese Communists had won the allegiance of the majority of the Chinese people and they were not going to be successful in mounting a counter-revolution. Moreover, the Communist Military was much superior and some of the Nationalists started worry that Taiwan would be governed by the Communists along with the rest of China, So Lu and other Nationalists, flip flopped and took the position that Taiwan was an independent country—a view that is not recognized by the U. S. or China.
There have been times in democracies where a foreign ministry (State Department) is isolated from the elected politicians and implements a foreign policy that is at odds with the wishes of the elected officials and the majority of the nation. A good American example of this was in 1948 where America had to decide whether to support the creation of the State of Israel in the United Nations and through diplomatic recognition. The professional diplomats in the State Department had developed very close relations with Arab States, and many State Department employees were anti-Semitic. In addition, they thought the most important thing for America was not to risk the Arab oil supply. Meanwhile, the people, Congress, and President Truman were on the other side and Truman had to finally order The Secretary of State to stop his professional diplomats from pursuing their own foreign policy preferences. Even then some did not.
3rd Earl Russell of Kingston. At the time China was one of the poorest nations on earth, with a series of feeble politicians and leaders fighting each other for the ability to rob the people. Their ancient science and virtues had been forgotten and it was thought of by the West and Asians alike as a failed state. However, Russell observed this one characteristic that could be so important when the rest of the world was learning more and more about everything from science to history. The search for wisdom from wherever it may be also gave them an advantage over other cultures who were more chauvinistic about the origin of whatever they did or thought. Less than a century later China was a superpower, economically, artistically intellectually, scientifically and almost militarily. It only lagged democratically.
The United States and England maintained officially that their stance was moral and ethical. And it was for most Americans and Britons. However, there were some, whose motivation was economically self-serving as this quotation suggests. The less control Japan had over China, the more other countries could freely trade with China.
Formosa was invaded and occupied by Japanese troops and made a Japanese Colony.
When Nixon and Kissinger went to China in the midst of the cold war, there are many American right-wingers who objected and thought that it was a betrayal of America’s fundamental principles At the same time, the extreme left wing, hard line Communists objected for the exact same reasons to China allowing the visit. This quotation is an excellent example of the latter.
