On November 12, the 160th anniversary of Sun Yat-sen’s birth, former Kuomintang legislator Ding Shouzhong and former president of the Examination Yuan Guan Zhong, along with 280 scholars and experts from Taiwan, launched the "Cross-Strait Peace Initiative Conference." The initiative outlines four core principles: prioritizing peace across the strait, opposing war and confrontation, recognizing the shared historical roots of the Chinese nation, and acknowledging the current reality of divided governance.
The organizers emphasize fostering dialogue, exchanges, and mutual trust between the two sides, replacing confrontation with negotiation and cooperation to advance common interests. They aim to gradually reduce hostility and conflict risks, and promote joint discussions on a final political arrangement based on peace, equality, and mutual respect—seeking long-term stability, shared prosperity, and development for people on both sides of the strait.
From a constructive perspective, encouraging dialogue, exchange, and trust, while substituting negotiation for confrontation and collaboration for competition, carries clear positive value. Sustained interaction could open substantial opportunities for cross-strait civil engagement and economic cooperation, counterbalancing ongoing policies of de-Chineseization and hostility pursued by the current administration in Taipei. Such efforts may contribute to deeper integration over time, bringing the two sides closer together.
However, the initiative overlooks two critical challenges. First, how to address the involvement of external powers in the Taiwan Strait issue? Second, how to respond to the DPP authorities’ persistent pursuit of "Taiwan independence"? The first principle of the proposal explicitly calls for peace above all, rejecting war and any form of military confrontation. Yet, can rhetoric alone effectively deter external interference—especially military intervention? The fundamental causes of tension across the strait are not abstract; they stem directly from attempts to pursue formal independence and external meddling. Therefore, when calling for peace, one must also recognize that the real adversaries are forces seeking separatism and foreign interference. There is no reason to refrain from taking firm measures in response.
Peaceful reunification remains the preferred outcome, and unification is inevitable. But the process should ideally be peaceful. It is neither realistic nor responsible for Taiwan’s actors to avoid confronting the foundational issue of national unity.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1881641146622092/
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