The Role of Taiwanese Civil Society Organizations in Cross-Strait Relations by Sarka Waisova

Author:Sarka Waisova [Waisova, Sarka]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Asian, Political Science, World, General
ISBN: 9781317017196
Google: TlsyDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 39820009
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-08-23T00:00:00+00:00

Taiwan Glory

When analyzing the roles the Taiwanese CSOs play in cross-strait relations, we have not left out the pro-unification groups, organizations and movements because they surely influence cross-strait relations as well as Taiwanese domestic debates about the relationship to Beijing. Despite this, there are not a high number of these groups and organizations in Taiwan to analyze, and observers say that their level of acceptance in the society is low. Many Taiwanese see these groups—similarly to Chinese companies and businesspeople—as agents of Mainland China (see for example Keng and Shubert 2010). That is why those advocating for reunification easily find support in Mainland Chinese universities, in government-sponsored research centers and in quasi-independent groups (such as the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the China Charities Foundation, the China Youth Development Foundation, the Institute for Legal Culture and the Institute for Asia and Pacific Studies), but are not welcomed by most of the Taiwanese. Public activities supporting reunification with Mainland China or Communism are seen with mixed feelings by most of the Taiwanese.32 On the one hand the Taiwanese are afraid of Mainland China and refuse the “one-country-two systems” solution for Taiwan, on the other hand they understand that democracy guarantees the right to associate also for those who do not support Taiwan’s independence.

Among the pro-unification groups, it is hard to decide which one to analyze because these organizations and groups do not like to speak publically about themselves and rarely have any newsletters, web-pages or public-accessible materials. Some of these groups are legally registered by the Taiwanese Ministry of Interior, some of them are spontaneously established groups of like-minded people, some are sister organizations of Mainland Chinese organizations and some are registered and non-registered groups supported by Mainland China acting in Taiwan. Some of these groups directly express support to Mainland China and unification of Taiwan with the Mainland (such as Concentric Patriotism Alliance of the ROC and its sister organization Chinese Patriotic Association), some of them support the cross-strait policy of the KMT and are not against reunification in the future (such as Taiwan Glory) and some of them do public diplomacy for Beijing in an effort to improve the image of the CPC among Taiwanese (such as Mainland Chinese United Front or in Taiwan the registered New Alliance Association, the China Tide Association, China Unification League and the Alliance for the Reunification of China all supported by Mainland China) (Taipei Times 2011a, Reuters 2014) or only take advantage of Mainland Chinese money and collaborate on events promoting Chinese culture, with a strong emphasis on the position that Taiwan is part of a greater China (such as Fo Guang Shan Foundation for Buddhist Culture; see for example Cole 2016). Some of these organizations have a long history, such as China Tide Association established in 1979 as China Tide Faction, and represent a group of intellectuals supporting Chinese nationalism (Rubinstein 1994), some are very new and are interested in contemporary issues such as economic cooperation with Mainland China such as Taiwan Glory.

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