Taiwan's DPP seeking new outlets for Democracy in China
Beijing
(AsiaNews) - The DPP (Democratic Progressive Party), defeated in the last two
presidential elections, has decided to strengthen its ties with the Chinese
People's Party by reopening its China Affairs Department ", closed in
2007. Some
experts, looking at the internal politics of the island, say that the party
will gain more votes. But
others, even in China, think that the DPP could help the discontent of the
Chinese mainland to press for more democracy.
On
July 25, Su Tseng-chang, chairman of the DPP, proposed the reopening of the
Office for Chinese affairs and the party's central committee approved it. The
office was closed in 2007, absorbed within the department for foreign affairs,
to support the idea of former President Chen Shuibian that Taiwan and China
are two separate nations with their specific sovereignty on both sides of the
Strait. Beijing
has always opposed any idea of Taiwanese independence, and maintains it is merely
a "renegade province".
Attempts
towards independence were consistently blocked by China with threats of armed
invasion and trade sanctions, so that in 2008 Chen Shuibian lost the election
in favor of Ma Ying-jeou, supported by a community of businessmen, a proponent
of a more friendly approach within the framework of a "one China"
(not "two nations" on the sides of the Strait).
According
to some experts in Taiwan, the move to reopen the office is part of the DPP's
effort to recalibrate its policy toward the giant neighbor, lowering its challenging
tone of the past.
But
there are also experts in China and Taiwan who see the attitude of criticism
towards the Beijing leadership a great opportunity for the DPP. Inside
the People's Republic, the discontent of the population has reached high
levels, producing riots, strikes, demonstrations and criticism on the Internet.
The
DPP could help all of this discontent and channel it toward a demand for
greater democracy in China. These
experts note that Taiwan is the only experiment in full democracy in the
Chinese world and in fact serves as a model for many. Even
tourists from China to Taiwan can spend their evenings watching the political
debates on television: a thing never seen their homeland.
The
DPP may also be supported by other countries in the area: the arrogant and
brutal assertion of China's sovereignty over disputed territories in the South
China Sea and Yellow Sea, is souring its relations with Beijing, Japan, South
Korea, Philippines and Vietnam .
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