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Understanding Taiwan: Bridging the Perception Gap

1999; Council on Foreign Relations; Volume: 78; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/20049528

2327-7793

Lee Teng-hui,

Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics

To convey a sense of the popular will on Taiwan today, I now refer to my fellow citizens as Taiwanese, meaning those who are willing to fight for the prosperity and survival of their country, regardless of when they or their forebears arrived on Taiwan and regardless of their provincial heritage or native language. This fresh national identity based on the New Taiwanese consciousness, holding that Taiwan's interests should be fore most and that the people of Taiwan all share a common destiny, has gradually harmonized the populace and provided a stable middle ground for Taiwan's political development. This new sense of identity manifests itself in every aspect of Taiwanese social and political life, including the role that the voters of Taiwan feel is appropriate for their democracy in the world. In turn, the way that its democratic achievements are perceived elsewhere in the region? particularly across the Taiwan Strait in Beijing?directly affects Taiwan's security and future development in ways never anticipated by the international community. If peace and stability are to be maintained in the Taiwan Strait area, the perceptions underpinning policies involving Taipei and Beijing must be more firmly grounded in reality than in ideological wishful thinking. Only then can the international community faithfully take into account the full significance of democracy on Taiwan.