Taiwanese Netizens Aren’t Exactly Thrilled With the Upcoming China-Taiwan Meeting · Global Voices
Image from Facebook Taiwan Explorer.
The buzz online has been non-stop since the announcement of a meeting between President <PERSON> of Taiwan (R.O.C.) and President <PERSON> of the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.) to take place on Saturday, November 7, in Singapore.
While <PERSON>'s government stressed that the two presidents would address each other with the title “Mr.”, which implies the two are on equal footing in the meeting, reactions online show that netizens aren't buying such political camouflage as the diplomatic and military power imbalance between the two is so obvious.
In contrast with the positive reactions from Taiwanese political parties and international media, the majority of Taiwanese views online expressed concerns over the perceived threat that China represents to Taiwan’s much cherished sovereignty and democratic processes. Taiwan has made great effort to better its relations with China for economic benefit over the past decade, but without much payoff, observers argue. China hasn't made any indication that it's willing to recognize Taiwan as sovereign, while Taiwan's gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to continue contracting and wealth inequality remains a pressing issue.
‘Ni hao! I'm the president of China!’
China claims Taiwan as a rogue territory ever since the Kuomintang (KMT) retreated to the island following defeat at the hands of the communists in the Chinese civil war during the late 1940s, although the mainland has no control over the self-ruling state of Taiwan. Beijing has threatened using force to retake Taiwan if it were to ever make a formal bid for independence.
The leaders of the Chinese Communist Party and the KMT haven't met together since 1945. Some reactions to the historic meeting took the form of satirical caricatures, drawing on the public's reactions and predicting the possible scenarios and conditions for the cross-strait summit. 871
On Facebook, TaiwanExplorer made fun of the claim that both presidents are the rightful leaders of China (see image on top).
Another caricature making waves is of a panda, representing China's President <PERSON>, riding a wooden toy horse, symbolizing Taiwan’s President <PERSON>.
Mr. <PERSON> (panda) riding on Mr. <PERSON> (horse). Image from Facebook user Taiwanfugue.
Netizens also shared a video showing President <PERSON> back in 2011 when he made a public promise not to meet with any Chinese officials during his term as president.
Calls for his impeachment have also circulated, as many accuse <PERSON>, who belongs to the Kuomintang (KMT) party, of trying one last attempt to put himself into the history books without caring for Taiwan’s democratic process. But such views have been repressed by pro-government media. A professor wrote on the opinion page of Taiwanese publication CommonWealth Magazine, which is an advocate of the current government's policy on forging closer economic ties with China, criticizing the meeting and calling for President <PERSON>'s impeachment, but the piece was taken down by the editorial board for being inappropriate.
‘We want to know what the benefits of cross-strait exchanges are’
<PERSON>, a former student activist, raised a number of questions on his Facebook page immediately after the news of the meeting was announced:
我們都知道「馬習會」是馬英九夢寐以求、朝思暮想的重要時刻，但為何卡關了那麼久，如今突然之間成局了？
想請問，兩岸交流的成果到底是什麼？馬習會要鞏固的是什麼樣的成果？這些馬政府眼裡所謂的兩岸交流成果是台灣人民要的成果嗎？ 871