SECURITY POLICY OF GREEN PARTY TAIWAN
---- ANTI-WAR, PEACE, AND FOR THE PEOPLE
Content: Preface, Non-violent, Grass-Root Democracy, Civil Defense, Neutral Zone, Procedures, Significance, Suggestion
GREEN PARTY TAIWAN’S PEACE PROPOSAL
-- non-violent resistance and civil defense
-- to disintegrate cold-war bloc and realize common freedom of the East Asian people
March 16, 1996
Based on ecological advocacy, we believe only the people are the main body for security and in no way is it the nations. We believe the “people security” should have more priority than the so-called “national security.” Looking from historical experience, nationalism is often the best reason for expanding external hegemony and dominating internal authority. The best tactic to resist such threats does not lie on building new nationalism to against old nationalism, but on establishing an internal and external anti-war, peaceful environment for the people.
We believe that at the current real historical stage, although a conventional national military force can hardly be renounced, one must perceive that a war will inevitably invite more war and deserve punishment. Therefore, to seek non-military resistance and neutral linkage between civil defense and the international non-military blocs are the two major policies of security subject of Green Party Taiwan.
2. Non-violent resistance and civil defense:
The benefit of war is to attain dominant resources. Therefore, establishing a highly independent and totally indomitable society will force an invader to have no other choice but to rethink the cost and effects of war. Moreover, the people’s clear expression of will for anti-invasion and anti-dominion will further negate the probability and legitimacy of a war originator. This is the best strategy to force a war originator to use force without having cause, to be unable to get support from the people within and internationally. Based on such an understanding, we think that although the conventional defense force has a certain necessity during transitional period, building a thorough and progressive society of grass-root democracy is even more important.
3. GRASS-ROOT DEMOCRACY -- MORE EFFECTIVE TO DEFEND THAN NATIONALISM
China’s current military exercises to intimidate Taiwan at a time when we are completing restructuring forced the globe to generally realize that such conduct is invasive in its nature. China’s definition on the Taiwan question as “internal affairs”, in a long time, has faced a possibility of overall destruction for the first time. Thus, the Green Party Taiwan urges all presidential candidates to stop any campaign swashbuckling in the name of ending missile test as a means of accusing each other. Green Party Taiwan demands each candidate proclaim respect of the election result and hopes the election will be completed in democratic procedure with fairness and justice. We believe only in a true democracy can we build mutual recognized independent and free society, a sharp contrast to integrate society by new nationalism naturally has its positive intentions, but such a stance has the capability of creating serious dissent which may endanger more profound democratization and make peaceful and democratic interaction of the society more difficult. Eventually, it will create social split, endangering the construction of an independent society.
More fundamentally, democracy creates a free and independent society. Such a society is the result of pluralistic independent and peaceful interaction. The ruler’s power will shrink to go-between and service in nature. Such a society will cause the conventionally dominant ruler to find it very difficult or unable to proceed. Even if the ruler insists on carrying the adverse through, he will have to face tremendous resistance and challenge. In fact, the Tiananmen incident of June 4, 1989, precisely demonstrated that China itself also faces the preliminary stage of such proceedings.
4. NON-MILITARY RESISTANCE DEMONSTRATES A FIRMER WILL OF RESISTANCE THAN WAR BEHAVIOR
In internal conflict within a nation, grass-root’s people have developed a principle of non-military (violence) resistance. Such resistance ultimately consolidates a higher resistant will and more thoroughly disintegrates all-out domination, making effective rule oriented in more liberal grass-root participation.
When facing external threats, non-military resistance is not necessarily applicable after war breaks out. But prior to war or at the initial stage of a war, it still can exert a large function in deterring war. Three small countries of Baltic Sea jointly expressed their anti-dominant will and decided to be independent by democratic process. They have not only won international support but also have forced the Soviet Union to accept the independence of the three nations are respect their highly independent will. This is the most successful and remarkable example of non-military resistance. Mahatma Gandhi’s peaceful dissent was a key to realizing Indian independence, eventually expelling Great Britain. In Chechenye, though it has little support from abroad due to illegitimacy of its dictator, women using the human-wall and fresh flowers against the Soviet force did actually restrain the pace of invasion.
Green Party Taiwan staged a sit-in on the high seas near the zone of Chinese missile tests on March 8. On March 16, the party even went to Taiwan Strait where the PRC held its military exercise for protest and presented “A Statement to Chinese People” and urged three parties (KMT, Chinese New Party and DPP) to jointly stage sit-in protest. This is based on the idea of civil defense; only through the expression of shouldering hardship, firm determination of resistance, can the people on Taiwan clearly convey their determination to refuse domination by China and disintegrate the propriety of its “nationalistic liberalization” and return to the ecological subject of “anti-domination by the determination of the people”.
5. TO DISINTEGRATE THE COLD-WAR BLOC AND TO REALIZE COMMON FREEDOM OF EAST ASIAN PEOPLE BY NEUTRALIZATION OF SPHERICAL COUNTRIES ALONG CHINESE COASTAL LINES
Both capitalistic and socialistic nationalism are supporting a hegemonic structure by creating a certain false image of internationalism. The truth behind the resistance by two major bloc during the Cold War era is in fact a bitter story of weak grass-root people who were devastated by a variety of mobilization. The Cold War was regarded at an end following the completion of medium-range nuclear arm reduction talks between the U. S. and the Soviet Union. But tense relations still exists between the Commonwealth of Independent States and the NATO without a decrease in caution on suspicion. In the East Asian nations is still complete and it is also a fact that China has created a tense on South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait by military expansion, nor is there a genuine settlement in the North and South Korean issue or an the end of the Cold War in East Asia.
The U.S. - China antagonism has created malicious interaction and continues to dominate the security fears in East Asia. Green Party Taiwan deems that resistance between military blocs or quasi-military blocs during the Cold War continues to create a so-called “Post-Cold War” confrontation. The revilement and punishment on the basis of hypothetical enemy between the U. S. and China have forced East Asian nations to have no alternative but to accept the U.S. domination in resisting threat from China. In other words, China’s threat is the major factor of U.S. domination.
In recent years, Southeast Asian nations have constantly attempted to extricate themselves from the U.S. domination. The promotion of EAEC, ARF and Euro-Asian Summits have all indicated that Southeast Asian nations are trying to woo countries in and out of their regions to balance American power instead of accepting U.S. military and economic domination.
We think that although the effort exerted by ASEAN demonstrates great pains in the pursuit of independence, it is fundamentally based on logical alliance of national strength. They have yet to get away from the potential structure of military alliance of the Cold War era.
American domination has caused China to continues its internal suppression and external threat on the ground of anti-imperialism. The vigorous existence of China with such anti-human rights and treats have given the U.S. every reason to maintain its domination in Asia, but the people wedged between are the biggest victims. We believe that braking the dominant ideology of nationalism, a Cold-War antagonistic structure is the best tactic for the pursuit of people’s freedom and independence.
Green Party Taiwan realizes that ASEAN’s peace-loving proclamation in 1976 “the pursuit of establishing peace and free neutralized region in Southeast Asia” is a precious asset worth enhancing. We have also strongly supported ASEAN’s endeavor to promote a “Southeast Asian Nuclear Free Zone” since early this year. We further advocate that the concept of a “Peace and Free Neutralized Region” should be initiated, surpassing that of the “Nuclear Free Zone”. In the regional scope, it should surpass Southeast Asia, allowing the people in East Asia, who were used as the line of containment during Cold-War era to have their right to demand a halt of the destiny of survival amid such a crack and re-establishing their independence and dignity. Green Party Taiwan would like to propose to all people in East Asia and other countries through grass-root pressure that pertinent countries agree to sign a “Treaty for Peace and Free Neutralized Region of countries along spherical Chinese coastal line”.
A general outline is as follows:
A. The region must be nuclear free and non-military zone; these countries are forbidden to develop nuclear armament and should renounce the power to initiate war; non-regional powerful countries should commit that they will not resort to applying nuclear arms on forces.
B. These countries should organized a joint force, turning its commanding power to the United Nation peace troops; and allowing the U.S. and China to participate under certain conditions.
C. The U.S. , China, the Soviet Union as well as the European Alliance must jointly sign this treaty in respect of this peace and free neutralized region.
D. When the above-mentioned conditions are accepted by all respected parties, American troops must withdraw from this spherical region.
The realization of this plan under the current circumstances is considerably difficult, but we would like to point out its positive significance:
A. With the disappearance of U.S. - China antagonism and East Asian Cold War, “Split plight” of East Asian people also vanishes.
B. The issue of Japanese rearmament will no longer exist and the shadow of the World War II will also disappear.
C. The Western threat faced by China over several hundred years will wiped out; conditions for founding a country will have tremendous change; the ebb of nationalism will be advantageous for Chinese people to realize free democracy.
D. Liberal Taiwan will on longer be deemed pro-Western and constitute strategic threat in Southeast China, nor will China have any reason to threaten Taiwan.
E. East Asian regional economic integration will be smoothly deployed under peaceful conditions; the formation of a globally stable new order with three equal powers’ Europe, the U. S. and Asia will be in favor of co-existence and co-prosperity of global people.
We also suggest that East European nations, the former Warsaw Pact members, adopt this formula to serve as a buffer for NATO with former Soviet regions in realizing a genuine peace in Europe.
This peaceful proposal by Green Party Taiwan will also urge the four presidential candidate for active participation and acceptance. The party will also issue letters to leaders in East Asia and other pertinent nations. The formal proposal will be presented at an European conference by European Green Party Federation, hoping that a relatively neutralized European Federation will actively coordinate with other nations to accept the Green Party Taiwan’s Peace Proposal.