Taipei [Taiwan]: A former Dutch diplomat Gerrit van der Wees said that the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) leader Mao Zedong had refuted claims over Taiwan.
Pointing out the glaring historical inconsistencies of China’s position on Taiwan’s status over time, Wees said that Mao Zedong, in 1937, reportedly told American journalist Edgar Snow, that “…we will extend them (the Koreans) our enthusiastic help in their struggle for independence. The same thing applies for Taiwan,” reported Taiwan News. The CCP of the 1920s actually held the opposite view on Taiwan, recognizing the people of Taiwan as a distinct “nation” or “nationality.”
The communist leaders described the anti-colonial resistance by the Taiwanese against imperial Japan as a “national liberation movement” separate from the Chinese revolution, per Van der Wees.
China has been inconsistent on Taiwan’s status and its claims are in fact a relatively new stance.
Writing in The Diplomat, Gerrit van der Wees quoted Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, who reportedly told US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last month that “Taiwan is a part of China and no one can change that,” reported Taiwan News.
Van der Wees said the CCP position that Taiwan is “an inalienable part of China” is problematic for two reasons. The first is that it lacks a historical basis, and second, it is inconsistent since it is quite a recent position for the CCP to hold.
Van der Wees also said that Mao Zedong’s recognizing the people of Taiwan as a distinct “nation” or “nationality” was repeated in later years by Zhou Enlai, who would eventually become China’s foreign minister, reported Taiwan News.
Van der Wees concluded by recommending the CCP be reminded by the international community that it once advocated for Taiwan to be an independent state, distinct from China.
Wees argued that this will encourage the CCP to find “peaceful solutions” to relations with Taiwan, rather than the current stance, which, he posits, will “only lead to conflict,” reported Taiwan News. (ANI)