Nat Bellocchi: on the Identity Issue

Nat Bellocchi published a commentary in the Taipei Times today on the issue of Taiwan's identity. Bellocchi was head of AIT during the early 1990s, intelligent, informed, and sympathetic to Taiwan.

That is an enormous task, but a critical necessity. Voters see "status quo" as the answer -- thinking that staying neutral can last as long as they like. My last article tried to explain why this is illusory. The result would not be a choice, but eventual unification. Ambiguity dominates the language between Taiwan, the US and China. In addition, election campaigns tend to be dominated by unreliable rhetoric. With the lack of interest among so many voters, addressing this problem should be today's top priority.

I tend to agree that "status quo" equals creeping unification. Identity is bound up with so many issues....as Bellocchi notes, the mainlander parties have made it impossible for the government to function. So how can the government provide leadership on the identity issue?

It is easy to call for resolution of the identity problem, but difficult to design concrete policies that might lead to a resolution. The DPP faces the singular problem of a democratic party facing an authoritarian one: how do you adhere to democratic principles when the opponent you fight is out to destroy you and those principles, and intends to use those principles against you?

[Taiwan]