Taiwan independence movement
Taiwan independence (台灣獨立, pinyin: Táiwān dúlì, Taiwanese: Tâi-oân To̍k-li̍p; abbreviated to 台獨, Táidú, Tâi-to̍k) is a political movement whose goal is to create a sovereign, independent Republic of Taiwan out of the lands currently administered by the Republic of China. It is supported by the pan-green coalition on Taiwan and opposed by the People's Republic of China, which favor Chinese reunification (albeit not immediately). Taiwan's pan-blue coalition, although traditionally associated with Chinese reunification, in reality no longer advocate the notion since the 90's.
The movement is internationally significant because a formal declaration of Taiwan independence could lead to a military conflict between the People's Republic of China and the United States.
Different interpretations
Although the name itself might sound straightforward, "Taiwan independence" is in truth a very controversial issue, especially so in terms of what Taiwanese independence actually is. Currently, there are three major views. The first one, put forward by the People's Republic of China government on mainland China, defines Taiwan independence as "splitting Taiwan from China, causing division of the nation and the people." What "China" constitutes in this statement is somewhat ambigious, as some statements by the People's Republic of China seem to identify China with the PRC, and other indicate a more flexible definition.
The second view is one considering the move for Taiwan independence as a nationalist movement. This is the opinion, historically, put forward by such pro-independence groups on Taiwan as the tang wai movement and later the Democratic Progressive Party, which argue that the Kuomintang has been in the past a "foreign regime" forcibly imposed on Taiwan. Since the 1990's, supporters of Taiwan independence no longer actively make this argument. Instead, the argument has been that in order to survive against the growing power of the PRC, Taiwan must view itself as a separate and distinct entity from "China". This involves removing the name of China from official and unofficial items in Taiwan, rewriting history books to focus exclusively on Taiwan as a central entity, promoting the use of the Taiwanese language, reducing economic links with the PRC, and in general thinking of Taiwan as a separate entity from any notion of China. In this view, China is the enemy, and the goal of this movement is to create an internationally recognized state which is separate from any concept of China.
A third view is that Taiwan independence is really the status quo; that Taiwan is a independent nation with the official name Republic of China which has been independent (i.e. de facto separate from mainland China) either since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, or ever since the Republic of China proclaimed sovereignty in the 1912 revolution. Although previously no major political faction adopted this viewpoint, because it is a "compromise" in face of Chinese threats and American warnings against an unilateral declaration of independence, the DPP combined it with their traditional belief to form their latest official policy. This viewpoint has not been adopted by more radical groups such as the Taiwan Solidarity Union, which favor only the second view and are in favor a Republic or State of Taiwan. In addition, many members of the pan-blue coalition are rather suspicious of this view, fearing that adopting this definition of Taiwan independence is merely an insincere stealth tactical effort to advance desinicization and the second view of Taiwan independence. As a result, supporters of pan-blue tend to make a clear distinction between Taiwan independence and Taiwan sovereignty while supporters of pan-green tend to try to blur the distinction between the two.
History
This movement began under the Japanese, and was ironically supported by Mao Zedong in the 1930s as a means of freeing Taiwan from Japanese rule.
After the Kuomintang began to rule the island, the focus of the movement was as a vehicle for discontent from the native Taiwanese against the rule of "mainlanders" (i.e. people who came over with Chiang Kai-shek's armies and government in the late 1940s). Between 1949 and 1991, the official position of the ROC government on Taiwan was that it was the legitimate government of all of China and used this position as justification for authoritarian measures such as the refusal to vacate the seats held by delegates elected on the mainland in 1947 for the Legislative Yuan. The Taiwan independence movement intensified in response to this and presented an alternative vision of a sovereign and independent Republic of Taiwan. This vision was represented through a number of symbols such as the use of Taiwanese in opposition to the school taught Mandarin Chinese. Taiwan independence has been some of the motivation behind the Taiwanese localization movement.
Support
The official opinion of the government on mainland China has always been against Taiwan independence, and it has stated that a formal declaration of Taiwan independence would trigger military intervention. They often state that independence is wanted by only a small group, which is trying to brainwash others into thinking the same thing. Most people on the mainland would have a similar view.
In Taiwan itself, the situation is much more complicated. As mentioned previously there are two different interpretations in Taiwan. For the nationalist one of seeking independence and cut from China, support has grew steadily over the last decade. This change by no means translate into support for independence, which still represents a minority within which there are factions advocating several different, often incompatible approaches.
The view that the status quo is an sovereign Taiwan enjoys near universal support within Taiwan. An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese and virtually all political parties would agree that Taiwan/ROC is a sovereign nation (they do disagree bitterly on such details as territory, name, future policies and history though). When the two nations relations theory was put forward by former president Lee, he received an 80% support. Similar situations arose when president Chen declared the same. However, many in the pan-blue coalition and the People's Republic of China believe that Lee and Chen intend on publicly promoting a moderate form of Taiwan independence in order to secretly advance deeper forms of Taiwan independence, and that they intend to use popular support on Taiwan for political separation to advance notions of cultural and economic separation.
At the same time, polls indicate that most Taiwanese do not think that Taiwanese culture is or should be separate from Chinese culture, and efforts to remove the symbols of "China" can provoke very strong reaction from some sectors of society. Some elements of the Taiwanese society would even consider Taiwan to be the "true heir" to Chinese culture. In addition, many sectors of society, especially the business community, are wary of the efforts to reduce trade with Mainland China.
This complex situation is perhaps best demonstrated when the US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Taiwan is "not sovereign", provoking strong yet varying comments from both the pan-Green and pan-Blue coalitions. From the DPP's side, President Chen declared that "Taiwan is definitely a sovereign, independent country, a great country that absolutely does not belong to the People's Republic of China". The TSU, in addition to mocking Powell, questioned why United States sold weapons to Taiwan, if Taiwan isn't a sovereign State. From the KMT, Taipei Mayor Ma announced that "the Republic of China has been a sovereign state ever since it was formed". James Soong called it "Taiwan's biggest failure in diplomacy".
While all parties concurred - something that has hardly ever happened in Taiwanese politics - on rebuking Powell's words, no one agreed with anyone else as to why Powell's words are unacceptable. The ruling DPP continued its policy that ROC is Taiwan and is a sovereign state, while TSU stuck to its radical pro-independence stance, with the KMT still supporting the Republic of China, and the People First Party maintaining the opinion that it is best to maintain the status quo as much as possible.
Significance
Domestically, the issue of independence has dominated Taiwanese politics for the past couple decades. This is also as grave issue for mainland China.
Internationally, this movement is also significant in that a formal declaration of independence is one of the three conditions under which the PRC has stated that it will take military action against Taiwan — the other two being that Taiwan refuse negotiations indefinitely, or if Taiwan is invaded and occupied by foreign countries. (Recently, the mainland also warned that if the situation in Taiwan becomes worse and spirals out of control, they will not look on indifferently.) This would raise the possibility of an intervention by the United States under the Taiwan Relations Act and the possibility of a superpower conflict in East Asia.
It is also recently seen by Japan as one of the three situations in which another Sino-Japanese war would be triggered. Japan has evaluated that in event of Taiwanese independence, China would launch a pre-emptive strike against Japan to prevent US troops stationed there reinforcing Taiwan. The other two scenarios are: armed struggle for the resources in the Pacific and a Chinese attack to regain the disputed islands between the two nations.
Current Status
In more recent years, the focus of the movement has changed to that of insuring the sovereignty and dignity of Taiwan against the possibility of rule by the People's Republic of China, and as such has been more willing to take on the symbols of the Republic of China. The movement has also moderated in recent years because of decreasing friction between "Mainlander" and "native" communities on Taiwan, increasing economic ties with the Mainland, continuing threats by the People's Republic of China to invade if it declares independence, and doubts as to whether or not the United States would support a unilateral declaration of independence. Since the late 1990s, many supporters of Taiwan independence have argued that since Taiwan, as the ROC, is already independent from the mainland, a formal declaration of that fact is not urgent, and in 1998, the Democratic Progressive Party formalized this position in its party resolution.
After the October 10 speech by president Chen in 2004, support for independence reached new heights. Polls suggest that nearly 30% of Taiwanese residents now support independence, and an even higher percentage would support the construction of a Republic of Taiwan in 2008, as the final step after the proposed constitutional revisions in 2006. Support for One Nation, Two Systems or reunification in general dropped down to between 5-7%, and those who favor the status quo now averages below 60%.