Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

The recent “Jasmine Revolution” and the effect it has had on autocratic political systems has shown that forces are in place for a new wave of democracy and that these could erupt at any time. These recent events also show that this force has a way of reaching areas situated near each other. The Internet has become a new tool for disseminating information about democracy and this is something that traditional theories on democratization never foresaw. The middle class, new social movements and even opposition parties have all fallen into the background and have been replaced with a new form of mass communication that is more democratic and decentralized.

While China is attempting to achieve “most favored nation” status with the US, it has refused Washington’s pressure to improve its human rights record, saying that China and the US have different social systems and ideologies and that they should not interfere in each other’s internal affairs. China stresses “two systems for two different countries and peaceful coexistence.”

If former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) had been more broad-minded and farsighted by emphasizing the differences between Taiwan and China and respecting the actual situation, then the ideal of “two systems for two different countries” would have resulted in peaceful relations between Taiwan and China while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was in power.