OVERSEAS CHINESE ROLE IN THE
PEACEFUL REUNIFICATION OF CHINA
Press statement by Kua Kia Soong, Anti-War Coalition,
May 4th 2023
Source: sahabatrakyatmy.blogspot.com
❝ I think it is extremely important that those of us who call ourselves members of the left know where we ought to stand. ❞
This statement is issued from Dr. Kua Kia Soong by email today (May 4th 2023) . The full context are as below (The above picture is added by SR`s editor )——
After the founding of the Chinese Republic in 1911, the May 4th Movement in China in 1919 led to a new political awakening also in the Malayan Chinese community. The new mental attitude was fostered by community leaders, teachers, school committees and students alike. There were feverish fund-raising campaigns to help the Revolutionary Party, later renamed 'Kuomintang' or Nationalist Party. Between 1914 and 1919, the Chinese in Malaya followed events in China very closely. For example, when the terms of the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919 became known (all former German concessions in Shantung were handed over to Japan), there was a nation-wide boycott of Japanese goods in Malaya. There was also a boycott of the "Peace" celebrations called by the British colonial administration. After Japan invaded China in 1937, the overseas Chinese provided all manner of support for the Anti-Japanese forces in China. The rest is history…
The geo-political situation in the world today calls for a new effort by overseas Chinese to ensure the war mongers on the world stage do not threaten the peace and stability of China and provoke a new cold war.
In recent years, faced with the economic rise of China and other countries, the US has relied on its military industrial complex to provoke war. It has been pointed out that while China builds, the US only bombs! Thus, while China relentlessly expands its infrastructural construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, the US continues to expand its military bases all over the world. There are now close to 1000 US military bases, mostly surrounding China, and Russia. The U.S. has pushed its allies especially those organised in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation — to strengthen their military power.
The latest four new bases in the Philippines would place the US military within striking distance of Taiwan.
The latest Ukraine war has been going on for more than a year now although the provocation against Russia by the US and NATO started in 2014. The fatalities on both sides are shocking and regrettable. This scenario must not be allowed to happen to Taiwan, where the US and its politicians have been provoking China for some time now. Clearly, Taiwan is the flashpoint in East Asia with US military forces so close to the Chinese coast and US and Chinese ships and aircraft near to blows in the South China Sea.
The world community recognises the ‘One China’ principle. Thus, although the mainland and Taiwan have different political systems, they belong to the same country. But while formally adopting the One China policy, the US maintains a duplicitous stand by extensive ‘unofficial’ relations and military ties with Taiwan. The US tries to justify its ongoing ties with Taiwan by claiming to champion the island’s ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom.’
However, if we look at what happened after the second world war, far from protecting ‘democracy’ or ‘freedom’ in Taiwan, the U.S. instead backed the KMT dictatorship from 1949 to1987. During this time, it was estimated up to 200,000 people were imprisoned or tortured, and more than 3,000 were executed by the KMT.
Nevertheless, through those years, neither Taipei nor Washington regarded the island as separate from China. Finally, in 1971, the UN General Assembly voted to recognise the PRC as the only legitimate representative of China. Then in 1979, after Nixon’s trip to Beijing, the US finally normalised relations with the PRC, adopted the One China policy, and ended its formal diplomatic relations with the ROC in Taiwan.
TODAY, due to the continued provocations of the US in alliance with separatist forces in Taiwan, the island remains a flashpoint. As in Ukraine, Washington has pledged $10 billion in military aid to Taiwan. Meanwhile, US congressional delegations continue to travel to Taipei to provoke the Chinese government. A four-star US general recently predicted war with China within two years.
A New Cold War against China
is against the interests of humanity
We note the increasingly aggressive statements and actions being taken by the US government in regard to China. These constitute a threat to world peace and are an obstacle to humanity successfully dealing with extremely serious common issues which confront it such as climate change, control of pandemics, racist discrimination and economic development.
We therefore call upon the US to step back from this threat of a Cold War and also from other dangerous threats to world peace it is engaged in including: withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces agreement; withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change Accords; and its increasing disengagement from UN bodies. The US should also stop pressuring other countries to adopt such dangerous positions.
I think it is extremely important that those of us who call ourselves members of the left know where we ought to stand. We must always be in opposition to US/NATO, allied vassal state aggression against China and the rest of the world too. We cannot be confused. Remember that when the US speaks of human rights you are hearing from the country that has more of its population incarcerated, some 2 million people, than any other country in the world. Its military spending is larger than that of the next 10 countries combined. It allows police to kill 1,000 people every year. COVID-19 has killed more than a hundred thousands of people, impoverished more, and its profit making health care system is proof of a lack of human rights. We have to call out war propaganda whenever we see it and hear it and not allow ourselves to be drawn into bogus arguments. We cannot use the first person when thinking about government statements regarding China or any other country. Our interests are not those of the rulers and we must never forget that.
What the US cold war is attempting to do is to re-orientate all countries in the world away from the most rapidly growing parts of the world economy and toward its own relatively stagnant economy. This will have very serious consequences for increasing world poverty and stopping economic development.
The threat of new cold war is about all of our futures, it's a threat to the whole of humanity. What is the alternative to it? It is to jointly work together to fight the pandemic, to oppose war, to fight climate change, to oppose every form of racism, to work together for peaceful economic development.
Therefore, I believe that for the interest of humanity there should be a simple slogan, “No Cold War!” ▉
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