Peace the victor in Taiwan polls

'We won!" Ma Ying-jeou, the incumbent Taiwan leader, shouted to cheer up his supporters in the pouring evening rain in Taipei on Jan 14, 2012. With jubilance, Ma summed up the 2012 election: "This is not my personal victory, the victory belongs to all Taiwan people."

If one follows this line of thought further, one "would say" that the victory belongs to the Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. Then one "must say" that the victory belongs also to the Chinese mainland's successful cross-Straits peaceful development policy and measures. Finally, one "can say" that the successes of cross-Straits relations would exemplify what China has done and can do for its peaceful development with people and nations across the world.

Here are the reasons why one "would say", "must say" and "can say" the above about Ma's victory:

First, to say that the election victory belongs to Chinese on both sides is to underscore the fact that, after six decades of separation, people need healing; they need to be back together economically, culturally, socially, and their areas of togetherness need to keep expanding. It is as if each side is beginning to find its missing half to form a new, complete whole.

The reason why one "would say" that about people's need for togetherness is best conveyed by a metaphor. The metaphor is the "Landscape United" art exhibition at the Taipei Palace Museum in the summer of 2011.

The focus of the exhibition was the famous painting, "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains," by the great Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) ink-and-brush landscape artist Huang Gongwang (1269-1354). The painting was damaged in a fire, restored into two pieces of different lengths, and physically separated for more than 360 years because they were owned by different collectors. For 62 years since 1949 the shorter piece was a treasured collection at the Zhejiang Provincial Museum in Hangzhou and the longer at the Palace Museum in Taipei.

In 2010 Premier Wen Jiabao initiated the reunion of this Chinese national treasure; the reunion took place a year later in Taipei. Premier Wen said: "If the painting can be brought together, so can our people."

Second, there are several significant indicators why one "must say" that the Taiwan election victory also belongs to the mainland's successful policy for cross-Straits peaceful development. Two indicators show how the mainland's peaceful development policy is reflected in the practical conduct of the election process.

The first indicator is the fact that all three candidates for the Taiwan election presented their credentials for managing the cross-Straits affairs as their key qualification to lead Taiwan. As it turned out, the candidate with the highest such qualification to manage cross-Straits affairs, Ma, won the re-election. This is because, as the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council stated in Beijing: "The peaceful development of cross-Straits relations has been the right road and has won the support of the majority of Taiwan compatriots."

Here are the candidates' qualifications. Ma Ying-jeou, candidate for the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), showcased his signature policy of closer economic ties with the mainland during the past three and half years. His policy resulted in the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with the mainland to benefit the island's 23 million people.

Tsai Ing-wen, candidate for the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was the least prepared. That was mainly because of her pro-independent sentiment and her rejection of the 1992 Consensus, for which she offered as substitute an ambiguous and vacuous Taiwan Consensus. Yet Tsai managed to present a cross-Straits credential of sorts, which signifies that far from ignoring the reality of cross-Straits relations even the DPP has to deal with it.

Thus, on a positive note, Tsai cited her 1998 visit to the mainland with a delegation, and listed her past cross-Straits contributions as chairwoman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council during the Chen Shui-bian administration, which had a clear independence agenda.

James Soong, candidate for the People's First Party (PFP), referred to his rich political and administrative experience, and especially to his "official" familiarity with the mainland. He suggested that, if elected, he would personally bring the other two candidates to visit the mainland.

The second indicator that the mainland's cross-Straits peaceful development policy contributed to the election victory is the fact that has won more support. The Consensus, reached by the two sides in 1992 in Hong Kong, is one in which each side holds its own interpretation of the one-China principle. The key concept here is the invariant one-China principle.

The 1992 Consensus, fully supported by the mainland, has therefore been the foundation of cross-Straits successes of the past four years. The election victory simply confirms that the Consensus will be the foundation of all aspects of future cross-Straits peaceful development.

The strongest affirmation for the Consensus came unexpectedly at the last minute from Taiwan business leaders, who are typically shy to take sides openly on political matters. This time, all of them came out voluntarily in support of the 1992 Consensus. Significantly, some of these leaders had supported the DPP in the past. Even Douglas H. Paal, a former US diplomat, spoke as a scholar in Taipei in favor of the 1992 Consensus.

Post-election analysts have attributed the 1992 Consensus as a key reason for Ma's re-election. Others see Tsai's rejection of the 1992 Consensus as the cause of her defeat.

Finally, the success of the cross-Straits peaceful development can serve as a mirror across the world for China's peaceful development. The common denominator here is the State Council's 2011 white paper, "China's Peaceful Development". The key and inseparable words for such development are "cooperation" and "trust". The practice of cooperation develops trust, and trust engenders further and deeper cooperation. Out of that comes China's non-zero-sum win-win relationship with people and nations around the world.

The author is a professor of Western and Chinese philosophy at Montclair State University in New Jersey, US.

(China Daily 01/19/2012 page9)