Dr. Sun Yat Sen Will Ride Again
Dr. Sun Yat Sen,
physician, philosopher, and the first president of the new Nationalist Republic
of China, died, of natural causes, in 1925, at a relatively young 53 years of
age. But, this was not before mentoring and driving a revolution that gave
birth to a modern independent China.
Starting in 1911, Sun
Yat Sen succeeded in melding the warlords that then roamed across China, into a
republic. At the time, the country was nominally under a non-functioning Qing
Dynasty.
Political power was
devolved into the hands of a main political party, broadly socialist in
outlook, the Kuomintang (KMT). Sun Yat Sen became its first president.
But soon enough, the
anti-monarchical Sun Yat Sen gave up his position of administrative power, to
preside over the political party apparatus instead.
The KMT, established on
the mainland in 1911, also ruled unbroken in Taiwan till 2000. Taiwan now has
the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) at the helm. The country was under
martial law for a long time, from 1948 to 1987.
Today Taiwan is in a process of democratic political
reform to become more responsive to the wishes of its people, even as some
elements do favour a reunification with Communist China. But the bulk of the
people regard them as infiltrators from
the mainland, not to be trusted.
Sun Yat Sen himself, as
a world figure, is today relegated to the shadows of history. He was, in the
end, the founder-mentor of the losing side in a momentous civil war. His
successor General Chiang Kai Shek, who died only in 1975, was driven out of the
mainland along with the Nationalists, by Mao Ze Dong and his Communists, in1949.
The Mao era saw many
excesses and miscalculations that resulted in the death of more than 30 million
Chinese, but the Chairman held on doggedly to power till his death. After him,
the Deng Xiaoping era was hugely successful economically for China till he, in
turn retired in 1992. And then came the turn of new strong men who pushed ahead
with the economic miracle but with increasingly jingoistic and militarist
overtones. It is this groundswell that raised Xi Jinping via the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
But now, the time may
be coming when Sun Yat Sen and Chiang Kai Shek’s nationalist successors can
return the favour to mainland China. It
is already challenged internally in some
of its provinces. Hong Kong and Tibet are not happy at all. Neither is
Xinkiang. All this despite use of an iron fist to curb dissent. Can China
become a democracy once again nudged in that direction by America and
others? We will only know once all the
chips have fallen in the ongoing drama.
There is, first going to be a strenuous competition
for world domination. But this struggle is sure to be lost by a Communist China
that had hoped to win by incremental steps, without having to fight
economically or militarily. But this over clever thinking of President Xi
Jinping is now being openly challenged by many countries led by America.
Red China is globally
out of favour after the havoc wreaked by the bio-warfare unleashed using the Wuhan Virus and its ham-fisted attempts at
cover-up, threats, and inducements.
The one man virtual dictatorship
of President Xi Jinping, combined with his bizarre, anachronistic and imperial
megalomania, has put a question mark over the survival of Red Chinese Communism
itself. The world is coalescing to curb its excesses, and a brutal,
multi-nation economic blockade of China is on the cards.
Chiang Kai Shek and his
Nationalists were driven out of mainland China to the nearby island of Formosa,
so named by the Portuguese. It is now known by its older Chinese name of Taiwan.
The Nationalists, impressively enough,
have never given up the dream of reclaiming the mainland one day.
The Nationalists, who
style themselves The Republic of China (ROC), did, in the beginning, run the
whole of China for 38 years. They were driven
out to the nearby large island, just 100 miles off the mainland. Taiwan is 240 miles long and 60 to 90 miles
wide. But this 13, 976 sq. miles has proved enough to become a prosperous
country with $1.3 trillion GDP, and a per capita income of over $55,000.
This despite being converted, 1971 onwards, into
a de jure state of 23.7 million
people. Still, most countries maintain representative offices at Taipei, its
capital, which act as de jure embassies.
Taiwan never stopped being recognised officially by a handful of countries. It
interacts with most leading world bodies but under a pseudonym. Or as a guest/observer.
Or in some other unofficial capacity.
But despite the best
efforts of Red China to either subsume or destroy it, Taiwan has secured its
independent place in the world.
The People’s Republic
Of China (PRC) or Red China lays claim to it under its “One China” credo. America
aided and abetted this assertion. First, the ROC lost its UN seat to the PRC in
1971. That was when Red China and America entered into an entente cordiale during the Nixon administration. This not only
raised Red China gradually to become the manufacturer to the world, but also
the No.2 economic power after America itself.
China now plans to
topple America from its pinnacle. This quest was going well according to some
analysts. But only till its infliction of the Wuhan Virus on the world changed
everything.
Meanwhile, Taiwan, after
losing its UN seat to Red China saw the US sever diplomatic relations too in
1978. Then the US let its defence treaty to protect the ROC lapse in 1980 as
well.
But, all this is about
to change in 2020. The US has announced it will reassess the status of not just
Taiwan but a restive Hong Kong as well. This could well be followed by Tibet
where the US has already questioned China’s handling of the Panchen Lama. Then
will come the artificial islands and
military bases on the South China Sea. The claims of territory in Bhutan, the
various territorial claims and line of actual control (LAC) disputes with India.
All this, in the
context of acute sanctions placed on
trade with China, capital flight, seizure of Chinese assets abroad, revocation
of one sided treaties and diplomatic loss of face everywhere.
Meanwhile, the ROC
keeps itself in a state of Israel-like military readiness for the ever present
existentialist threat. The size of its lean military tops half a million soldiers.
It keeps most of its military machine underground, in reinforced facilities. Importantly,
it is also a covert nuclear power, a status wheedled out of the US, a parting
gift, to maintain the balance.
Today, as the sun on the ROC’s flag is shining
bright once again, that balance will help Taiwan eventually resurrect mainland China
from the tyranny of a Communist dictatorship. China helped America destroy the
USSR via the Nixon-Kissinger- Mao alliance. Today, as the last bastion of
totalitarian Communism, China too will be destroyed by America.
Dr. Sun-Yat-Sen is
secretly regarded by many Chinese as the true father of modern China. He was
certainly an astute thinker. He famously let it be known that only 5% of the
people are capable of “Pre-seeing”, or visionary thinking. Another 10% could
promptly understand once they were told, the “Post-seeing”. But the bulk of
people, 85% of any populace, is “Unseeing”. They are incapable of understanding
theoretical postulates. They must be instructed.
Today, the world is
ready to instruct and command a regime change in China. The wheels may grind
slowly but they are sure to grind fine. The direction is set. It is now only a
matter of time.
For: WIONNEWS
(1,279 words)
May 18th, 2020
Gautam Mukherjee
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