That was a thought shared by many of the scholars who attended a recent conference at the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University. And it gives an indication of a great change that has occurred recently in relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
At the end of last year, when Taiwan was still caught up in election fever, the news media carried reports on a succession of visits to Taiwan by various prominent personages from mainland China, those receiving the most attention being a group of pro-democracy figures who consider themselves "exiled" overseas.
The range of figures was very broad, including not only the heads of various pro-democracy organizations, such as Wang Jun-nan, general secretary of the Federation for a Democratic China; Hu Ping, chairman of the Alliance for Democracy in China; and Li San-yuan, head of the Voice of June 4th; but also a number of mainland scholars who have long been concerned about the future of China and changes on either side of the Taiwan Strait, such as Li Shao-min, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University; Ch'en Kuo-ts'ang, an assistant professor at Columbia University; and Ch'en P'ing, a doctoral candidate in physics at the University of Texas.
Their purpose in coming to Taiwan was to participate in a conference held by the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University called "The Mainland Pro-Democracy Movement and the Future of China." Altogether a hundred activists and scholars arrived from the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, and Hong Kong, marking the first time so many figures from the mainland had attended a conference held on Taiwan related to the future of China.
"The most important thing is that it was the beginning of friendly contacts," says Chu Hsin-min, an associate professor in National Chengchi University's Graduate School of international Law and Diplomacy. He believes the conference's greatest significance was that Taiwan and pro-democracy figures overseas have at least acquired a basis of mutual understanding if they wish to pursue long-term contacts.
There are several major centers of opposition to the Communist regime in the world, he points out, but their forces have always been dispersed because of misunderstandings and a lack of close ties among them. That the conference could bring together so many people with so many different viewpoints was an achievement in and of itself, he believes.
The two-day conference concluded in an ardent, enthusiastic atmosphere and provided an abundance of ideas and information for scholars and shapers of public opinion alike. But for most of the general public, the feeling was not so strong.
The pro-democracy figures seemed to have sensed the feeling and were rather disappointed. Su Hsiao-k'ang, head of the Paris-based Federation for a Democratic China and author of the critical film documentary River Elegy, said that before coming he had hoped Taiwan would become a leader of the pro-democracy movement but had found out his thinking had been too naive. And Li I, editor-in-chief of the Hongkong-based magazine Nineties, said, "The present situation on Taiwan, I feel, is that even more people would like to toss the mainland aside."
How much truth is there to these views? Chu Hsin-min says that most people here pay rather more attention to things related to their own lives now that their economic and material conditions have reached a certain level, but that does not mean they are apathetic about the mainland pro-democracy movement.
And Ma Ying-jeou, executive secretary of the Mainland Affairs Council and chairman of the Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission, has "something to say" on this point too. He believes that calling Taiwan apathetic toward the mainland pro-democracy movement would be a mistake of historic proportions and that people here actually have never felt closer to the mainland in the past forty years than they do now (for details see the next article).
Ming Chu-cheng, an associate professor of political science at National Taiwan University, concurs that Ma's impression may be closer to the truth. He classifies the public on Taiwan into five groups according to the degree of their concern for mainland affairs: Taiwan independence advocates who have no use for the mainland anyway; materialists who care only about their own immediate interests; middle-of-the-roaders who prefer to wait and watch and let time solve the problem; people who are only willing to contribute money in support of the movement; and those who are truly concerned about the mainland and are willing to work for the movement as well as contribute money. "Most people on Taiwan belong to the middle group," he says. They don't actively support or oppose supporting the movement, and they don't feel that they themselves can do much of anything to help. They are the people the pro-democracy figures mean when they talk about apathy.
In fact, there has been quite a lot of discussion about what people on Taiwan can do to help.
Weng Sung-jan, a professor of political science and administration at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, points out that a large number of people from Taiwan go to the mainland each year to visit their relatives. He suggests that they link up with prodemocracy groups like the Federation for a Democratic China and the Alliance for Democracy in China and carry information from the outside world back to the mainland to help break through the Communists' news blackout.
And Hsu Cho-yun, a professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh, says that now is the time for Taiwan, Hong Kong, and pro-democracy figures overseas to unite and do something. As a first step he suggests setting up a foundation or an organization so they can combine forces.
Their calls seem to have earned a certain consensus among the pro-democracy figures during the ten or twelve days of their concentrated itineraries. Wan Jun-nan indicated in a press conference that the Federation for a Democratic China would set up a liaison office in Taiwan, the main goal of which would be to combine forces with various circles on Taiwan and spur the exchange of ideas and personnel.
After the pro-democracy figures returned to their bases overseas and all the activities were over, a question worth pondering remained: How can relations between Taiwan and the pro-democracy figures be developed?
In the short six months since Wu-erh K'ai-hsi refused to meet with the director of the Overseas Affairs Commission to the noisy arrival of the pro-democracy figures on Taiwan an important step has been taken in the psychological attitudes of Taiwan and the pro-democracy figures. Where to go from here? Perhaps the words of Chang King-yuh, president of National Chengchi University and director of the Institute of International Relations, can provide some food for thought.
Chang indicates that Taiwan and the prodemocracy figures never really knew one another in the past but now that they have met and gotten to know each another they can move in a more practical direction. "Considerations of "results' should be more important now than 'communication,'" he says.
His expectations are precisely those of the public on Taiwan, who also hope for a better China in the future.
[Picture Caption]
The pro-democracy figures were pursued by troops of ever-expectant reporters.
The conference at the Institute of International Relations was attended by the greatest number of figures from the mainland ever.
Ch'en Pai-chung, the president of Tone Sound Music Company, who brought Chang Kang to Taiwan, used direct action to show his support for the pro-democracy movement but ran into legal problems at the same time.
The bringing to Taiwan of these twelve pro-democracy activists from South Korea by the Free China Relief Association set off a debate over how pro-democracy figures should be defined.
Are the only people on Taiwan who care about the pro-democracy movement the ones who want to retake the mainland? The speaker in the picture is Ting Hsueh-liang, an overseas student from the mainland.
The pro-democracy figures received a warm and bipartisan welcome on Taiwan from the government and public alike.
Can the Taiwan experience be applied on the mainland? Pro-democracy activists would very much like to know.
Reading carefully and listening attentively in order to put contacts between Taiwan and the pro-democracy figures off to a good start.
Su Hsiao-k'ang the scriptwriter of River Elegy, believes that the public on Taiwan is highly apathetic in its support of the pro-democracy movement.
Visiting a marble store in Hualien.
Many of the pro-democracy activists retain ingenuous, youthful personalities.
The Federation for a Democratic China announced that it plans to set up a liaison office in Taiwan.
This group of students traveled to Paris to take part in the founding conference of the Federation for a Democratic China. Members of the federation were especially pleased to see their old friends.
Having a chance to enjoy the scenery was a pleasant break from their busy schedules.
The conference at the Institute of International Relations was attended by the greatest number of figures from the mainland ever.
Ch'en Pai-chung, the president of Tone Sound Music Company, who brought Chang Kang to Taiwan, used direct action to show his support for the pro-democracy movement but ran into legal problems at the same time.
The bringing to Taiwan of these twelve pro-democracy activists from South Korea by the Free China Relief Association set off a debate over how pro-democracy figures should be defined.
Are the only people on Taiwan who care about the pro-democracy movement the ones who want to retake the mainland? The speaker in the picture is Ting Hsueh-liang, an overseas student from the mainland.
Can the Taiwan experience be applied on the mainland? Pro-democracy activists would very much like to know.
The pro-democracy figures received a warm and bipartisan welcome on Taiwan from the government and public alike.
Reading carefully and listening attentively in order to put contacts between Taiwan and the pro-democracy figures off to a good start.
Su Hsiao-k'ang the scriptwriter of River Elegy, believes that the public on Taiwan is highly apathetic in its support of the pro-democracy movement.
Visiting a marble store in Hualien.
Many of the pro-democracy activists retain ingenuous, youthful personalities.
The Federation for a Democratic China announced that it plans to set up a liaison office in Taiwan.
This group of students traveled to Paris to take part in the founding conference of the Federation for a Democratic China. Members of the federation were especially pleased to see their old friends.
Having a chance to enjoy the scenery was a pleasant break from their busy schedules.
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