…by not delivering Taiwanese mail.
From Thursday’s Taipei Times:
China said yesterday it had returned all mail and parcels found with a postmark supporting Taiwan’s entry into the UN because the wording promotes independence.
"Taiwan authorities preaching `Taiwan independence’ through postal services has infringed on Taiwan compatriots’ freedom of communication," said Fan Liqing (范麗青), a spokeswoman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office. [emphasis added]
"This has seriously impaired the exchanges of letters between people on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, as well as Taiwan people’s exchanges with other parts of the world," Fan told reporters.
But surely Beijing’s decision NOT to deliver that mail was the real thing "infringing on Taiwan compatriots’ freedom of communication", wasn’t it?
The Taiwan Chronicles has more on this, most of which I agree with. In an earlier post, I defended the "UN for Taiwan" postmark campaign, because I thought it was a good way of raising awareness of Taiwan’s lack of U.N. membership to potential supporters in democratic countries. However, I have to concede that one of the China Post‘s objections was right on the money – the paper was right to predict the Chinese wouldn’t deliver those letters.
So, to modify (or at least clarify) my original position:
- "UN for Taiwan" postmarks to democratic countries – good
- "UN for Taiwan" postmarks to the People’s Republic of China – maybe not so good
What’s interesting here is that the Chinese government claims to object to the Taiwanese "authorities" preaching Taiwanese independence. In other words, they portray this as a government to government issue (although they can’t quite bring themselves to admit that Taiwan’s government IS a government). But the fly in the ointment for this line of reasoning is that the "UN for Taiwan" postmarks are now VOLUNTARY:
[Taiwan Post] said the mark [now] only goes on the letters of those who agree to have it…
Given that, if an individual Taiwanese VOLUNTARILY CHOOSES to have the postmark placed on a China-bound letter, will the Chinese Post Office happily deliver it? Heck, forget postmarks for a second. A Taiwanese doodles his own "UN Membership for Taiwan" logo on one of his envelopes – will THAT be delivered? After all, in the former, and certainly the latter case, the Taiwanese "authorities" are out of the picture.
I think we know the answer, and we all know that the Chinese government isn’t being straight with people. It doesn’t care who advocates U.N. membership for Taiwan; it objects to the very IDEA itself, regardless of whether it’s being advocated by "authorities" OR individuals.
KMT reaction the next day was sadly predictable. You know the kind of fella who always says, "My country, right or wrong"? Well, in any disagreement with China, count on the KMT to boldly declare, "My country, always wrong":
"Taiwan Post must compensate the senders for ignoring their rights and wasting their time because of its unilateral decision to stamp all mail and parcels with such a postmark," KMT legislative caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) said.
Blame Taiwan First. Gosh, like I didn’t see THAT one coming. For a moment though, suppose the situation were reversed. Let’s say China started sending letters here postmarked with, "Taiwan: The PRC’s 23rd Province," or something like that. And the Taiwanese post office refused to deliver them.
Any bets on who the KMT would blame THEN? Beijing, for being the source of the offending postmarks? Or Taiwan Post, for returning letters in violation of a "contract signed between Shanghai Post and Taiwan Post Office Co Ltd making it obligatory for both parties to deliver any letters and parcels"? [emphasis added]
Postscript: Whoops. Looks like I clicked the "Publish Now" button prematurely, so a couple people read a very incomplete version of this. Sorry about that!