From Thursday's Taipei Times:
[…]
Wang said Ma did not create the term “Taiwan region” to blur the country’s sovereignty, saying that Ma’s new characterization of the cross-strait relationship as one between the “Taiwan region” and the “mainland region” was in accordance with the Republic of China (Taiwan) Constitution.
Based on the constitutional framework, both regions are part of the Republic of China’s (ROC) territory, but only the “Taiwan region” is under the rule of the ROC, Wang said.
Ah yes, the old constitution dodge. But if it's constitutionally kosher to describe Taiwan as being a part of the Republic of China, then why does the Taiwanese government under the KMT get so indignant when Taiwan is referred to as being part of China?
Doesn't the government believe in its own "1992 Consensus" rhetoric? After all, by the KMT's own interpretation of the supposed consensus, "China" and "Republic of China" are INTERCHANGEABLE terms!
Or, to put it in somewhat more mathematically:
Taiwan, Republic of China* —– constitutionally OK
Republic of China = China ——- constitutionally OK; in line with the "1992 Consensus"
Substituting "China" for "Republic of China" then gives us:
Taiwan, China ———————- Unacceptable! says Taiwan's government
Captain Kirk induced many a computer to self-destruction with illogic such as this. The R.O.C. constitution is an ass.
* To be more rigorous, I could have used subset notation instead:
1) Taiwan is a subset, or part of, the Republic of China (Taiwan ⊂ Republic of China)
2) The Republic of China and China are interchangeable terms, or equivalent sets (Republic of China ~ China)
Ergo:
3) Taiwan is also a subset of China (Taiwan ⊂ China)
The KMT government of Taiwan insists both #1 and #2 are true, but inescapable consequence, #3, is not.
Ka-boom.
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I hasten to add that this isn’t a problem if one subscribes to the “Two Chinas” theory. In that case, #3 is invalid because #2 isn’t true.
As for the “One China, One Taiwan” theory, neither #1 nor #2 is true. Therefore, #3 is false again.
If you think about it, the easiest way for China to resolve the name issue is simply to drop the “People” from their official country title. Then there would only one Republic of China.
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That’d certainly get some folks in Taipei scrambling, wouldn’t it?