Xi Jinping and the totalitarian Chinese government say openly and like a broken record that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China and will inevitably be reunited with the motherland, by good means or bad. In addition to being statements that are not very faithful to historical reality and that do not give a damn about the will of the Taiwanese, these are very serious and potentially disastrous threats to 24 million people living in a free society without harming anyone. Bowing to the rhetoric of China’s totalitarian government is something that damages the lives of 24 million Taiwanese in reality.

When the Chinese totalitarian government talks about taking Taiwan, it always brings up the famous one-China principle and the subsequent 1992 consensus to justify its sights on Taiwan. There is only one problem: the 1992 Consensus is a myth. China in fact politically justifies its legitimacy in claiming Taiwan primarily on an agreement of common understanding that China and Taiwan would have made in 1992, namely that there is only one China. In reality this issue was discussed in an unofficial meeting between the parties in Hong Kong and is by no means a consensus: at the time (and today) China thought that ‘one China’ was the People’s Republic of China, while the Taiwanese politicians of the KMT (the ‘pro-unification’ party) in power in Taiwan at the time thought it was the Republic of China (i.e. Taiwan’s official name). Today, moreover, no one except a few senior Chinese KMT supporters who repaired to Taiwan after the defeat in the civil war in China thinks that the government in Taiwan has jurisdiction over China. Even the term ‘consensus’ was invented years later.

The Taiwanese have never voted on this supposed consensus, but Xi Jinping and those who preceded him talk about this unofficial and confusing 1992 meeting as if it were written on the Tables of the Law, and above all with this they justify the threats they send to Taiwan almost daily. Unfortunately, we know that the Chinese cannot make decisions democratically. The Taiwanese, on the other hand, have fought for democracy and so far have not given any consent to unification with China. On the contrary, the trend clearly shows us that especially the younger generations who were not indoctrinated during the KMT dictatorial regime that lasted until 1989 recognise themselves solely as Taiwanese and see China as a foreign and threatening country. The trend is really clear: Xi Jinping can never win the hearts of the Taiwanese; therefore only threats remain.

It is too much to ask that the dictator Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China take into account the will of the Taiwanese; it is not in his nature. Instead, it would be desirable for the international community to finally take a clear stand on the side of 24 million people living in a free and democratic country, and not to take a consensus that doesn’t exist as starting points for discussions.