Bet on its old foe backfires as Kuomintang self-destructs
The Wall Street Journal
Date: Oct. 13, 2015
By Andrew Browne
TAIPEI—No matter how desperately China hankers for unification with
Supporters of Taiwan’s ruling party during the Kuomintang party congress in Taipei in July. The prospect of a bad election showing for the Kuomintang complicates Beijing’s strategy of pushing economic integration with the island. Photo: Reuters
Taiwan, a strong conviction that time is on its side has long trumped its temptation to use bullying tactics to force the outcome.
Eventually, the Chinese thinking goes, the Taiwanese will come to the conclusion that their future lies in economic integration with the mainland, and that once the two economies are thoroughly enmeshed a political settlement will end an estrangement that has lasted since 1949, when the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan after losing the civil war on the mainland.
So while batteries of Chinese missiles still point toward the island, tranquility has reigned across the Taiwan Strait.
Perhaps not for much longer, as Beijing’s strategy of waiting it out now seems to be in tatters. [FULL STORY]
