| Both ancient history records and modern international documents have verified such a fact that Taiwan has always been an inalienable part of the Chinese territory. The Chinese Civil War ended in the failure of Kuomingtang. And since then, being controlled by two different political parties, the two sides have established different regimes. On the mainland, the People’s Republic of China was formally founded, while in Taiwan, the Kuomingtang came to power and founded the Republic of China. In this way, Taiwan cut its national ties with the mainland. A key issue of concern to both sides across the Taiwan Strait is whether Taiwan can return to the motherland and the way of reunification. Since 1949, the two sides have proposed various solutions on Taiwan issue:during the military confrontation period, the mainland desired to "liberate Taiwan" and Taiwan claimed to the counter-attack on the mainland while adhering to the One-China Principle. Entering into a new era, the mainland proposed "one country, two systems", while Taiwan independence took the "two states" theory. Cross-straits relations are mixed with tension and hope. However, there shows a sign of setback in spite of the hope. With the deepening of exchange in economy and culture and Taiwan’s changing political situation, every Chinese people is concerned about the future of cross-straits relations as well as settlement of the Taiwan issue.With a history of 30 years, The Journal of Chunghwa existed from 1963 to 1993. During this time, it went through Chiang Kai-Shek era, Chiang Ching-kuo era and Lee Teng-hui era and witnessed a positive transition in Taiwan politics, economy and cross-straits relations.Thus it played an important role in the study of Taiwan society and cross-straits relations.Though under such changing political environment both within and outside the island, The Journal of Chunghwa kept step with Taiwan’s social development, kept a close eye on the transition of cross-straits relations and was always ready to adjust its standpoint.In 1970s, being faced with Japan’s infringement act of occupying the Diaoyu Islands by force, intellectuals from The Journal of Chunghwa cited documents from both home and abroad to debate with Japanese scholars and to attest that Diaoyu Islands is a part of Chinese territory. As a result, public opinions as well as censure on Japan’s infringement act accumulated and developed into the Baodiao Movement. The Journal of Chunghwa criticized mainland’s breakthrough in diplomatic relations when it resumed her legal seat in the United Nations and established diplomatic relations with Japan and America. In the eyes of The Journal of Chunghwa, these events provided a good opportunity for a revolution of Taiwan and it also suggested government authorities of Taiwan to conduct a reform in politics and develop economy. This is one of the factors which led to the all-round rise of Taiwan in the future. In 1980s, the development of economy was accompanied by the change in social life. And Japanese popular culture became a much-imitated fashion among teenagers who were utterly ignorant of the Anti-Japanese War history. Realizing the danger hidden in this trend and aiming to educate teenagers of the new generation, The Journal of Chunghwa called on all citizens to commemorate the July 7th Incident. Japan’s distorting history by revising history textbooks also caused criticism from The Journal of Chunghwa. Special articles were written to expose Japan’s contemptible motivation and means, and advice was given to Taiwan authorities for strengthening the propaganda of crimes committed by Japan.Meanwhile, accompanied by the remove of "martial law", separatist forces within the island is increasingly rampant. The main work of The Journal of Chunghwa was to fight against "Taiwan Independence" and foreign forces, so it fought bravely with them in terms of "separatisf" theories, "separatist" parties and international hegemony. The Journal of Chunghwa attributed the cause of separatist thoughts to the failure of Kuomingtang and criticized them for not being able to properly handle separatist forces. To unite all forces to promote the reunification, "Alliance for the Reunification of China" was founded.Ever since, The Journal of Chunghwa’s campaign concerning resisting independence and promoting unification evolved from theories to practices.Hu Chiuyuan, who advocated the reunification of China visited the mainland by himself and thus became "the first person in the last 40 years to break the impasse between the two sides of Taiwan Strait". In 1990s, The Journal of Chunghwa kept fighting against "separatist" and noticed the existence of "cultural independence of Taiwan". Criticizing such an idea, it came up with the idea of "promoting unification through culture", which regarded cultural unification as the first step to realize the complete unification of the “country”. However, in the campaign against "Taiwan independence", The Journal of Chunghwa didn’t unite allied forces effectively. And it even isolated itself by mistaking anti-Taiwan independence people in Kuomingtang for accomplices of separatist forces. Later, due to a number of factors, such as the international environment, separatist forces within the island, "independent Taiwan’"s echoing with "Taiwan independence", change in Taiwan society,economy as well as the transition of thoughts led to the suspension of publication of The Journal of Chunghwa.Due to the differences in author groups during different times and the transition of political environment within and outside the island, The Journal of Chunghwa’s views on major events presented a distinct difference:before 1987, The Journal of Chunghwa stood up for "the Republic of China" and Chinese nation; After the remove of "martial law", on account of the rampant "Taiwan Independence", The Journal of Chunghwa advocated identification of Chinese nation in accordance with the reunification of China. The value of The Journal of Chunghwa lies in that when it is faced with party entanglement and national interests, it always places the interests of the nation above everything else.In 1970s, The Journal of Chunghwa analyzed various arguments of separatist forces as well as its nature. And today, when we look back, some of its views are still accurate. The Journal of Chunghwa is a vital ideological weapon for Taiwan society to respond to "Taiwan Independence". |
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