Want... Lien Chan, former vice president of Taiwan and a former chair of the ruling Kuomintang, has been severely criticized for his decision to travel to Beijing in a private capacity to attend China's military parade on Sept. 3 to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
The criticism has come from all quarters of society and both sides of the political divide in Taiwan, both from the opposition pan-green camp headed by the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which was to be expected, but also from the ruling pan-blue alliance led by the ruling Kuomintang, of which Lien is an honorary chair, including from President Ma Ying-jeou, who declared himself saddened and disappointed by Lien's "inappropriate" trip. But we want to ask: Is it good for Taiwan's future to topple a politician who has links with China and send Xi Jinping the message that hope for unification is waning?
Though people in Taiwan are dissatisfied with Lien, they should stop denouncing him before they go too far. We believe it is a zero-sum game to destroy Lien and make Xi look bad.
We believe that without Lien there is no one who can take over the job to conduct dialogue with Xi and establish mutual trust and friendship with China. Taiwan should also know that no matter what the outcome of the presidential election next year, it is not wise to let Xi believe there is no hope of achieving peaceful unification.
History will give high credit to Lien for his landmark visit to China in April 2005 when he met the country's then-president Hu Jintao, even though Beijing had just passed its anti-secession law one month previously to lay the legal groundwork for the use of military force against Taiwan.
At that time, the pan-blue alliance, then in opposition, appeared relatively rational regarding the matter, though the DPP administration was less happy about the leader of the opposition conducting negotiations concerning Taiwan's future without authorization from the democratically elected government. This year, Lien was denounced for attending the Sept. 3 military parade in Beijing by both political forces and we believe it is because a presidential election is coming. We hope China can understand that the criticism from the pan-blue alliance is nothing more election rhetoric.
As Lien ran for president twice and lost both times, he knows better than anyone that there is far more to politics and diplomacy than winning elections and following the democratic mandate bestowed by the electorate. It is not for nothing that he was named the winner of China's inaugural Confucius peace prize in 2010, though he regrettably claimed to know nothing about it.
Lien is the only person in Taiwan who has met and talked with Xi Jinping and his predecessor Hu Jintao and has maintained friendships with them. We believe it will be difficult in the future for Taiwan to hold constructive communication with China like the one Lien has forged.