My Take | Better a ‘Chinese commonwealth’ than put the world at risk of war
- Ex-Singaporean foreign minister George Yeo has come under fire for suggesting cross-strait links ‘at the cultural and civilisational level’
Some Taiwan secessionists have been suggesting in the past few days Singapore should “unite” with China. Why the anger and sarcasm? That’s because former Singaporean foreign minister George Yeo Yong Boon last week made the suggestion that the current situation across the Taiwan Strait is unsustainable and can lead to war. As a way out, he proposed a “Chinese commonwealth”.
He was speaking at the Asia-Pacific Forward Forum in Taipei.
Note that he wasn’t proposing unification, a mainland Chinese takeover or any subsumption of Taiwanese territories by the mainland, but only some kind of formal, cultural and/or racial association between the two Chinese territories, subject to negotiations between two equals.
But that was enough to set off a media storm. Writing in Liberty Times, Hung Yu-jui, a columnist and Japanese-language translator, wrote: “Perhaps Yeo should first conduct a survey in Singapore by asking how many Singaporeans are willing for Singapore to form a ‘Chinese commonwealth’ with China. If the majority approved, Yeo could then sell the idea to Taiwan.
“Yeo’s remarks are nothing but an ill-intentioned political manoeuvre that is made by all pro-China politicians in Singapore. Since when does a Southeast Asian nation have the right to stick its nose in where it is not wanted and make judgments on cross-strait relations?”
Not to be outdone, Brian Hioe, the co-founder of No Man Is An Island, a pro-independence online magazine, and a well-known secessionist writer described Yeo’s comments as “outlandish” and having “provoked some outrage in Taiwan”.
