The Strategic Interaction between the Ching Dynasty and Ming-Cheng: Implications for Cross-Strait Relations
Date Issued
2008
Date
2008
Author(s)
Su, Chun-Wei
Abstract
Because of the partial state succession, the Manchu conquerors had launched into a rivalry with the political forces that supported the Ming Dynasty as the rightful legitimate regime. Among the opposition forces, Ming-Cheng, the anti-Ching power ruled by Zheng Cheng-Gong family, retreated to Taiwan and confronted with the Ching emperors for decades. Both sides fought fierce battles and entered into frequent negotiations. Being the relatively powerful party, the Ching Dynasty’s policy toward Ming-Cheng eased when the Manchus gradually gained effective control over the Chinese mainland. Although Ming-Cheng’s strength was relatively weak, it actually did not submit to the mainland’s domination. Instead, they doubled their military efforts, attempting to restore the Ming Dynasty. Contrary to what many western realists would have anticipated, the Ching and the Ming-Cheng by no means based their foreign strategies solely on their power. This is because in the Chinese context, in order to establish effective and legitimate dynastic control over China, the regime must not only gain territorial control with military power, but also exercise that power to create faith and win the minds and hearts of the populace. Therefore, the Ching Dynasty would gradually soften its policy, while the Ming-Cheng in its effort to restore the dislodged Han Chinese dynasty, would inevitably sustain its hard-line military stance. Separated by the Taiwan Strait, the duality of the Ching Dynasty and the Ming-Cheng bear a striking resemblance to the present cross-strait relationship between People’s Republic of China and Republic of China (Taiwan); even the proposed strategies in these two historical settings are identical. According to the interactive strategic analysis of China’s historical process, as with the Ching and the Ming-Cheng, the bigger, stronger party tends to become more conciliatory as time goes by, demonstrate an understanding of the reality, and promise a peaceful coexistence pattern. Having been separated for more than half a century, mainland China’s Taiwan policy has shifted from hard-line military option toward the “one country, two systems” formula, but still denies recognition of a “split or de facto division”. Yet, Taiwan''s mainland policy and academic circles’ opinions are extremely diverse. As of this moment, both sides of the Taiwan straits have achieved no substantial political consensus. This thesis argues that the mainland China government, which considers itself to be the sole legitimate Chinese regime, may in time soften its Taiwan policy, and perhaps propose a similar conciliatory position such as that of the Ching Dynasty, with the hope to break through current deadlock in cross-strait relationship, and seek a balanced position for both sides.
Subjects
Ching Dynasty
Ming-Cheng
Kang-Hsi
Koxinga (Zheng Cheng-Gong )
Legitimism
Cross-Strait Relationship
“One-Country, Two-Systems”
SDGs
Type
thesis
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