> This is where my objection is. My contention is that it won't. If Beijing
> finds itself strong enough and willing to take action against Taiwan, it will,
> whether if Taiwan declares independence or not. In fact, if the above
> condition applies, TI will in fact make a perfect pretext for military action.
A perfect pretext is irrelevant as explained above.
Instead, CCP will weigh the advantages and disadvantages of taking military
actions against Taiwan.
If we make it clear that any military action will result in unanimous TI, and terminate the cooperation between Taiwan and China, we are maximizing CCP's costs
and minimizing CCP's benefits of its military action. (This applies to other
diplomatic occasions.) This is why we should keep both TI and unification options
alive and make good use of them. And we have to prepare TI now before CCP become
too strong.
> (If Beijing is willing to take military action anyway, why should it care
> about what the people in Taiwan think?)
>
Agree.
>
> Well, I do support discussion of TI, as I wrote in another article, but I am
> not sure it is true. Discussion of abortion rights, for example, hasn't
> eliminated the hostility between the pro-life and the pro-choice camps, for
> example, and the TI issue can be as divisive. That doesn't mean that it
> shouldn't be discussed, though, since allowing it (and other issues) to be
> discussed is an essential element to the democratization of Taiwan.
You could be right, but my personal experience in SCT keeps me
thinking that it will help mutual understanding. TI issue cannot be more divisive