Pro–Republic of China sentiment

National flag of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

Pro–Republic of China (Chinese: 親中華民國; Wade–Giles: chʻin1 Chung1hua2 Min2kuo2) or simply pro-ROC is a political alignment that supports the Republic of China (ROC) in terms of politics, economy, society, and culture.

Pro-ROC is sometimes synonymous with pro-Taiwan in context. However, "pro-Taiwan" has more to do with the pro-independence Pan-Green Coalition, which focuses on regionalist Taiwanese identity, and "pro-ROC" has more to do with the Pan-Blue Coalition, which opposes Taiwanese independence and advocates for the identity of the Republic of China.

By location

Mainland China (since 1949)

In 1949, the ROC government lost control of mainland China retreated to Taiwan. The establishment of the PRC government led to a Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries. This nearly wiped out pro-ROC political forces in mainland China.

With the improvement of cross-strait relations since the 1980s, the people of mainland China have more opportunities to contact Taiwan. Some dissident pro-democracy activists expressed their admiration for the post-reform liberal democratic ROC political system and formed pro-ROC organizations, which are illegal under PRC rule.

Hong Kong

Pro-ROC supporters holding the flag of the Republic of China during the pro-democracy protest in December 2005.

There have historically been numerous pro-ROC organizations in Hong Kong, as pro-ROC soldiers defected to British Hong Kong in 1949 after the ROC and its ruling party, the Kuomintang (KMT), lost the Chinese Civil War. Among the pro-ROC groups were trade unions such as Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council, triads supporting the KMT, and companies and private organizations.

In the early 1980s, the pro-ROC camp formed the mainstream of conservatism in Hong Kong. However, in the 1980s, the pro-ROC camp began to be pushed out of the mainstream of Hong Kong's conservatism, as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) embraced business elites, professionals, and rural leaders, who were previously pro-ROC, with the united front.[citation needed]

The pro-ROC camp was further weakened by the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, which made Hong Kong officially a territory of the PRC. In 2008, with Ma Ying-jeou taking office as president of the Republic of China, the pro-Beijing Hong Kong government reduced its repression of the pro-ROC camp in Hong Kong. However, since the implementation of the 2020 Hong Kong national security law, many pro-ROC organizations have been severely suppressed.

Japan (since 1945)

In Japan, "pro-ROC" (親華派) is distinct from "pro-Taiwan" (親台派) because it supports the ROC and not Taiwan independence. Shortly after the Surrender of Japan, Chiang Kai-shek's mainland ROC government adopted conciliatory post-war policies, such as waiving war reparations; see repaying malice with virtue. This stance, combined with Chiang's staunch anti-communist beliefs, has traditionally led Japanese conservatives to view him positively. Sankei president Shikanai Nobutaka [zh] funded the construction of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

The Japan–ROC Cooperation Committee (⽇華協⼒委員会; Nikka Kyōryoku Iinkai, JRCC) was established in 1957 with the support of the Republic of China government to promote political, economic, and cultural cooperation between Japan and Taiwan; it was associated with pro-ROC Liberal Democratic Party politicians. At the time, Japanese conservatives generally had figures in favor of the Taiwanese government led by Chiang Kai-shek in an anti-communist stance. Some former Japanese imperial army soldiers became military advisers to the Republic of China Armed Forces (see Baituan); In October 1949, when the People's Liberation Army (PLA) attempted to invade Kinmen, Hiroshi Nemoto and others from the former Japanese army operated and defeated the PLA.

The ROC and Japan had established diplomatic relations until 1972. The World League for Freedom and Democracy, an international anti-communist organization founded by Chiang in 1952, featured Japanese ultranationalists such as Ryōichi Sasakawa and Yoshio Kodama.

Okinawa

Republic of Korea (South Korea)

Republic of Korea (South Korea; simply ROK) is pro-ROC sentiment stems from KMT's sponsorship of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea during the Korea under Japanese rule. South Korea was the ROC's last official diplomatic partner in Asia, maintaining diplomatic ties until 1992, when it established diplomatic ties with the PRC instead.

Taiwan under Japanese rule

In Taiwan under Japanese rule, the Taiwanese nationalist movement interacted with the main political forces of the then-mainland Republic of China; the Taiwanese People's Party approached the Kuomintang and the Taiwanese Communist Party approached the Chinese Communist Party. During this time, Taiwanese nationalists were not much differentiated from Chinese nationalists.

United States

Frank Kellogg was the Secretary of State (1925–1929) and he followed the advice of Nelson Johnson, the new chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs. They favored [Republic of] China and protected it from threats from [Empire of] Japan. The key to Chinese sovereignty in foreign policy was to gain control of tariff rates, which Western powers had set at a low 5%, and to end the extra territoriality by which Britain and the others controlled Shanghai and other treaty ports. Kellogg and Johnson successfully negotiated tariff reform with China, thereby giving enhanced status to the Kuomintang and helping get rid of the unequal treaties. China was reunified by a single government, led by the Kuomintang (KMT) in 1928. With American help China achieved some of its diplomatic goals in 1928–1931.

Douglas MacArthur served as commander of the United Nations forces during the Korean War from July 8, 1950, to April 11, 1951. MacArthur advocated for a more aggressive military strategy to support the ROC, which had retreated to Taiwan under Chiang Kai-shek. When People's Liberation Army intervened in the Korean War, he devised a plan to use the Republic of China Armed Forces based in Taiwan to attack the mainland occupied by the People's Republic of China. However, this plan was not realized due to opposition from President Harry S. Truman.

American neoconservatives have a stance closer to pro–"Republic of China" than pro-"Taiwan"; they place more emphasis on democratization and pro-Westernization in mainland China than on Taiwan independence based on self-determination. "Blue Team" as a political term refers to a group of politicians and journalists involved in the belief that the People's Republic of China is a security and political threat to the United States and democracies, and is ideologically related to neoconservatism; blue is also the symbolic color of the Republic of China and the Kuomintang.

Notable figures

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Marsha Blackburn, an American conservative politician, is referred to as "pro-Taiwan", but she honored Chiang's work by visiting the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall; it should be distinguished from "pro-Taiwan" in the narrow sense (which has to do with pan-Green camp) in support of Taiwan independence. Chiang Kai-shek defended the Republic of China orthodoxy and was strongly opposed to Taiwan independence.

References

  1. 1 2 Marie Söderberg, ed. (2003). Chinese-Japanese Relations in the Twenty First Century: Complementarity and Conflict. Taylor & Francis. The two main formal organisations of pro-ROC/pro-Taiwan figures in the LDP were the Japan-ROC Cooperation Committee (Nikka Kyōryoku Iinkai, JRCC) which was founded in 1957 when Kishi Nobusuke was Prime 7 Minister, and its successor, the Japan-ROC Dietmembers Consultative Committee.
  2. ↑ Czeslaw Tubilewicz, ed. (21 August 2002). Chinese Constructions of Sovereignty and the East China Sea Conflict. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-69263-1. I should note that the disagreement between the pro-PRC and pro-ROC/Taiwan camps is as heated as it is unresolvable since both sides refer to the same historical events and legal evidence, but remain divided over their interpretation.
  3. ↑ "Lend-lease weapons act for defending Taiwan introduced in US Congress". Taiwan News. 10 March 2023.
  4. ↑ Blackburn, Marsha [@MarshaBlackburn] (24 August 2022). Enjoyed my visit to National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei that remembers the work of President Chiang Kai-shek. (Tweet). – via Twitter.
  5. ↑ 黃花岡雜誌編輯群, ed. (2019). 黃花岡雜誌第63-64期. 光復之聲出版社. p. 105. 革命的中國國民黨人和廣大民 國派願意與自由派、民運界、公知界如兄 弟般共同攜手,共同奮鬥推翻專制實現民主。
  6. ↑ admin (15 December 2011). "White Sun Sets in Hong Kong". Varsity. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  7. ↑ Gleason, Gene (1963). Hong Kong. John Day Company.
  8. ↑ 日漸式微的香港國民黨勢力 Archived 2020-12-09 at the Wayback Machine，中時電子報，2018/08/13
  9. ↑ "香港酒樓突拒舉辦雙十活動 港議員料與國安法有關". 中時電子報. Archived from the original on 13 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  10. ↑ "香港国安法：取消纪念"双十"活动 持续释放台港关系紧张信号". BBC中文. 10 October 2020. Archived from the original on 13 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  11. ↑ "香港国安法下遭遇禁令的辛亥革命纪念日". BBC News 中文. 9 October 2021. Archived from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  12. ↑ "Remembering Chiang Kai-shek in Japanese Media". Taiwan Insight. 17 November 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  13. ↑ Japan–China Relations in the Modern Era. Taylor & Francis. 2017. Naturally, the ROC geverment expected the members of the Japan–ROC Cooperation Committee was established in 1957 with the ROC government for the purpose of promoting cooperative relations spanning the fields of politics, economics, and culture.
  14. 1 2 中村祐悦著『白団 : 台湾軍を作った日本軍将校たち』芙蓉書房ほか
  15. ↑ Anderson, Scott & Jon Lee. Inside The League: The Shocking Expose of How Terrorists, Nazis, and Latin American Death Squads Have Infiltrated the World Anti-Communist League. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1986. ISBN 9780396085171
  16. ↑ Snyder, Scott (2 January 2018). South Korea at the Crossroads: Autonomy and Alliance in an Era of Rival Powers. Columbia University Press. pp. 34–36.
  17. ↑ Liff, Adam P.; Lee, Chaewon (2024). "Korea-Taiwan "Unofficial" Relations after 30 Years (1992-2022): Reassessing Seoul's "One China" Policy". In Zhao, Suisheng (ed.). The Taiwan Question in Xi Jinping's Era: Beijing's Evolving Taiwan Policy and Taiwan's Internal and External Dynamics. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 9781032861661.
  18. ↑ Shih-Shan Henry Tsai (2010). Whither Taiwan and Mainland China: National Identity, the State, and Intellectuals. Hong Kong University Press. pp. 145–146.
  19. ↑ Buhite, Russell D. (1966). "Nelson Johnson and American Policy toward China, 1925-1928". Pacific Historical Review. 35 (4): 451–465. doi:10.2307/3636978. JSTOR 3636978.
  20. ↑ Ellis, pp 311–321.
  21. ↑ The Korean War and General MacArthur - Digital History. UH - Digital History. p. 74. "MacArthur wanted to allow Chiang Kai-shek's forces to invade mainland China which he hoped would trigger a revolution against the Communist government, or at least draw Chinese troops out of Korea. Truman opposed this plan for fear it would involve the US in a land war in Asia - the 'wrong war at the wrong time, the wrong place, and against the wrong enemy.'".
  22. ↑ Kagan, Robert (2006). Dangerous Nation: America's Foreign Policy from Its Earliest Days to the Dawn of the Twentieth Century. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
  23. ↑ Willadsen, Brandon (2024). "From China Lobby Activists to Blue Team Neoconservatives: The Evolution of the GOP's Views on Taiwan Since 1949". Journal of American-East Asian Relations. doi:10.1163/18765610-31020004.
  24. ↑ 陶傑. "美國傳媒有促使香港獨立的陰謀——難道香港是一個失敗的國家嗎". 紐約通訊. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  25. ↑ 臧士俊; 臧世俊; 黃英哲 (1997). 戰後日中台三角關係 [Postwar Japan-China-Taiwan Triangular Relationship] (in Chinese). 前衛出版社. p. 131. ... 赤尾敏在東京新橋火車站前主持召開「援蔣反共、支持台灣國民大會」並在會上演講,叫嚷要組織什麼「反共義勇軍」援助蔣介石反攻大陸。 [... Bin Akao presided over a rally titled "Aid Chiang, Oppose Communism, Support the Taiwan National Assembly" in front of Shinbashi Station in Tokyo and delivered a speech at the event, calling for the formation of some sort of 'Anti-Communist Volunteer Army' to aid Chiang Kai-shek in his counterattack on the mainland.]
  26. ↑ Marie Söderberg, ed. (29 August 2003). Chinese-Japanese Relations in the Twenty First Century: Complementarity and Conflict. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-134-52384-9. At the same time, Japan had a markedly pro-ROC Prime Minister in Kishi Nobusuke, and Japan and the ROC developed closer links at the cost of Japan's informal ties with Beijing.