Chinese scholar urges Beijing to adopt Germany-style model for Taiwan’s integration

ISTANBUL

A Chinese scholar said Wednesday that Beijing could draw on Germany’s post-Cold War model by offering financial support and unconditional citizenship to reunify with Taiwan, according to the South China Morning Post.

Zheng Yongnian, a political science professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, raised the idea at the 12th Beijing Xiangshan Forum, a defense dialogue in the capital.

He cited policies adopted after the fall of the Berlin Wall, including a “solidarity tax” to fund infrastructure and integration, and equalizing the Chinese yuan with the New Taiwan dollar, currently traded at 1 to 4.22.

“All citizens of the former East Germany, regardless of how they entered the Federal Republic of Germany, are citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany,” Zheng added, pointing to Germany’s example.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian also reiterated Beijing’s stance on Taiwan, saying "the restoration of Taiwan to China is an important part of the outcomes of the World War II victory and post-war international order,” according to a transcript of the news conference.

He said the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam Proclamation show that Taiwan is “part of China,” adding that Washington’s claim that the island’s status is undetermined “severely violates international law and the basic norms in international relations and sends a gravely wrong signal to the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces.”

China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province. Taipei has rejected the claim and insisted on its independence since 1949.