Inside China's Grand Strategy: The Perspective from the People's Republic

6. China and Unification: Strategic Choices on the Taiwan Issue

6 China and Unification Strategic Choices on the Taiwan Issue The Relationship between Unification and World Power Status In Antiquity World Powers Achieved Their Status by Unifying the Core and Integrating Neighboring Territories Unification is closely tied to the growth of great powers. Without unification , great powers cannot emerge. The development of world civilizations illustrates this point, which is one that China should bear in mind: “From the perspective of the Chinese people, China can become a great power in the true sense of that term only after it completes the process of unification. In the present world no country that has not completed its unification can be said to be a great power. In this sense, U.S. actions with regard to the Taiwan problem not only challenge China’s history but also challenge its future insofar as they constitute an impediment to its rise.”1 As historians like Bai Shouyi have pointed out: The emergence and development of civilization are linked to varying degrees of unification. At the beginning of a civilization , tribes evolve into states. Only then do city-states, states, and unions of states develop. The civilization of ancient Egypt was built on the base of its integration as a state. There followed the states of the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom. In the two rivers area of Western Asia, unified kingdoms likewise emerged. Babylonian civilization reached its peak of prosperity 224 INSIDE CHINA’S GRAND STRATEGY after integration. Assyrian civilization was based on the unification of Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and the land of the two rivers. The Persian Empire was based on the unification of Iran, the land of the two great rivers, Palestine, and Asia Minor. The Macedonian Empire unified Persia and Greece successively. The Roman Empire, whose glory endured for several centuries, was based initially on the unification of Italy.2 In the history of world civilizations, China is viewed as a special country. In addition to the continuity of its language, scholarship, and culture stretching far back in time, its major distinguishing feature is its deeply rooted culture of unification. In other cultures, unification was only a temporary phenomenon. Empires were built on the conquest of numerous small states and territories. But, as soon as the empires disintegrated (for whatever reason), they lacked the capacity to recover. These empires quickly dissolved into a multitude of small states and territories, and the process began all over again. Only Chinese history is entirely based on unification. Although China has experienced numerous periods of disunity, it differs from foreign countries because these periods of disunity were merely interludes in the vast narrative of unification. Unity is the main theme of Chinese history. Unification and the Growth of Great Powers: Germany, the United States, the Soviet Union In the process of becoming great powers, Germany, the United States, and the Soviet Union all faced the problem of unification, especially Germany , which went through it three times. However, unification had very different effects on the three countries. In the nineteenth century, the process of unification had largely positive effects and greatly accelerated the growth of these countries. Unification enhanced their overall strength and quickly made them world powers. Moreover, international society did not significantly influence or interfere with their unification. The process of unification basically involved competition among various domestic forces, the most powerful among these being the one that achieved unification. In the twentieth century, however, it seems that negative elements increasingly entered into the unification process. To a certain extent, uni- China and Unification 225 fication increased the strength of a country, but, compared with the nineteenth century, the effect was limited. No country could achieve its full growth solely via unification. Furthermore, international society became more and more of a factor in unification via pressure and interference. Looking at the experience of Germany and the United States in the nineteenth century, we can see that unification significantly accelerated their rise as world powers. A lack of integration had greatly hindered the growth of these two countries. When Germany was divided into dozens of small states, it was impossible to form a large economic unit. This became a great impediment in the competition with Great Britain, France, Russia, and the Hapsburg Empire. In January 1871, after Germany announced the completion of its unification, its political, economic, and military power increased significantly. By the 1880s and 1890s, it had already become a new...