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to try and influence Taiwan‟s domestic election. Washington also wanted to send a message to both China and Taiwan that Taiwan was worth defending. The aircraft carrier groups under the USS Nimitz and USS Independence were dispatched to Taiwan to show Beijing how gravely Washington took the situation. The U.S. also wanted to reassure the Taiwanese voter that
Washington took any threat to Taiwan‟s democracy seriously and was willing to defend Taiwan.
Because of the action taken by the United States in the Third Taiwan Straits crisis China
eventually ceased military drills and actions in the Straits. One of China‟s main goals throughout the military actions was to attempt to influence Taiwan‟s 1996 election and show its disapproval of Lee Teng-hui. The results of the election showed that China failed in its goals. Taiwan not only elected Lee in the first democratic election in a Sino centric nation, showing China that it would not allow external pressure to influence Taiwanese elections; the United States also sent a message to China that foreign interference in Taiwan‟s elections would not be tolerated.
The third Taiwan Straits Crisis is a concrete example of China attempting to influence Taiwan‟s elections. In order to fully appreciate why China is so invested in influencing Taiwanese
elections it is important to fully understand the amount of legitimacy the CCP has invested in the Taiwan issue. One way of examining how the CCP has vested a substantial amount of legitimacy;
and why China tries to influence Taiwan‟s elections, is to examine this legitimacy through the theories of Max Weber.
V. China’s Continued Claim of Legitimacy
Max Weber propagated his three theories of legitimacy in an essay originally published in 1922.
In his essay Weber proposed three different types of rule that garner legitimacy with the ruled.
Basically, the politicians and or government will employ three different forms of ruling to
maintain their legitimacy. The Chinese Communist Party has used these three types of legitimacy as well in order to claim Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory. The issue of Taiwan is
entrenched in the CCP‟s legitimacy. Weber‟s first form of legitimacy is legal authority.
According to Weber, legal authority is “based on a system of rules that is applied
administratively and judicially in accordance with known principles. The persons who administer those rules are appointed or elected by legal procedures. Superiors are also subject to rules that
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limit their powers, separate their private lives from official duties and require written
documentation.”20 When looking at Taiwan‟s role in international space as well as the CCP‟s continued insistence on its one China principle in the international arena; this form of legitimacy begins to become clearer. Taiwan once enjoyed this legal authority in the international
community, but the situation has evolved since that time to a point where the international community by large recognizes China‟s claim over Taiwan. China will utilize this form of legitimacy to reinforce the claim that Taiwan must never be separated from China or Chinese identity.
Weber‟s second form of legitimacy is called traditional authority. Traditional authority,
according to Weber “is based on a system in which authority is legitimate because it "has always existed". People in power usually enjoy it because they have inherited it. Officials consist either of personal retainers (in a patrimonial regime) or of personal loyal allies, such as vassals or tributary lords (in a feudal regime). Their prerogatives are usually similar to those of the ruler above them, just reduced in scale, and they too are often selected based on inheritance.”21 The CCP uses this form of legitimacy in conjunction with legal authority. I will call this the fusion of traditional authority with legal characteristics. The CCP uses traditional Chinese characteristics to claim legitimacy in the eyes of the governed. And, according to CCP doctrine, since Taiwan is a part of China; this traditional authority extends over the island as well.
China has always been a society that has valued tradition and a continuation of authority. “China is one of the oldest civilizations. There were twenty-five dynasties, and more than four hundred kings or emperors. During the period of the last two and half millenniums, Chinese philosophers and political thinkers developed many elaborated and sophisticated theories of political
legitimacy.”22 This system of governance is very important in Chinese society and especially when enforcing legitimacy. To the untrained eye, Chinese society may appear chaotic and dysfunctional, but everything in the society has a purpose. The issue of government is no exception to this rule. Traditional Chinese government has always relied on a bureaucratic system. Well this is not endemic to only China, after all governments all around the world tend
20 Bendix, R. (1977) Max Weber: an intellectual portrait, University of California Press, p. 294
21 Bendix, 295.
22Guo, BG. (2003) Political Legitimacy and Taiwan’s Transition, Journal of Chinese Political Science , vol. 8, nos. 1 & 2, p. 3
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to be bureaucratic and inefficient, the Chinese concept of order is unique. The CCP is well aware of this need for order and bureaucracy, and they have staked a large part of their legitimacy on establishing this traditional order, this traditional bureaucracy, over the people of China. This traditional appeal to legitimacy also extends to how the CCP views Taiwan as an integral part of China that cannot be separated from the greater whole no matter what. It is also for this reason that China exerts a vast amount of political and economic capital in an attempt to influence Taiwan‟s domestic policies and elections.
The Chinese government strongly believes that because of this traditional authority over Taiwan, any attempt to influence elections in Taiwan is legitimate because Taiwan is a part of China. The CCP can play semantics with this form of legitimacy to solidify their claim over the jurisdiction of Taiwan.
One fruition that this principle of Taiwan belonging to China; and why the CCP invests heavily in Taiwanese elections, is a phenomenon that shall be referred to as the “New Mandate of Heaven”. According to scholar Guo Baogang, the “Mandate of Heaven” is “based on the following principles: heaven grants a ruler‟s right to rule; there is only one Heaven, therefore, there can be only one ruler.”23 This historic approach to power is not necessarily a phenomenon unique to Chinese culture. However, when viewed in the light of Weber‟s theory of traditional legitimacy, this new Mandate of Heaven makes more sense on the claims of the CCP.
“Historically, legitimization of authority involved the use of abstract and religious ideas. The notion that a ruler‟s right to govern is derived from a supernatural force is as old as human civilization. Beginning in the West Zhou Dynasty, ancient Chinese emperors always legitimized their political power by “tian” or Heaven.”24 CCP doctrine has always extended the party‟s legitimacy over Taiwan. Even though the CCP was founded on doing away with the “olds”
(traditional culture) in China, it still follows the new Mandate of Heaven. The CCP will appeal to Chinese people‟s sense of culture and historical tradition in order to show that under the new Mandate of Heaven Taiwan should be seen as under the legitimacy of the CCP in Beijing.
The CCP has been very successful in their public relations campaign as to date in their claim to Taiwan. They have international recognition as well as traditional authority on their side of the fence. Another way that the CCP, and by extension individuals within the CCP, invest legitimacy
23 Guo, p. 4
24 Guo, p. 4
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in Taiwan is through charismatic authority. This is the third type of legitimacy propagated by Max Weber. According to Weber, charismatic authority “is based on the charisma of the leader, who shows that he possesses the right to lead by virtue of magical powers, prophecies, heroism, etc. His followers respect his right to lead because of his unique qualities (his charisma), not because of any tradition or legal rules. Officials consist of those who have shown personal devotion to the ruler, and of those who possess their own charisma.”25 This third and final type of legitimacy is also very important when it comes to the CCP‟s investment of legitimacy into the Taiwan issue. The issue of personal charisma and charm should not play any role at all in the politics of the People‟s Republic. After all, the elevation and charisma of one individual over the whole plays in the exact direction of what the party, and state, were founded on. Reality however is a different matter. The charisma of leaders within the party, and by extension the party itself, are very important when it comes to building and investing legitimacy. Xi Jinping is a leader that has developed a personal charisma. He has branded himself as the representation of the CCP, and of all of China. When Xi speaks, whether he is talking about corruption or Taiwan, the people mist listen. Xi has developed this persona about him that is very similar to the one Mao Zedong developed around him in the early years of the People‟s Republic. This shows that Xi has grand plans not only for himself, but for China as a whole. This planning and setting up a cult of personality affect Taiwan and how the Taiwanese perceive China. Because of the charisma of Xi groups of Taiwanese; particularly those that have attachment to China, may vote for more favorable China candidates in Taiwanese elections. Xi is, if you will, “spreading the Chinese Gospel” by his actions and especially by establishing his personality in the media. This form of charismatic legitimacy could influence how Taiwanese voters view China as a whole and by extension influence the candidate that they choose to cast their vote for.
These three form of legitimacy propagated by Weber show how the CCP views Taiwan and how the CCP has invested a majority of its legitimacy in solving the Taiwan issue. These forms of legitimacy also extend to how the CCP attempts to influence Taiwan‟s elections. The CCP must exert influence on Taiwan‟s elections because it has invested too heavily in Taiwan and has rested the legitimacy of the CCP on solving the Taiwan issue.
In conclusion it should be noted how China has taken an evolutionary approach to Taiwan and how to resolve the issue of Taiwan. Beginning with the founding of the People‟s Republic in
25 Bendix, p. 295
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1949, reclaiming Taiwan has always been a priority for Beijing. China has however evolved in its approach to dealing with Taiwan. Beginning with a very staunch attitude towards Taiwan, Beijing has slowly evolved to a more patient one. This evolution has changed how China deals with Taiwan. The CCP is willing to play the waiting game when it comes to Taiwan and
reunification. Beijing believes that economically there is only one way for Taiwan to go, and that is furthering reliance on China. Beijing simply has to wait for this reliance and dependence on the Mainland to come to full fruition. China no longer has to constantly threaten Taiwan with military force to achieve its objectives. China now uses economics and the promise of continued economic growth to attempt to win over influence in Taiwan.
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28 Chapter Three Taiwan’s Political Parties
Having established how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) views Taiwan and what methods China uses in an attempt to influence Taiwanese elections; it is important to analyze how the voters in Taiwan and how the two main political parties in Taiwan react to China‟s attempts to influence elections. There is, naturally, a considerable difference between the Kuomintang (KMT) led pan-blue coalition and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) led pan-green coalition.
Although in recent years, when faced with a rising China, the DPP has become more accepting of slightly closer relations with China; there is still no doubt that the DPP views China as
somewhat of a threat. This view of China as more of a threat than an opportunity by the DPP has led to apprehension about the future of Taiwan‟s political and economic system when it comes to a rising China. This concern over China has become more prominent, especially in recent years given the growing reliance of Taiwan‟s exports on the mainland; as well as the continued financial integration between the two sides. The DPP has continued to view mainland China as more of a threat to Taiwan than an opportunity.