This article was inspired by Richard Bush. While fully aware that the
relationship between Finland and the Soviet Union (Russia) differs markedly
from that across the Taiwan Strait, it nonetheless examines the origins of
that bilateral relationship to assess whether their experience offers any
lessons for pursuing cross-strait harmony.
Imperial Russia elevated Finland’s status for decades, yet could not
withstand the tide of nationalism, which led to Finnish independence and
immediately triggered a civil war between the Reds and the Whites. More
than twenty years later, Finland twice aligned with Nazi Germany and went
to war against the Soviet Union. After the two countries made peace, the
concept of "Finlandization" emerged — scorned by the West, though not
necessarily rejected outright by people in Taiwan. The Finns themselves
practiced it and did so with considerable success; more recently, drawing on
that firsthand experience, they have suggested that Ukraine might consider
a similar approach.
Finally, this article draws on constitutional and legal frameworks,
incorporates the perspectives of former Chief of the General Staff Lee Hsiming
and Academia Sinica Academician Yang Ru-bin, and develops their
ideas further. It argues that the status quo is unreasonable and must change.
Positions ranging from independence to unification all carry legitimacy on
Taiwan’s side, just as the Mainland’s pursuit of peaceful unification carries
its own legitimacy. When two legitimate claims meet, the wisest course is to
reach consensus through political negotiation without resorting to war —
with the ideal outcome being mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, while coordinating on diplomacy and defense. If violent
conflict—or even war—must ultimately give way to negotiation in order to
coexist, then that is the worst possible course of action.