The subject of our words should not be nations or authoritative organizations. −Changing the biased perception of Taiwan that prevails in the Japanese peace movement community.−

The Taiwan issue is China's internal problem Both sides should resolve the issue through dialogue. Taiwan should not stir up China. The Japanese government recognizes “one China.”

This discourse is intended to deter China from using force against Taiwan.

While this sounds like a legitimate logic to deter war, these statements have disappointed many Taiwanese.

For nearly 400 years, Taiwan has been oppressed and ruled by forces from outside the island, including Europe, the Qing Dynasty, Japan, and the Republic of China.

The overwhelming majority of Taiwanese people do not want to move from the democratic society they sacrificed so much to win in the 1990s to the current one-party dictatorship of the People's Republic of China.

The Taiwanese people I meet often say that Taiwan can not engage in dialogue with China.

In fact, the elected government of Taiwan wants dialogue, but China refuses, and continues to pressure it with military threats and economic and diplomatic pressure.

The majority of the Taiwanese people agree that “Taiwan is not part of China.

Okinawa has also suffered from Japan's oppressive policies and seeks its right to self-determination, so we should be able to understand Taiwan's feelings.

In 2019, Taiwan watched with bated breath as China violently subjugated Hong Kong's democratic society, and shuddered as it thought, “We are next.

Okinawa knows from personal experience that relying on the U.S. military is never a good choice for Taiwan, as it has experienced firsthand the wars the U.S. military has started around the world, and has been damaged by the presence of bases and being forced to participate in wars as a military island.

However, from Taiwan's point of view, with the freedom and democratic society it has won at great cost, and with the painful desire never to be ruled by others again, what right do we have to criticize Taiwan for having to rely on the U.S. in its current state of isolation and helplessness from international community?

Okinawa and Taiwan, both victims of the U.S.-China struggle for supremacy, are supposed to be friends who join hands to escape the constraints of the U.S. and China.

For those of us living in Okinawa to actively recognize China's claim that “Taiwan is China's territory” out of fear of China's use of force against Taiwan would be to devalue Taiwan's history and sovereignty.

We must not forget that the reverse side of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China was a diplomatic break with Taiwan, and that there was a Cold War agenda between the major powers in the region.

Dialogue with China is important to prevent conflict in East Asia, but not while trampling on the feet of those oppressed by those in power - the Chinese are not the only ones who are interested in the future of the region.

2014 was a year of simultaneous popular movement fervor with the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong, the Sunflower Movement in Taiwan, and the All Okinawa Movement in Okinawa.

We must do more to listen to each other's voices, which are often ignored by the logic of governments.