A Path not Taken: Wei Yung, ‘Multi-System Nations’, and Cross-Strait Relations in the 1980s

ABSTRACT There is an increasingly popular standpoint that the rise of Taiwanese identity has transformed Cross-Strait relations. The discourses of pro-unification are regarded as the antithesis of pro-independence. Seemingly, the shift from Han Chinese identity to Taiwanese identity has been a rupture in the recent development of Cross-Strait relations. This study sheds light on Wei Yung (Wei Yong, 1936–2004) and his concept of ‘multi-system nations’ to reassess this standpoint. Wei wanted to assist Taipei in recalibrating Cross-Strait relations in the late 20th century. He initiated the ‘multi-system nations’ concept to justify Taipei’s adoption of dual recognition and parallel (international) participation. Wei used this concept to defend Taiwanese political scientists’ collective representation in the International Political Science Association. However, the result was not as he had wished. Although Wei's concept of ‘multi-system nations’ is outdated and his wishful thinking about China’s unification has become a path not taken for both Taipei and Beijing, this study shows that there is in fact common ground between the sympathisers of pro-independence and the advocates of unification.