"Unification without Unification" Taking Shape
By Chang Chun-kai, The Storm Media Opinion, June 15, 2026
Japan and the Philippines have unilaterally initiated negotiations on delimiting their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), and with Taiwan doing nothing, mainland China has taken the opportunity to launch its coast guard and maritime law enforcement operations in the waters east of Taiwan. The practical effect of this move is a further extension of the mainland’s actual jurisdiction and governance. Mainland Chinese media have described it as the launch of a “near-sea governance model,” and in the future, the term “Taiwan Strait” may be heard less and less frequently. Such statements may sound exaggerated to Taiwanese society, but from the perspective of objective reality, they are not difficult to imagine.
Just as mainland China announced the successful conclusion of its special law enforcement operation in the waters east of Taiwan, Zhu Weidong, a heavyweight mainland scholar on Taiwan affairs, proposed the concept of “unification without unification” at a seminar on June 10. In his view, work related to Taiwan should avoid both “impatience for unification” and “passive waiting.” Instead, efforts should be made to follow circumstances, act proactively, and strive to create a trend of “unification without unification.” The emergence of this discourse, together with the development of the “near-sea governance model,” forms a meaningful correspondence and contrast.
In response to changes and developments in Taiwan, mainland Chinese leaders have repeatedly stated in recent times that “time and momentum are on our side,” and have also emphasized on many occasions the need to “firmly grasp the initiative and leadership in cross-strait relations.” If these statements are understood merely as policy slogans, then their deeper significance may be under-estimated, because they precisely reflect a tradition that the Chinese Communist Party has maintained since its founding: continuously updating “the current situation and our tasks.” Mainland China’s growing strength, decline of American global power, and populist governance by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration in Taiwan have placed the Taiwan Strait in a situation closer to unification than at any previous point in history.
Meanwhile, dramatic global changes including America’s strategic retreat, Japan’s inability to secure its own position, Europe’s strategic reassessment, and even China’s growing role within the Global South, combined with Taiwan’s own stagnation and self-depletion, make it entirely foreseeable that a new “Awakened Taiwan” will emerge. Various opinion polls in recent times have shown a consistent trend: the trust of the majority of Taiwanese people in the United States has approached bankruptcy, while expectations for peaceful coexistence with the mainland and proactive pursuit of negotiations are rising. This indicates that the people of Taiwan are not indifferent to these changes; on the contrary, they are acutely aware of them. Unfortunately, those in power are content to muddle through in pursuit of vested interests and are seriously disconnected from reality, leaving the public with no choice but to numb themselves through the idea of “maintaining the status quo.”
Taiwan’s societal awareness of the “endgame” is becoming increasingly strong, and it is sending a key signal: in the process from “resisting unification” to “identifying with unification,” there is not a sudden linear leap. In fact, there is an important intermediate turning point—“not opposing unification.” The anxiety and restlessness currently visible in Taiwan, together with the momentum created by external circumstances, are objective manifestations of Taiwan gradually transitioning and moving closer from “rejecting unification” toward “not opposing unification.”
Therefore, Taiwan’s understanding of unification may need to be re-shuffled. Given that the possibility of Taiwan independence is zero, apart from “military unification,” the possibility of unification is entirely dependent on human effort. Sun Tzu’s The Art of War emphasizes that “the highest form of warfare is to attack strategy.” The so-called “unification without unification” is a psychological strategy of “subduing the enemy without fighting,” demonstrating that mainland China is focused on allowing events to unfold naturally when conditions are ripe. What Taiwan needs to consider is no longer how many weapons to purchase, but rather how it should directly face and respond if a new situation of “unification without unification” is indeed approaching.