In the face of changes unseen in a century, the international situation is changing rapidly. With the probability of Trump coming to power increasing, the timetable for Taiwan “reunification” could be moved up at any time. The unrest in Hong Kong over the last several years has shown that if preparatory plans for the transfer of power are not made fully and properly, it will result in very serious consequences for the smooth transfer of social order in the future. Since the “no change for 50 years” issue does not exist for Taiwan, once the mainland takes over Taiwan, the depth and breadth of the takeover will be far greater than in Hong Kong in 1997, so preparing plans for the comprehensive takeover of Taiwan after “reunification” is already an urgent matter.
面对百年未有之大变局，国际形势瞬息万变。随着特朗普上台的可能性越来越大，统一台湾的时间表随时可能提前。香港过去几年的动荡表明，政权移交如果没有充分做好预案，会对未来社会秩序的平稳移交带来非常严重的后果。由于台湾不存在“五十年不变”的问题，一旦大陆对台湾接管，其深度和广度要远远大过1997年的香港，做好统一以后全面接管台湾的预案已经迫在眉睫。
To this end, the Cross-Strait Institute of Urban Planning at Xiamen University has two suggestions:
为此，厦门大学海峡两岸城市规划研究所提出两项建议：
First, set up a Central Taiwan Work Committee as soon as possible.
第一，尽快成立中央台湾工作委员会。
The sole objective of this body will be to serve as a “shadow government” that can enter Taiwan at any time to take over the regime on the other side of the Strait. Only a clear and urgent objective can ensure the effectiveness of the organization’s operations. The organizational structure of the Central Taiwan Work Committee would be aligned completely with the regime and core organizations on the other side of the Strait, and divided into general and specialized departments. The general departments would focus on studying post-takeover policies such as the application of laws, currency conversion, mainland-Taiwan infrastructure integration, customs, international travel, and screening of military personnel, civil servants, and teachers. The mission of the specialized departments would be to thoroughly understand the history, current situation, personnel, operating rules, etc. of the corresponding departments on the island, and on that basis, propose a variety of takeover plans, including personnel, funding, assets, etc. As a relatively more developed economy than the mainland, many of the issues it has to deal with are ones that the mainland has seldom, if ever, encountered. This necessitates that the work be carried out as early as possible.
该机构的唯一目标，就是作为“影子政府”随时入台接收对岸政权。只有明确而急迫的目标，才能确保组织运转的效能。中央台湾工委组织架构完全对标对岸政权和核心组织，分为综合部门和专业部门。其中，综合部门重点研究政权接管后的法律适用、货币转换、陆岛基础设施对接、军公教甄别、海关及国际旅行等政策；专业部门的任务是彻底了解岛内对应部门的历史、现状、人员、运行规则等，并在此基础上提出多种接收预案，包括人员、经费、资产等。台湾作为一个相对与大陆更发达的经济体，所需要处理的很多问题都是大陆很少、甚至没有遇到的问题，这就需要这项工作越早开展越好。
The purposes of establishing this institution are:
成立这一机构的作用：
1. To gain familiarity with Taiwan’s current systems, institutions, and laws as soon as possible. It would carry out targeted intelligence gathering on, and in-depth analysis, understanding, and tracking of, the current status and historical evolution of these institutions. On the basis of lessons learned from Japanese colonization, the Kuomintang’s post-war takeover, and Hong Kong’s return, it would propose the corresponding institution retention, change, introduction, and innovation measures, and design in advance the institutions and alternative laws that require changing. Unlike current academic Taiwan studies, the departments of the Central Taiwan Affairs Office should have specific and clear task-oriented goals, and take hands-on experience as a prerequisite, so that it can thoroughly and efficiently digest Taiwan’s existing systems.
第一，尽快熟悉台湾目前的体制、制度、法律。有针对性地展开情报搜集，深度分析、了解、跟踪这些机构的现状和历史沿革。在借鉴日本殖民、国民党战后接受、香港回归等经验教训的基础上，提出相应的制度保留、制度改变、制度引入、制度新创，提前设计需要改变的制度，替代性的法律。和目前学术性的台湾研究不同，中央台湾工委各部门应该有具体而明确的任务导向，以实战为前提，才能深入、高效消化台湾现有的制度。
2. To bring together the anti-Taiwan independence forces on the island. The “reunification” forces on the island have weakened in recent years, and real expectations of “reunification” and practical institutional vehicles for it are lacking. With the KMT’s anti-Taiwan independence position softening and even moving toward implicit Taiwan independence, the forces supporting “reunification” have been reduced to unorganized individual behavior. The establishment of the Central Taiwan Work Committee could take these forces and integrate them into national activity, and the anti-Taiwan independence forces would become systematic and institutionalized. The reason why the CCP was able to persist for a long time when it was weak and small in its early days was largely due to the support of the Communist International at that time. The Central Taiwan Work Committee could greatly change expectations on the island, allowing anti-Taiwan independence activities, which are currently and temporarily vilified and isolated on the island, to become heroic activities after the reunification of the motherland. By directly consulting and commissioning research from counterpart departments, and soliciting public opinion after reunification, a sense of the reality of Taiwan’s return could be spread to all levels of society on the island. An important reason why the “military exercises around Taiwan” this time had little impact on public sentiment is that the people of Taiwan believe “reunification” is still very far away. But if preparations for the actual takeover of power begin, this action itself will have a significant impact on public sentiment on the island.
第二，凝聚岛内反台独力量。近年来，岛内统一力量式微，缺乏统一的真实预期和实际的制度载体。随着国民党反台独立场的软化甚至走向隐性台独，支持统一的力量已经沦为无组织的个体行为。中央台湾工委的建立，可以将这部分力量整合到国家行为，反台独力量就会体系化、制度化，中共早期弱小时之所以能长期坚持，和当年共产国际的支持关系重大。中央台湾工委可以极大地改变岛内预期，让目前暂时被岛内丑化、孤立的反台独活动，成为祖国统一后的英雄行为。通过部门对口直接咨询、委托研究，征询岛内统一后的民意，可以将台湾回归的真实感传播到岛内各个阶层。此次“环台军演”之所以对台湾民心冲击不大，一个重要原因就是台湾民众认为统一还非常遥远。而只要开始实际政权接收准备，这个行动本身对岛内民心就会产生重大影响。
3. To smooth the impact of regime change. As the mainland’s military power grows, the difficulty of “reunification” itself decreases, and effective control after “reunification” will become increasingly important. The relevant departments of the Central Taiwan Work Committee should allow the island’s elites and institutions to participate in the design of the Taiwan takeover plans as much as possible through personal consultations and project commissions, so that more plans can be prepared for the impact of the future regime change, and stable expectations and psychological preparations can be formed on the island. Allowing Taiwanese society to feel that they participated in the regime handover plans will greatly reduce the cost of actual governance in the future, and form a mainstream consensus in society.
第三，平滑政权转换冲击。随着大陆军力的增长，统一本身难度在下降，而统一之后的有效管制会变得越来越重要。中央台湾工委相关部门以个人咨询、项目委托等方式，让岛内精英和机构尽可能多地参与台湾接收方案的设计，就有可能对未来的政权转变冲击准备好更多的预案，岛内也会形成稳定的预期和心理准备。让台湾社会觉得政权交接方案是他们参与设计的，会极大地减少未来真实治理的成本，形成社会主流共识。
Second, establish a Taiwan Governance Experimental Zone as soon as possible.
第二，尽快建立台湾治理试验区。
The recent unrest in Hong Kong has shown that the “One Country, Two Systems” approach, and full acceptance of the existing system is not necessarily suitable for Taiwan. For Taiwan, the aim from the outset should be full integration into the mainland. In order to test the effectiveness of policies in advance and train cadres for taking over the regime, it is necessary to set up a highly realistic physical environment that fully simulates the management model for the island after “reunification.” The location could be Xiang’an District in Xiamen or Nan’an City in Quanzhou, which are adjacent to Kinmen. They have mountains behind them, the sea in front, ports and airports, and a language and culture similar to Taiwan’s. Similar benchmarks for the main geographical elements and infrastructure of Taiwan can be found there. These are conditions that Pingtan does not have. In particular, due to the close contacts between Kinmen and Xiamen, setting up an experimental zone there would be the most conducive to replicating and imitating Taiwan’s current administrative system.
香港最近的动荡表明，一国两制，完全接受现有的制度的做法并不一定适合台湾，台湾一开始就要以彻底融入大陆为目标。为了提前试验政策的效果，培训接管政权的干部，有必要设置一个高度仿真的实体环境，全面模拟岛内统一后的管理模式。地点可以选在与金门接壤的厦门翔安区、泉州南安市。这里背山临海，有港口，有机场，语言文化与台湾相近，台湾的主要地理要素和基础设施都可以找到近似的对标。这是平潭所不具备的条件。特别是由于金厦来往密切，在此设实验区最有利于复制、模仿台湾现在的行政体制。
1. Policy experimentation. In the experimental zone, the real political power structure in Taiwan would be simulated as closely as possible. Policies and laws should be based on the actual policies that Taiwan will adopt [on different matters] after “reunification,” from major matters such as abolition or retention of the electoral system, to smaller matters like the retention or elimination of traditional Chinese characters; from more distant matters such as the transition of the currency (including the transition of the real estate system, including land) to more immediate matters such as the transition of teaching materials and teachers (including the college entrance examination system and academic qualifications). Then, various social actors, especially local Taiwanese, can propose modifications to the handover plan, and rapid policy iteration can be achieved in the experimental zone.
第一，政策实验。在实验区内尽量模拟真实的台湾政权架构。政策和法律按照统一后台湾拟采用的实际政策，大到选举制度的存废，小到简体、繁体字的去留；远到货币如何过渡（包括土地在内的不动产制度的过渡），近到教材、教师如何交接（包括高考制度和学历认证）……然后让各个社会主体，特别是台湾本地人，对交接的方案提出修改建议，在试验区内实现政策快速迭代。
2. Training of cadres. The main purpose of setting up the Taiwan Governance Experimental Zone would be to simulate the real governance model after taking over Taiwan, so as to have institutions in reserve and talents trained for the actual takeover. Taiwan has been separated from the mainland for many years, and cadres who are familiar with the mainland may have to start from the “ABCs” when it comes to learning in Taiwan. Whether it is ways of interacting with residents or methods for communicating with the media, it is all unfamiliar to mainland cadres. This requires a real scenario for learning to govern Taiwan. By recruiting retired military, civil servants, and teachers from Taiwan, the experimental zone would be able to help formulate the details of takeover policy, thereby shortening the transition period, which is the riskiest period of regime change.
第二，培训干部。设置台湾治理试验区的主要目的，就是模拟接管台湾后的真实治理模式，为实际接管储备制度、培养人才。台湾脱离大陆多年，在大陆驾轻就熟的干部，在台湾可能要从“ABC”学起。无论是与居民的互动模式，还是和媒体沟通的方法，都是大陆干部所不熟悉的。这就需要一个学习治理台湾的真实场景。试验区可通过引进台湾退休的军公教人员，协助制定接管的政策细节，缩短政权切换这一风险最大的过渡期。
3. Demonstration of governing. The model for post-“reunification” governance in Taiwan was originally Hong Kong’s “One Country, Two Systems.” After the previous “disruption,” however, Hong Kong as a model has little persuasive power on the island. This requires the establishment of a new model. When the Communist Party took over Nationalist-controlled areas on a large scale in a short time during the War of Liberation, things may have looked overwhelming, but in fact the Communist Party had already had a lot of regime-building experience in its base areas. Now, although our Party has a lot of experience in governing, the generation that took over and established the regime is long gone. This requires us to begin again.
第三，执政示范。统一后台湾的治理样本原本是香港的“一国两制”。但之前的“捣乱”后，香港作为样板模式已经对岛内没有多少说服力。这就需要树立一个新的模范。解放战争共产党短期大规模接收国统区，看似摧枯拉朽，其实在此之前共产党已经在根据地有过大量政权建设的经验。现在我党虽然拥有政权治理的大量经验，但接收并建立政权的那一代人已经远去，这就需要我们重新开始。
“Reunification” is just the beginning, and governance will be the standard for testing whether “reunification” is successful.
统一只是开始，治理才是检验统一是否成功的标准。