What Is Missing Between Mainland China and Taiwan?

What is truly missing between mainland China and Taiwan is not a war over unification or independence, but a lasting peace agreement.

The Chinese Civil War ended long ago, yet to this day, the two sides have never signed a peace agreement formally confirming that hostilities have ceased and will never resume.

Such an agreement should also stipulate that residents on both sides of the Strait are free to travel, study, work, conduct business, purchase property, and settle wherever they choose, enjoying equal treatment with local residents. It should establish full trade liberalization and the free flow of goods across the Strait, eliminating tariffs and trade barriers so that commerce flows as freely as it does between provinces within a single country.

Politically, each side should respect the other's choice of governance. Whether one favors unification or independence, neither side should interfere with the other.

Human life and the freedom to live peacefully matter far more than abstract debates over unification or independence. If people on both sides could live their lives under such a peace agreement, would the question of unification versus independence even matter anymore?

This peace agreement is what the people on both sides of the Strait truly need—it is the key to their shared prosperity.