The central standing committee of the People's Republic of China's National Congress on Dec. 26 approved a draft bill for what has come to be known as the "anti-secession law." This is a big step for China.
Unfortunately, it's in the wrong direction.
Evolutionary biologists have long known that the fastest evolution, the quickest development in a line of organisms, doesn't occur on continents but in archipelagos of many close but separate islands, where it's possible for populations to make local experiments. The successes spread like lightning through the region. The failures remain local or fizzle out.
Not China, but Europe, with its many separate and distinct nations, cultures and languages, spawned modern civilization. It's no accident. We think of China as a country, but it's not. China isn't analogous to, say, Germany, Italy or England.
It's the Asian equivalent of Europe and, like Europe, China is, in fact, composed of many separate regions, each having its own individual history, language and nationality. This truth has been obscured by China's historical fixation on empire. If this "anti-secession law" is intended to pave the way for a move against Taiwan, it only shows how firmly China is still stuck in its dysfunctional past.?
For China to gobble up Taiwan would, admittedly, not be good for Taiwan, which is much better off as it is. But the point I would like to make here is that neither would it be good for China. The "one China" policy never benefited China. It has all but defeated everything that's splendidly and vibrantly Chinese. Consider this one fact: it's the little specks of vast China, those tiny particles of territory historically unconnected to the corrupt power center, that have moved forward with such singular verve into the modern world -- Taiwan, Singapore, and, until recently, Hong Kong.
What China needs is to follow the example of its success stories, not strangle them one by one. The "archipelago effect" works, the "continental scenario" doesn't. This is the message that should be getting through to China's leaders. What China needs isn't an "anti-secession law" but a program for the orderly secession of its different constituent nationalities so that, one by one, each may set out like Taiwan on its own amazing adventure, forging its own unique way of being Chinese. Only in this way can China, so long stymied, break out and finally achieve its proper place of leadership in the civilized world.
China should forget about competing with the US. It can do better than displacing the world's dinosaur. The European example is clearly the one China needs to follow. Living here in Taiwan as I do, I see on a daily basis the miracle that can happen in a place that is small and free. The young people that Taiwan is now producing are amazing. I only wish all the other regions of China could gain their independence, too, and experience the same miracle.
William Stimson is a writer living in Taiwan.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017
RSS