Taiwan is situated in a highly sensitive area. Therefore, the conduct of its neighbors all have serious impact on the country. Besides doing its best to defend itself and strengthening its economic power, Taiwan must learn to recognize its friends from its foes.
In light of this nation's precarious geopolitical situation, if Taiwan cannot distinguish between friend and enemy it may be cast aside by allies and create an opportunity for its enemies to close in.
Who are Taiwan's friends? Those countries that advocate the interests of Taiwan in the international community.
In arenas for the international community, including the UN, the WTO, World Health Organization (WHO) and others, the nation's allies have spared no effort in condemning the unjust treatment give to Taiwan. In the international community where self-interest tops everything else, the friendship of Taiwan's allies is especially precious. Although countries such as the US and Japan do not hold formal diplomatic relationships with Taiwan, they share common strategic interests and are therefore close partners with us.
During the 1996 cross-strait missile crisis, the US sent military vessels to the region and forced China to curtail its actions. Moreover, the joint US-Japanese declaration that the Taiwan issue is of strategic importance is further evidence of this partnership.
Who are Taiwan's enemies? The facts speak for themselves -- the People's Republic of China is the enemy. China has more than 700 missiles targeting Taiwan and threatens us with other advanced weapons. It also openly declares within international community that Taiwan is a province of China. In a nutshell, China's intent is to one day invade Taiwan and destroy its sovereignty and the self-determination of its people.
In light of the PRC's attitude toward Taiwan, it is an aggressor and an enemy of international order. In order words, the PRC is both the troublemaker in the Taiwan Strait and an obstacle to international order.
Since we can tell our friends from our enemies, it should not be so difficult to formulate defense, cross-strait and foreign policies. Unfortunately, that is not the case. For selfish reasons, some politicians, political parties, the pro-unification media and businesspeople knowingly and deliberately treat our enemies as friends and our friends as enemies in order to place the country in danger.
For example Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) clearly know that the nation needs to purchase defensive weapons from the US in order to protect the country. Yet, they adamantly continue to boycott the approval of the arms budget, leading the US and Japan to question the determination of Taiwan to protect itself. Lien and Soong not only dismiss the nation's defense needs, but also willingly adhere to Beijing's unificationist propaganda.
The pan-blue camp characterizes the US and Japan as domineering hegemonies, but are not the least bit bothered by China's bullish behavior. Therefore, when the Japanese government expelled and seized Taiwanese fishing boats from the area around the Diaoyutais (釣魚台), the blue camp criticized government for being too meek, and demanded that warships be dispatched to protect Taiwan's fishing waters. However, when Chinese survey ships entered Taiwanese waters in recent weeks, the same critics didn't utter a word.
Does the fact that the blue camp's leaders can't tell Taiwan's friends from its enemies demonstrate that they are stupid? No, they are actually very smart people. Their words and actions are the result of the idea that the enemy, China, is the "motherland," while Taiwan's friends are actually the enemy. The political ideology in question is the illusory "one China" principle. Countries that help Taiwan maintain its sovereignty, such as the US and Japan, are considered a roadblock to the goal of "unification with the motherland."
As for China's oppressive behavior toward Taiwan, they feel that it is the legitimate right of a country to forcibly rein in a renegade province. Even though its well-crafted unification campaign makes explicit China's ambition to force Taiwan down the path of unification through economic integration, the blue camp still characterizes economic integration with China as the only way for Taiwan.
On the one hand they push for unification and on the other hand they utter lies about "loving Taiwan." Why would anyone believe them?
In recent years, Taiwan has seen a lot of internal bickering and friction. At the same time, the country has gradually moved closer to China. Taiwan is a democratic country. Those who seeks destroy Taiwan know how to hide under the protection of its democracy and bring down the country from within through a kind of ongoing internal political war.
There is nothing one can do about the behavior of such people. However, the government should look after the common interests of all and resolve differences in a rational manner. It is indeed irrational to mobilize warships to resolve a territorial dispute before using negotiations through diplomatic channels. The fishery dispute with Japan did not begin yesterday. Due to overlapping territorial claims, disputes are inevitable. But the friendship of the two countries should outside differences of opinion, and negotiaing a mutually beneficial solution is the way to resolve the situation.
Unable to withstand the pressure from the legislature, the nation's defense minister last week agreed to dispatch warships to the disputed islets, thus shattering any chance for reasonable negotiation with Japan.
No one is surprised by the behavior of the opposition parties, who seek to inflame negative sentiment. But why did the government fall in line?
This shows that the government has failed to distinguish Taiwan's friends from its foes.
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