I would like to respond to an article in this paper on China's efforts to intimidate Taiwanese businesspeople ("PRC's pressure on Taiwanese businesses in vain: Chen," Dec. 14, page 3).
The world, especially Westerners, launched its fight against communism after the end of World War II. Since that time, we've seen the unification of Germany and the fall of the Soviet Union. The US sent troops to "liberate" Vietnam from communism, but failed.
The non-communist world failed to "conquer" the communist world. Today, much to the contrary, we are seeing trillions of dollars worth of investment from democratic countries -- and countries masquerading as democratic -- pouring into communist states in pursuit of economic growth, business opportunities and cheap labor.
But are these really good business investments or are they actually helping strengthen communist governments, with the result that communism will one day rule the world?
The US, UN and EU -- the so-called "free world" -- are good at imposing economic sanctions on countries that don't abide by their demands.
But when it comes to dealing with communist China, the same Western powers make compromises.
Even governments in East Asia compromise their anti-communist positions where economic opportunities are involved.
It is clear from reading the daily news from a variety of sources that communism is getting stronger each day -- and it is all thanks to the annual trillions of dollars in foreign investments funding communist governments!
Where is the fight against communism now? What of all the lives that were lost fighting communism? Has their sacrifice been compromised too?
Michael Teo
Singapore
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In an article published by the Harvard Kennedy School, renowned historian of modern China Rana Mitter used a structured question-and-answer format to deepen the understanding of the relationship between Taiwan and China. Mitter highlights the differences between the repressive and authoritarian People’s Republic of China and the vibrant democracy that exists in Taiwan, saying that Taiwan and China “have had an interconnected relationship that has been both close and contentious at times.” However, his description of the history — before and after 1945 — contains significant flaws. First, he writes that “Taiwan was always broadly regarded by the imperial dynasties of
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will stop at nothing to weaken Taiwan’s sovereignty, going as far as to create complete falsehoods. That the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has never ruled Taiwan is an objective fact. To refute this, Beijing has tried to assert “jurisdiction” over Taiwan, pointing to its military exercises around the nation as “proof.” That is an outright lie: If the PRC had jurisdiction over Taiwan, it could simply have issued decrees. Instead, it needs to perform a show of force around the nation to demonstrate its fantasy. Its actions prove the exact opposite of its assertions. A
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