While the row between Japan and China over the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) has caught international attention, a democratic Taiwan needs to keep the bigger picture in mind on this issue.
It began as a small incident: During an incursion in the waters surrounding the Diaoyutais, a Chinese trawler bumped into two Japanese Coast Guard vessels. The Japanese arrested the Chinese captain and crew, allowed the crew to go after a couple of days, but held the captain for further legal procedures.
However, the matter quickly evolved into a major political dispute when China ratcheted up the tension. It summoned the Japanese ambassador in Beijing early in the morning for a dressing down, suspended high-level exchanges between the two countries, while officials, including Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶), threatened “further action” by making threats about what would happen if the captain was not released.
In this tense situation it is extremely important that Taiwan makes the right decisions and doesn’t let its actions aggravate the situation even further. Against this background it was not wise to allow a fishing boat from Taiwan with several activists on board to set sail to the Diaoyutais in the middle of this month. The media in Taiwan reported that the activists, including several from Hong Kong, went there to assert “Chinese” sovereignty over the islands.
Taiwan needs to side with the forces of democracy.
It should be clear to even a casual observer that China is pushing its model of “strong economic growth combined with strict political control” — some refer to this as the “Beijing consensus” — on the world.
Taiwan, on the other hand, is still clearly a member of the democratic camp: Countries which value democracy and understand that true and equitable economic growth can only occur through adherence to the basic principles of democracy.
Looking toward the future, Taiwan needs to decide in a democratic way what the people of the island want for their future: Drift closer to China, which will inevitable mean a loss of democracy and human rights, or remain a free and open democracy.
If it wants the latter, it needs to align itself with other nations that adhere to the same value system. That means Japan: It is the closest democracy and if Taiwan’s existence is ever threatened by China, Japan and other allies in the region would no doubt align themselves with the US and come to Taiwan’s defense.
This means that Taiwan needs to maintain good relations with Japan and not let the fracas over a few goat-inhabited rocks damage ties with a friend whose support Taiwan will surely need in the future.
The importance of Japan as a partner was also emphasized recently by US Vice President Joe Biden.
At a function in Washington he stated: “I don’t know how it works without our partner in that part of the world.”
China’s upping the ante in the territorial claim over the islands and the arrest of the fishing boat captain shows that it still has to learn how to be a responsible stakeholder in the world. If it behaves in this way over such relatively “small” matters, one wonders if it will play by fair rules when a bigger conflict arises, say over the future of Taiwan? Will it respect the wishes of the people of Taiwan or run roughshod over them, like they did in Tibet and East Turkestan?
Taiwan will therefore need to keep the bigger picture of its future as a free and democratic nation in mind and let its decisions be guided by longer-term strategies. True statesmen will have the wisdom to make the right decisions.
Nat Bellocchi is a former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan and a special adviser to the Liberty Times Group. The views expressed in this article are his own.
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
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
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
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of