“Harmonious” or not, China’s rise has become a virtual reality for the empire’s neighbors. China’s recent actions in the South China Sea and toward Japan have led several Asian countries to consider the US as a welcome guardian in Asia. China’s recent military displays have created a new strategic opportunity for the US that can strengthen democratic forces in Asia and attract new friends.
It is therefore paradoxical that the EU appears to have failed to behave as an international leader by embracing China’s censorship. A few days before Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) was declared the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, the EU apparently limited press freedom in an embarrassing event involving two China-critical media, the Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty Television. Both media were denied access to a press conference between the EU and China in what looks like a quiet agreement with China. Access was allowed when other media interacted, but the press conference was subsequently canceled.
A coincidence? Hardly. The Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty Television are just too critical of China.
Apparently, the EU prefers that China set the agenda for press freedom instead of the EU drawing the famous line in the sand. The EU is therefore revealing itself to be an embarrassing and spineless international institution that puts fundamental core values up for sale. It is not difficult to draw a direct link to China’s shopping spree in the 10 crisis-hit southern European countries, like Italy and Greece.
Now that democracies are weakening, according to Freedom House, it is essential that the EU and the US set a clear and uncompromising democratic agenda because democratic allies in Asia and around the world are far better alternatives for a sustainable future. The authoritarian forces that impede democratic development must be challenged by supporting democracies in a way that helps them grow stronger in cooperation with EU and the US.
Taiwan remains a prime example of a democratic success story in Asia, yet the EU still fears to support it because China claims ownership of Taiwan. For a start, the EU should stop bowing its head to China and start demonstrating international leadership by taking advantage of Taiwan’s independent membership in the WTO to conclude a free-trade agreement with the nation, just as the EU has done with South Korea.
The point is that China must be held accountable for international agreements. In addition, the EU should allow its leaders to meet officially with all of Taiwan’s leaders. This will create an open dialogue that prevents misunderstandings caused by messages being filtered through several diplomatic channels. Later, a new Taiwan policy should be created that abandons the outdated “one China” policy and instead embraces the right of Taiwanese to determine their own future.
China is not yet a responsible nation that can strengthen democracies and the international order. Rather, it is an undemocratic country with ambitions for world power. Therefore the EU must stand strong on democratic development because the alternative is a world dominated by undemocratic forces.
Michael Danielsen is the chairman of Taiwan Corner.
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
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS