Typhoon Haiyan, a monster storm that hit the Philippines last week, brought death and destruction to Taiwan’s neighbor to the south on an unprecedented scale.
After the typhoon struck, the international community, including Taiwan, sprang into action to provide emergency relief goods, including dried foods, blankets and tents.
Taiwan has experience with major disasters, such as the 921 Earthquake in 1999 and Typhoon Morakot in August 2009, which destroyed whole villages in the south of the nation.
Taiwan knows what it is like to be the victim of natural disasters and was the grateful recipient of foreign assistance in those times.
This is a good opportunity for Taiwan to show that it is a good neighbor to the Philippines, to give generously and provide all the help it can. It is at times like this that people can show their best side by assisting a neighbor in need.
Some of the public may still feel resentment toward the Philippines because of the death of Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成), who was shot by Philippine Coast Guard personnel in the countries’ overlapping territorial waters earlier this year.
However, that issue was resolved by both sides agreeing to a compromise, and Taiwanese should move on and realize the incredible scale of the disaster that has struck the Philippines.
This is the moment for Taiwan to do everything it can to assist the people in stricken areas of the Philippines.
This is in the longer-term strategic interest of the nation.
The Philippines is, like Taiwan, a free and democratic nation. The two share many values, such as democracy, human rights, freedom of expression and respect for individual freedoms. These values and freedoms do not come automatically: They are threatened every day from within by neglect, as well as by vested economic and political interests.
In contrast, there is China, a country that does not respect those values and freedoms.
China has yet to offer more than meager assistance to the Philippines after the typhoon, while other countries in the region, such as Japan, are providing aid on a much larger scale, commensurate with the intensity of the disaster itself.
In the years to come, Taiwan needs to make sure it stands on the same side as the Philippines and other democracies, such as Japan and South Korea, when facing the threat to its existence as a free and democratic nation posed by China.
Helping the Philippines in its hour of need will cement a bond between future generations of Taiwanese and Filipinos.
Nat Bellocchi served as chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan from 1990 to 1995. The views expressed in this article are his own.
In their recent op-ed “Trump Should Rein In Taiwan” in Foreign Policy magazine, Christopher Chivvis and Stephen Wertheim argued that the US should pressure President William Lai (賴清德) to “tone it down” to de-escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait — as if Taiwan’s words are more of a threat to peace than Beijing’s actions. It is an old argument dressed up in new concern: that Washington must rein in Taipei to avoid war. However, this narrative gets it backward. Taiwan is not the problem; China is. Calls for a so-called “grand bargain” with Beijing — where the US pressures Taiwan into concessions
The term “assassin’s mace” originates from Chinese folklore, describing a concealed weapon used by a weaker hero to defeat a stronger adversary with an unexpected strike. In more general military parlance, the concept refers to an asymmetric capability that targets a critical vulnerability of an adversary. China has found its modern equivalent of the assassin’s mace with its high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) weapons, which are nuclear warheads detonated at a high altitude, emitting intense electromagnetic radiation capable of disabling and destroying electronics. An assassin’s mace weapon possesses two essential characteristics: strategic surprise and the ability to neutralize a core dependency.
Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) said in a politburo speech late last month that his party must protect the “bottom line” to prevent systemic threats. The tone of his address was grave, revealing deep anxieties about China’s current state of affairs. Essentially, what he worries most about is systemic threats to China’s normal development as a country. The US-China trade war has turned white hot: China’s export orders have plummeted, Chinese firms and enterprises are shutting up shop, and local debt risks are mounting daily, causing China’s economy to flag externally and hemorrhage internally. China’s
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) were born under the sign of Gemini. Geminis are known for their intelligence, creativity, adaptability and flexibility. It is unlikely, then, that the trade conflict between the US and China would escalate into a catastrophic collision. It is more probable that both sides would seek a way to de-escalate, paving the way for a Trump-Xi summit that allows the global economy some breathing room. Practically speaking, China and the US have vulnerabilities, and a prolonged trade war would be damaging for both. In the US, the electoral system means that public opinion
RSS