During the past few years, there has been a tendency among Western policymakers to be lulled into slumber by the refrain from President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government that it is reducing tension across the Taiwan Strait and that its policies are beneficial to stability.
For example, during an April 4 hearing in the US Senate, US Assistant Secretary of State Danny Russel said: “As a general matter, we very much welcome and applaud the extraordinary progress that has occurred in cross-strait relations under the Ma administration.”
Regrettably, Russel and others are betting on the wrong horse. The problem with the “progress” in cross-strait relations is that it has occurred under false premises: Ma has given China’s leaders the idea that these moves are eventually leading to “reunification,” — the absorption of Taiwan into China’s suffocating embrace.
This accommodating approach is now colliding with the aspirations of the Taiwanese to remain free, and to defend hard-won democracy. Ma’s approach is also fundamentally flawed, as it is in direct contravention of the basic principles of freedom, democracy and self-determination: the right of Taiwanese to determine their own future.
In some ways, Ma’s approach is analogous to that of former British prime minister Neville Chamberlain, who tried to accommodate an expansionist German regime that was moving against its neighbors Poland and Czechoslovakia. If the West had followed Churchill’s advice in 1938 and remained firm against German designs, then World War II might not have happened.
Real progress can only be made if China can be made to understand that it needs to accept Taiwan as a peaceful neighbor, that it needs to dismantle the more than 1,600 missiles aimed at Taiwan and that it needs to agree to international space for Taiwan, so it can be a full and equal member in the international community.
The democratic West can help normalization of relations across the Taiwan Strait by moving to normalize their own diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The country’s diplomatic isolation was prompted by the fact that in the 1960s and 1970s, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) was still claiming to represent China. That led to its international derecognition.
However, since then, Taiwan has made its momentous transition to democracy, so it is time to move away from old ideas and toward a new policy that accepts a vibrant democracy as a member of the international family of nations.
The recent Sunflower demonstrations in Taiwan and Ma’s extremely low approval ratings show clearly that Taiwanese do not want to be pushed in the direction of a repressive China, but want to play their role in the global community.
The Sunflower students and their supporters want Taiwan to grow and flourish, but that can only happen if the country can play its full role internationally and not be hampered and inhibited by restrictions and constraints imposed by an undemocratic regime next door.
Taiwanese and the international community need to bet on the racehorse of freedom and democracy, and celebrate Taiwan’s unique identity and strengths.
Mei-chin Chen is a commentator based in Washington.
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Former minister of culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) has long wielded influence through the power of words. Her articles once served as a moral compass for a society in transition. However, as her April 1 guest article in the New York Times, “The Clock Is Ticking for Taiwan,” makes all too clear, even celebrated prose can mislead when romanticism clouds political judgement. Lung crafts a narrative that is less an analysis of Taiwan’s geopolitical reality than an exercise in wistful nostalgia. As political scientists and international relations academics, we believe it is crucial to correct the misconceptions embedded in her article,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
RSS