I suggest we rename the "one China" policy to emphasize its true intent. Henceforth, we should call it the "we hope China doesn't bomb Taiwan, wipe out Tibet and turn Hong Kong into Tiananmen Square" policy.
It is inconceivable that any more than a handful of countries could believe Taiwan or Tibet belong to China, or that democracy in Hong Kong should be squashed and its democratic advocates jailed. Surely the overwhelming majority of nations in the world know this policy for what it is -- a policy for avoiding war.
But the world is playing the dangerous game of appeasement. It is dangerous because we saw the fruits of this approach in Germany 50 years ago. Appeasement only gives tyrants power, and more power makes tyrants dizzy, and they are apt to do provocative things to exercise their new-found strength. Only by calling a spade a spade and declaring out loud what the world is doing -- mollifying a communist dictatorship for fear it will make war -- can we gradually change the world's attitude toward that policy to one of repugnance.
The "one China" policy is nothing more than a pretense, and by honoring it the world remains in denial about the communists' intentions.
Lee Long-hwa
United States
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