The blossoming of democracy in Taiwan and the build-up of defense on the mainland have placed Washington in a dilemma. Should the US be mindful of the PRC, the geopolitical giant, and sacrifice Taiwan if need be? Or should the US come to the aid of Taiwan, the present-day incarnation of its 1776 spirit, and turn the PRC into a foe? These often-asked questions have no ready answers. But the distinctions can be superficial in light of a reality check on two issues: Between Taiwan and the PRC, whose national interests are more compatible with the US? And on whose side is history?
The US has three primary and persistent national interests. They are human rights and democracy, security and defense, and commerce and free trade. Let us examine the compatibility of each of the three between Taipei and Washington on the one hand, and Beijing and Washington on the other.
Human Rights and Democracy
Taiwan completed its second presidential election through popular vote in March. For the first time in any Chinese society, political power has been peacefully transferred. After having accomplished the "economic miracle" in the 1980s, Taiwan has completed its "political miracle": a quiet and bloodless revolution. President Lee Teng-hui (
Across the Taiwan Strait, one finds a different story. Twenty years of economic reform has produced impressive growth -- the GNP has more than quadrupled. But the accompanying political reform has been limited. Granted, optimists have referred to the village elections and the hardening of "the rubber stamp" that is the National People's Congress. Since the fall of 1988, Beijing in fact has tightened its domestic political control. Newspapers have been closed down. Pro-democracy activists have been arrested and sentenced. Religious activities -- notably represented by, but not restricted to, Falun Gong -- have been curbed.
Last March, the 17th reincarnation of the Karmapa Lama braved treacherous terrain and weather to escape from Tibet where religious persecution is a way of life. Christian family churches have been harassed at a growing scale in recent times. All these have occurred under the policy of "stability above all" pushed by Beijing, which is paranoid of its own people.
On human rights and democracy, between Taipei and Beijing, whose national interest is more compatible with that of Washington? The answer should be clear enough.
Security and Defense
For Washington, the PRC used to be the strategic counterweight of the former Soviet Union during the Cold War which ended a decade ago. In September 1997, Washington began to pursue the US-PRC "constructive strategic partnership." The term may have now become an embarrassment for some in Washington, but the old mindset has lingered. Under that, the PRC is geopolitically important while Taiwan is but a nuisance. But fast-evolving strategic reality has outpaced the ossified mindset of the previous century.
In recent years, the People's Liberation Army has increasingly viewed seizing Taiwan as its major mission. The US, being the unavoidable obstacle for achieving this mission, is therefore the number one future enemy of the "Chinese nation."
A July 28, 1998 article in the PLA News written by the then-Deputy Commandant of Beijing's Military Science Academy, General Li Jijun (
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