We Taiwanese are not naive
It was saddening to read Keith Fritzsch's letter (Letters, Feb. 3, page 8) in which he says: "When are the people of Taiwan going to learn that most of the world does not care about what is right or what the truth is ... America will not help you because your market is not as big as China's. Nor do you have something we need and can not get somewhere else."
It's as if we are thought to be irresponsible because we are pursuing a minimal freedom of expression that every other democratic nation takes for granted.
Let me tell you clearly, Keith Fritzsch, we Taiwanese are not as naive as you imagine. We know that no American soldier will ever shed his blood for Taiwan if the US' own interests don't coincide with ours.
Ask yourself why former US president Harry Truman sent the Seventh Fleet into the Taiwan Strait just after the Korean war broke out. It's because of the US' support for Taiwan's fledgling democracy trying to fend off China's aggression -- we do know this, and we appreciate the US' friendly promotion of justice and liberty, which we believe is what makes humans human.
But Fritzsch's hard-line opinion reminds me of the imperialist mindset to which the founding fathers of the US were so strongly opposed.
Frankly speaking, if Taiwan falls into China's grasp, the US will also lose its own frontier defense strategy for the western Pacific region -- we all know this, don't we? Besides, don't underestimate the economic weight Taiwan carries in the world. Maybe you can get anything Taiwan has to offer from somewhere else, but probably at a higher price.
Taiwanese are not living on a cloud. The government has tried to boost military defense in several ways, even by paying unreasonable prices for the outdated F16 fighters.
So if you really are concerned about this region's stability, Mr Fritzsch, why don't you condemn French President Jacques Chirac's proposed lifting of the arms embargo against China, and condemn China's terroristic deployment of 496 missiles aimed at Taiwan?
But if you're the kind of person who judges everything based solely on its market value and on shortsighted interests, we certainly can't expect you to be a friend soon.
Lin Yung-Ching
Hsinchu
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