While the US and Japan are busy expressing their concern over China's "anti-secession" legislation, the EU's silence leaves one to wonder if the union has disappeared from the face of the earth -- or has become the paid-for lackey of the autocrats in Beijing.
The past few years have shown us that the EU is partial to China when it comes to the cross-strait issue, believing that its business interests are best served by kowtowing to Beijing. It is also clear that the EU's desire to be seen as a competitor of the US in the international political arena has overwhelmed its common sense.
If it wants to be taken seriously in world affairs, then the EU might consider adopting some of the mannerisms of a serious player. It might consider being pragmatic, rather than simply posturing like a vain peacock.
The EU should remember that Taiwan has a larger population than two-thirds of the world's countries, and that its economy is bigger than many of the EU member states' economies. So if the EU wants to opt out of the market and leave the US and Japan to do business with Taiwan, then good luck to it.
Europe was the center of world power prior to the rise of the US, and the founding of the EU has given Europe the chance to rise to the position of global leadership once again.
But the irony is that the EU is failing to exhibit any of the traits of leadership. It cares nothing about the security situation in Asia nor about China's neglect of human rights. Instead, the EU is colluding with China, and the two even appear to be treating the US as their joint enemy. This has meant that the EU is ready to sacrifice Taiwan -- a stable democracy -- simply to differentiate itself from the US and pander to China.
How pathetic.
The details of the "anti-secession" law that were released on Tuesday show that Beijing regards Taiwan as an issue which is a remnant of the civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the KMT.
This is wrong.
In 1683, the Qing general Shi Lang (
Taiwan has had a hodgepodge of invaders and imperial conquerors, and its people are a diverse reflection of the land's long history as a strategic crossroads.
So wherein lies the legitimacy of China's claim to sovereignty over Taiwan?
The only masters of Taiwan are the people of Taiwan.
The EU should recognize that being a force in the international political arena brings responsibilities, not just benefits.
How sad that after the hand-wringing rhetoric of some EU members in the build-up to the war in Iraq, that those same members are now glibly trying to justify selling advanced weapons to China.
The bureaucrats in Brussels need to open their eyes.
China wants advanced weapons to fight a war, and it wants an "anti-secession" law to legitimize that war.
Is this what the EU supports?
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment on Friday last week to add four national holidays and make Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors — a move referred to as “four plus one.” The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who used their combined legislative majority to push the bill through its third reading, claim the holidays were chosen based on their inherent significance and social relevance. However, in passing the amendment, they have stuck to the traditional mindset of taking a holiday just for the sake of it, failing to make good use of
RSS