“Harmonious” or not, China’s rise has become a virtual reality for the empire’s neighbors. China’s recent actions in the South China Sea and toward Japan have led several Asian countries to consider the US as a welcome guardian in Asia. China’s recent military displays have created a new strategic opportunity for the US that can strengthen democratic forces in Asia and attract new friends.
It is therefore paradoxical that the EU appears to have failed to behave as an international leader by embracing China’s censorship. A few days before Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) was declared the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, the EU apparently limited press freedom in an embarrassing event involving two China-critical media, the Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty Television. Both media were denied access to a press conference between the EU and China in what looks like a quiet agreement with China. Access was allowed when other media interacted, but the press conference was subsequently canceled.
A coincidence? Hardly. The Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty Television are just too critical of China.
Apparently, the EU prefers that China set the agenda for press freedom instead of the EU drawing the famous line in the sand. The EU is therefore revealing itself to be an embarrassing and spineless international institution that puts fundamental core values up for sale. It is not difficult to draw a direct link to China’s shopping spree in the 10 crisis-hit southern European countries, like Italy and Greece.
Now that democracies are weakening, according to Freedom House, it is essential that the EU and the US set a clear and uncompromising democratic agenda because democratic allies in Asia and around the world are far better alternatives for a sustainable future. The authoritarian forces that impede democratic development must be challenged by supporting democracies in a way that helps them grow stronger in cooperation with EU and the US.
Taiwan remains a prime example of a democratic success story in Asia, yet the EU still fears to support it because China claims ownership of Taiwan. For a start, the EU should stop bowing its head to China and start demonstrating international leadership by taking advantage of Taiwan’s independent membership in the WTO to conclude a free-trade agreement with the nation, just as the EU has done with South Korea.
The point is that China must be held accountable for international agreements. In addition, the EU should allow its leaders to meet officially with all of Taiwan’s leaders. This will create an open dialogue that prevents misunderstandings caused by messages being filtered through several diplomatic channels. Later, a new Taiwan policy should be created that abandons the outdated “one China” policy and instead embraces the right of Taiwanese to determine their own future.
China is not yet a responsible nation that can strengthen democracies and the international order. Rather, it is an undemocratic country with ambitions for world power. Therefore the EU must stand strong on democratic development because the alternative is a world dominated by undemocratic forces.
Michael Danielsen is the chairman of Taiwan Corner.
What began on Feb. 28 as a military campaign against Iran quickly became the largest energy-supply disruption in modern times. Unlike the oil crises of the 1970s, which stemmed from producer-led embargoes, US President Donald Trump is the first leader in modern history to trigger a cascading global energy crisis through direct military action. In the process, Trump has also laid bare Taiwan’s strategic and economic fragilities, offering Beijing a real-time tutorial in how to exploit them. Repairing the damage to Persian Gulf oil and gas infrastructure could take years, suggesting that elevated energy prices are likely to persist. But the most
In late January, Taiwan’s first indigenous submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), completed its first submerged dive, reaching a depth of roughly 50m during trials in the waters off Kaohsiung. By March, it had managed a fifth dive, still well short of the deep-water and endurance tests required before the navy could accept the vessel. The original delivery deadline of November last year passed months ago. CSBC Corp, Taiwan, the lead contractor, now targets June and the Ministry of National Defense is levying daily penalties for every day the submarine remains unfinished. The Hai Kun was supposed to be
Most schoolchildren learn that the circumference of the Earth is about 40,000km. They do not learn that the global economy depends on just 160 of those kilometers. Blocking two narrow waterways — the Strait of Hormuz and the Taiwan Strait — could send the economy back in time, if not to the Stone Age that US President Donald Trump has been threatening to bomb Iran back to, then at least to the mid-20th century, before the Rolling Stones first hit the airwaves. Over the past month and a half, Iran has turned the Strait of Hormuz, which is about 39km wide at
The ongoing Middle East crisis has reinforced an uncomfortable truth for Taiwan: In an increasingly interconnected and volatile world, distant wars rarely remain distant. What began as a regional confrontation between the US, Israel and Iran has evolved into a strategic shock wave reverberating far beyond the Persian Gulf. For Taiwan, the consequences are immediate, material and deeply unsettling. From Taipei’s perspective, the conflict has exposed two vulnerabilities — Taiwan’s dependence on imported energy and the risks created when Washington’s military attention is diverted. Together, they offer a preview of the pressures Taiwan might increasingly face in an era of overlapping geopolitical
RSS