The “Jasmine Revolution” is rolling over North Africa: first Tunisia, then Egypt and now Libya. Oppressed people are suddenly seeing that entrenched regimes are not forever, and are taking to the streets, giving people power new meaning.
However, it is having worldwide repercussions: Restlessness and unrest has not been confined to neighboring countries such as Bahrain, Yemen and Syria. This weekend, pro-democracy activists in China attempted to spread the word on the Jasmine Revolution, leading to an unprecedented crackdown by security forces, and an almost total clampdown on the Internet. In addition, the Chinese Communist Party politburo reportedly met to discuss measures to prevent the news of what is happening in North Africa from spreading in China.
Where this is going in China is anybody’s guess, but we need to ask the question: “Whose side are you on?”
In Egypt, people suffered under former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s repression for many decades. His secret police was all-powerful and it had student spies at US universities, tattling on their fellow students.
However, during the decades when this went on, few in the West had an inkling of what was going on and even fewer saw what was coming. Mubarak was perceived as an ally of the West and the US and Western European governments didn’t want to “rock the boat” and upset the “sensitive relations” with the regime. In doing so, we neglected to maintain relations with the leadership of the democratic movement — those who will be important in the days ahead.
By the same token, many in the West are all too concerned about not “rocking the boat” and upsetting the “sensitive relations” with the repressive leaders in Beijing. We need to be on the right side of history and do a much better job in establishing and maintaining good relations with those who work for human rights and democracy — in China itself, as well as in Tibet and East Turkestan [Xinjiang]. The Dalai Lamas and Rebiya Kadeers of this world need to be guests of honor in the White House and presidential offices around the world all the time.
For Taiwan, there is a particularly important role. Under the government of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) it has moved toward “rapprochement” with China, but in the view of many observers, it has been too accommodating and has put insufficient emphasis on democracy and human rights.
Ma recently emphasized in an interview with the Washington Post that he wants US arms sales to proceed in order to negotiate with China “from a position of strength.” While we need to be fully supportive of US arms sales to Taiwan, we must also emphasize that Taiwan’s most important asset is its democracy. That gives it much more “strength” than all the weapon systems combined.
So, in its dealings with China, Taiwan needs to be up front with human rights and democracy, instead of keeping these issues on the back burner or avoiding them altogether. Taiwan can help China best by being much more supportive of China’s democratic movement. Taiwan should warmly welcome the Dalai Lama and World Uyghur Congress president Rebiya Kadeer instead of trying to keep these courageous leaders out.
If and when a monumental change takes place in China, as well as in Tibet and East Turkestan, we need to be able to say that we were on the right side of history. We need to be able to say that we helped push in the right direction. Taiwan has a proud history of democratic change. That needs to be held up as an example for China to follow.
Nat Bellocchi is a former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan and a special adviser to the Liberty Times Group. The views expressed in this article are his own.
The conflict in the Middle East has been disrupting financial markets, raising concerns about rising inflationary pressures and global economic growth. One market that some investors are particularly worried about has not been heavily covered in the news: the private credit market. Even before the joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, global capital markets had faced growing structural pressure — the deteriorating funding conditions in the private credit market. The private credit market is where companies borrow funds directly from nonbank financial institutions such as asset management companies, insurance companies and private lending platforms. Its popularity has risen since
The Donald Trump administration’s approach to China broadly, and to cross-Strait relations in particular, remains a conundrum. The 2025 US National Security Strategy prioritized the defense of Taiwan in a way that surprised some observers of the Trump administration: “Deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority.” Two months later, Taiwan went entirely unmentioned in the US National Defense Strategy, as did military overmatch vis-a-vis China, giving renewed cause for concern. How to interpret these varying statements remains an open question. In both documents, the Indo-Pacific is listed as a second priority behind homeland defense and
In an op-ed published in Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said that Taiwan should not have to choose between aligning with Beijing or Washington, and advocated for cooperation with Beijing under the so-called “1992 consensus” as a form of “strategic ambiguity.” However, Cheng has either misunderstood the geopolitical reality and chosen appeasement, or is trying to fool an international audience with her doublespeak; nonetheless, it risks sending the wrong message to Taiwan’s democratic allies and partners. Cheng stressed that “Taiwan does not have to choose,” as while Beijing and Washington compete, Taiwan is strongest when
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) are expected to meet this month in Paris to prepare for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). According to media reports, the two sides would discuss issues such as the potential purchase of Boeing aircraft by China, increasing imports of US soybeans and the latest impacts of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs. However, recent US military action against Iran has added uncertainty to the Trump-Xi summit. Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) called the joint US-Israeli airstrikes and the
RSS