US should recognize Taiwan
This letter is in response to the articles covering the telephone conversation between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and US president-elect Donald Trump.
The time is long overdue for the US to recognize fellow democratic state Taiwan as a free and independent nation. Among US citizens there is no such thing as a “one China” policy.
These are two separate and distinct nations that are home to peoples of Chinese decent and should be treated as such by the US government. The time for choosing trade over political freedom must come to an end. The Republic of China (ROC) was the governing body of China until it was driven out to Taiwan by the Chinese communists. Free nations must never side with slave nations over other free nations.
Further, given China’s trade policies toward the US, there might be no more appropriate time for recognition of Taiwan. It is a real shame that US General Douglas MacArthur was not allowed to drive Chinese out of North Korea (with the help of the ROC Army led by Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).
Let us hope and insist on US recognition of Taiwan and the restoration of its rightful place in the UN.
Joe Bialek
Cleveland, Ohio
Are allies needed?
This is a serious topic and people should be more careful talking about it. These days, a people are saying things that could hurt diplomatic relations and that might be just the outburst of a demagogue or anger.
In the first place, treating international relations as fairy-tale characters relationships is not only unrealistic and deceptive, but counterproductive.
I am not sure that a model of unselfish friendship fits relations between nations. Our daily exchanges with other people are not always free from interests, normally we, knowingly or unknowingly, are looking for something in our interactions.
Demonizing diplomatic allies because they want help or considering their behavior “good” if they ask for help or other nations creating problems because of their relations with Taiwan is crazy.
“If they just want my money, I do not want them,” people say, but with such criteria, there would never be any business transactions.
First, relations are not so simple. Diplomatic allies do not just want money.
Second, wanting help, especially when you are in need, is normal and cannot be demonized. If a nation urgently needs help and its relationship with Taiwan is preventing it from getting that aid, it is normal to look for a way out.
Diplomatic relations are both friendships and businesses, and they are based on an exchange. We need to be realistic and thoughtful about these relations, which involve feelings, needs, negotiations and more.
Taiwan is in a dire predicament in the international arena. If we want to go beyond “Taiwan corporation” as the image of the nation, diplomatic allies are useful to boost claims of sovereignty and independence, and they can also help facilitate high officials (including Tsai) transit in the US, serve as speakers in international organizations and more.
Dumping allies is easy, getting them back is almost impossible.
Before making any rash decisions, we should consider this matter carefully, and evaluate cost and benefits, and the needs of Taiwan to help other nations.
Taiwan spends about NT$10 billion (US$312 million) on overseas development assistance, and the classified foreign affairs budget might be less than NT$1 billion. So the cost of helping allies does not seem so high. Taiwan spends significantly less on foreign aid than South Korea, its main economic rival.
In 2014, South Korea spent US$1.85 billion on overseas development assistance, according to South Korea government data.
Francisco Luis Perez
New Taipei City
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