Faced with two great powers — the US and China — some people in Taiwan say: “It is hard to be a small country between two big ones.”
These people advocate “equidistant diplomacy” as a survival strategy. However, this fancy argument cannot deceive people who have at least some sense of right and wrong, and who support the idea of Taiwan as a sovereign state.
If China recognized Taiwan’s national status and had no ambition to annex it, it would make more sense to advocate “equidistant diplomacy.” However, China’s intention to annex Taiwan is written clearly in its constitution and its “Anti-Secession” Law, along with its frequent intimidation and saber-rattling.
This is what gangsters do and to accept being extorted by gangsters would mean going back to the law of the jungle.
After the end of World War II, the US earned the title of “the world’s policeman” by using its monetary and military strengths to safeguard the ideas of democracy and freedom, and to prevent communist expansion and aggression. The communist world called the US “imperialist,” but the US did not invade Cuba, which is on its doorstep, or annex Taiwan, which Japan abandoned after the war. From Taiwan’s point of view, the US is a policeman, not a gangster.
Although the US cut diplomatic ties with the Republic of China in 1979, it immediately enacted the Taiwan Relations Act. While the US has not recognized Taiwan as a nation, the way it applies the law treats it as such. The US provides Taiwan with weapons for its self defense and promises to ensure its security.
Faced with the Chinese gangster and the US policeman, it is clear which choice Taiwan should make.
Taiwan can show goodwill and avoid provoking the gangster, but it would be unreasonable to maintain an equidistant relationship between the gangster and the policeman, as if there were no difference between good and evil.
The post-war international order is dominated by the US and the US clearly knows that, according to the Treaty of San Francisco — the document that officially and legally ended the Pacific War — Taiwan’s status is undetermined.
This means that the US and other signatories did not recognize China’s claim of sovereignty over Taiwan.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime, in its own selfish interest, did not dare remind the signatories about the treaty’s terms regarding Taiwan’s status or insist that Taiwanese have the right to decide their own future. It just held on to Taiwan while playing a zero-sum game with China.
The Democratic Progressive Party government should change the tune by reminding the 49 signatories about its provisions regarding Taiwan’s status, as well as Taiwan’s democratization.
To become a normal country, Taiwan should stand on the side of the policeman and the law, rather than letting itself be recruited by a gangster.
James Wang is a media commentator.
Translated by Lin Lee-kai
Is a new foreign partner for Taiwan emerging in the Middle East? Last week, Taiwanese media reported that Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) secretly visited Israel, a country with whom Taiwan has long shared unofficial relations but which has approached those relations cautiously. In the wake of China’s implicit but clear support for Hamas and Iran in the wake of the October 2023 assault on Israel, Jerusalem’s calculus may be changing. Both small countries facing literal existential threats, Israel and Taiwan have much to gain from closer ties. In his recent op-ed for the Washington Post, President William
Taiwan-India relations appear to have been put on the back burner this year, including on Taiwan’s side. Geopolitical pressures have compelled both countries to recalibrate their priorities, even as their core security challenges remain unchanged. However, what is striking is the visible decline in the attention India once received from Taiwan. The absence of the annual Diwali celebrations for the Indian community and the lack of a commemoration marking the 30-year anniversary of the representative offices, the India Taipei Association and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center, speak volumes and raise serious questions about whether Taiwan still has a coherent India
A stabbing attack inside and near two busy Taipei MRT stations on Friday evening shocked the nation and made headlines in many foreign and local news media, as such indiscriminate attacks are rare in Taiwan. Four people died, including the 27-year-old suspect, and 11 people sustained injuries. At Taipei Main Station, the suspect threw smoke grenades near two exits and fatally stabbed one person who tried to stop him. He later made his way to Eslite Spectrum Nanxi department store near Zhongshan MRT Station, where he threw more smoke grenades and fatally stabbed a person on a scooter by the roadside.
Recent media reports have again warned that traditional Chinese medicine pharmacies are disappearing and might vanish altogether within the next 15 years. Yet viewed through the broader lens of social and economic change, the rise and fall — or transformation — of industries is rarely the result of a single factor, nor is it inherently negative. Taiwan itself offers a clear parallel. Once renowned globally for manufacturing, it is now best known for its high-tech industries. Along the way, some businesses successfully transformed, while others disappeared. These shifts, painful as they might be for those directly affected, have not necessarily harmed society
RSS