Beijing’s efforts to interfere in the politics of neighboring democracies has received a great deal of attention in recent months. From New Zealand and Australia to the United States, it is increasingly apparent that China has invested significant resources in nontraditional areas such as think tanks, academia and media to influence politics of democracies to favor Chinese interests. Yet of those who track this challenge, few have looked to the democracy with the longest record of dealing with interference from Beijing: Taiwan.
Beijing’s efforts to influence Taiwan’s democratic system trace back to the early days of Taiwan’s democracy itself, and especially since Taiwan’s first direct presidential election in 1996. At first, Beijing was direct and primarily sought to influence through intimidation by launching missiles several miles off Taiwan and conducting a simulated amphibious assault exercise. The message from Beijing was clear: a vote for Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) was a vote for war. Yet the United States deployed military forces to the vicinity of Taiwan in a clear display of resolve against Beijing’s saber-rattling. The people of Taiwan proved immune to coercion from Beijing, and Lee Teng-hui became Taiwan’s first democratically elected president.
Four years later, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji (朱鎔基) warned Taiwanese voters that “if the pro-independence force comes into power, it may trigger a war between the two sides of Taiwan Straits and undermine the peace in the region.” Of course, the people of Taiwan ignored Zhu’s threats and elected Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) as president. Clearly, direct intimidation against Taiwan had not worked for Beijing.
Since then, Beijing has adopted a far subtler approach. It uses a set of tools that have been replicated again and again with other democracies, such as economic connectivity and political influence, to advance its agenda. And it has accelerated its influence operations. As described by my Wilson Center colleague Professor Anne-Marie Brady, “in September 2014 Xi Jinping (習近平) gave a speech on the importance of united front work — political influence activities — calling it one of the CCP’s ‘magic weapons.’” For instance, China has sought to infiltrate Australian political and foreign affairs circles, and fears have intensified in Washington that Chinese infrastructure investments could have significant national security implications.
Efforts by Beijing to interfere in the politics of key democracies pose significant challenges. Such actions violate long-standing international norms that emphasize respect for national sovereignty, and are inconsistent with the five principles of peaceful coexistence that Beijing has traditionally touted. Moreover, they strike at the fundamental integrity of our political systems and go beyond the normal bounds of diplomacy. This is a phenomenon that should be taken seriously by democracies around the world, and especially by democracies in the Asia-Pacific who must directly confront an increasingly ambitious and aggressive China. Inoculating democratic systems from Chinese interference efforts is an emerging common challenge for democracies around the world.
Considering the reality that so many democracies face the same challenges associated with Beijing’s efforts to influence their politics, dialogue and coordination among democracies presents an opportunity to enhance relations among like-minded states. Moreover, it presents an opportunity for Taiwan to play an important role in the international community. After all, no other democracy has more experience in dealing with all forms of Beijing’s attempts at political influence than Taiwan.
Such a mechanism could address a wide variety of issues, including intelligence exchanges, sharing lessons learned on efforts to manage Chinese commercial investments, and dialogue about Beijing’s non-traditional approaches to intellectual property theft. It should also include discussions about maintaining liberal ideals of freedom and openness, as each nation would want to avoid policies that lead to discrimination against immigrants from China or people of Chinese dissent.
As China’s geopolitical power continues to expand, and it employs all elements of national power to defend its interests abroad, it makes strategic sense for the world’s democracies — especially those in East Asia — to work together. While most have rightly focused on economic and military aspects of this competition, the world’s democracies would be remiss if they fail to work with one another to address Beijing’s influence initiatives.
Abraham M. Denmark directs the Asia program at the Woodrow Wilson International Scholars. The views expressed are his own.
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