China’s military capability and its ambition to become the dominant world power are rising along with its rapid economic development. The Belt and Road Initiative is a major component of its development strategy.
China regards Taiwan as a vital part of developing its hegemonic power, and as a result, it is continually increasing its military intimidation and its suppression of Taiwan in the international community.
Beijing’s threat to Taiwan’s international status and national security is growing by the day.
Similarly, based on its own national interests, the US proposed the Indo-Pacific strategy to curb China’s expansionist ambitions, and introduced legislation to enhance its ties with Taiwan — a continuation of former US president Ronald Reagan’s six assurances — the Taiwan Travel Act and the National Defense Authorization Act.
US Representative Dana Rohrabacher has also proposed a bill calling on the US government to resume formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
There is a reason behind the call for the US to establish formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan: In 2016, John Bolton, who is now US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, proposed that the US gradually move toward the establishment of formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Judging from the substantial scale of the new American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) compound, which opened last month, and its staff and facilities, the US-Taiwan relationship has been greatly enhanced.
Trump also addressed President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) as “the president of Taiwan” during a telephone call after his election, has appointed Taiwan-friendly politicians to high-ranking positions and signed the Taiwan Travel Act into law.
Through these concrete actions, he has made it clear that the US strategy is one of bolstering ties with Taiwan and helping enhance its international status.
However, as these drastic strategic changes are happening in the world, the Taiwan-centric government has chosen to “maintain the status quo” instead of coming up with concrete measures to substantially improve the nation’s international status.
Perhaps the top leadership is concerned with higher political subtleties that prevent them from taking action, but at the very least, the official title for the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US could be changed to “Taiwan Institute in America.”
This would comply with the principle of reciprocity by corresponding with the official title of the US representative office in Taiwan, similar to the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association, which operates the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan.
Looking back at the past 400 years, today presents perhaps the final, but also the best, chance for Taiwanese to establish their own nation.
Hopefully the Democratic Progressive Party administration — which controls the presidency as well as the legislature and the Cabinet — would adopt a more proactive attitude and mindset to take advantage of the rapidly changing international situation, which remains favorable the establishment of Taiwan as a normal nation.
It could do so not only by working with Taiwan’s allies internationally, but also by making preparations for the normalization of the nation’s status domestically.
When the time is right, Taiwan must be ready to seize the opportunity and achieve the goal of establishing a Taiwanese nation.
Pan Wei-yiu is the secretary-general of the Northern Taiwan Society.
Translated by Chang Ho-ming.
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment on Friday last week to add four national holidays and make Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors — a move referred to as “four plus one.” The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who used their combined legislative majority to push the bill through its third reading, claim the holidays were chosen based on their inherent significance and social relevance. However, in passing the amendment, they have stuck to the traditional mindset of taking a holiday just for the sake of it, failing to make good use of
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
RSS