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 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has long been expansionist and contemptuous of international law. Under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the CCP regime has become more despotic, coercive and punitive. As part of its strategy to annex Taiwan, Beijing has sought to erase the island democracy’s international identity by bribing countries to sever diplomatic ties with Taipei. One by one, China has peeled away Taiwan’s remaining diplomatic partners, leaving just 12 countries (mostly small developing states) and the Vatican recognizing Taiwan as a sovereign nation. Taiwan’s formal international space has shrunk dramatically. Yet even as Beijing has scored diplomatic successes, its overreach
For Taiwan, the ongoing US and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets are a warning signal: When a major power stretches the boundaries of self-defense, smaller states feel the tremors first. Taiwan’s security rests on two pillars: US deterrence and the credibility of international law. The first deters coercion from China. The second legitimizes Taiwan’s place in the international community. One is material. The other is moral. Both are indispensable. Under the UN Charter, force is lawful only in response to an armed attack or with UN Security Council authorization. Even pre-emptive self-defense — long debated — requires a demonstrably imminent
Since being re-elected, US President Donald Trump has consistently taken concrete action to counter China and to safeguard the interests of the US and other democratic nations. The attacks on Iran, the earlier capture of deposed of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and efforts to remove Chinese influence from the Panama Canal all demonstrate that, as tensions with Beijing intensify, Washington has adopted a hardline stance aimed at weakening its power. Iran and Venezuela are important allies and major oil suppliers of China, and the US has effectively decapitated both. The US has continuously strengthened its military presence in the Philippines. Japanese Prime
After “Operation Absolute Resolve” to capture former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, the US joined Israel on Saturday last week in launching “Operation Epic Fury” to remove Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his theocratic regime leadership team. The two blitzes are widely believed to be a prelude to US President Donald Trump changing the geopolitical landscape in the Indo-Pacific region, targeting China’s rise. In the National Security Strategic report released in December last year, the Trump administration made it clear that the US would focus on “restoring American pre-eminence in the Western hemisphere,” and “competing with China economically and militarily
RSS