China wants to strangle Taiwan with its “one China” principle and all kinds of dirty tricks, and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government is raising its response level.
In addition to strengthening national defense, the government has stressed that there is one nation on each side of the Taiwan Strait and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a news release said that “Taiwan is Taiwan” — a reflection of a Taiwan-centered point of view.
China has coerced international airlines into changing Taiwan’s name on their Web sites. After most of the airlines succumbed to its bullying, Beijing deluded itself that it had won a victory.
However, the gains made from such a petty move do not outweigh the losses and it will do nothing to change Taiwan’s sovereign status.
Whether foreign airlines are allowed to fly to Taiwan is decided by Taiwan, not China. China’s arrogance will only lead to resentment in the rest of the world.
In response to China’s hegemonic and domineering behavior, what really matters is the position that other nations — and above all Taiwan and its important allies — will take.
The US is resolutely opposed to Beijing’s actions, and while it has said that China should not use Orwellian language to interfere in the operations of private companies, what that actually means is that the US is rejecting China’s use of political language to annex Taiwan.
The language that the ministry, which has always taken a conservative attitude, has adopted this time is firm and in line with the ideals of the Taiwan-centered camp.
“[Taiwan] does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Chinese government. Taiwan is a democratic nation,” the ministry said.
It did not use the term “cross-strait,” but called the other side of the Taiwan Strait “China,” and the phrases “the Chinese government” and “the Taiwanese government” appeared in the same paragraph.
It would of course have been more precise if the statement that “Taiwan is Taiwan” was followed by “China is China,” and the statement that Taiwan “does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Chinese government” was changed into “Taiwan’s sovereignty does not belong to China.”
However, the overall description that “Taiwan is a democratic nation” comes very close to making a clean break from China and in effect has the significance of declaring sovereignty and rectifying the nation’s name.
China has not changed its hegemonic ambitions and keeps poaching Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.
In a statement addressing the situation, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) called the other party “China” rather than “Mainland China.”
This ministry’s statement moved even further away from the idea of “one China” and Taiwan’s annexation by China, and by doing so, it has confirmed the legitimacy of Taiwan as a democratic nation.
The ministry, which once insisted on using the term “visiting China” when receiving foreign guests, has clearly stated that “Taiwan is Taiwan.”
Taiwanese who are opposed to being annexed by China should give the ministry a standing ovation.
James Wang is a media commentator.
Translated by Lin Lee-kai
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