Beijing has always blamed Taiwan for the cross-strait stalemate, calling it a "troublemaker." A clear case of the pot calling the kettle black, as a few solid examples will show.
China has been bent on coercing Taiwan to accept the "one China" principle, refusing to deal with Taipei unless it bows to one China. Beijing tries to block everything Taiwan does -- from participation in international organizations to foreign aid programs to disaster relief donations -- unless it wears the one China dunce's hat. Many countries find such behavior repulsive, but most of them are willing to compromise with Beijing for fear of ruffling its feathers. But the US House of Representative's International Relations Committee unanimously passed a resolution yesterday, requiring Secretary of State Colin Powell to"initiate a United States plan to endorse and obtain observer status for Taiwan" at the annual summit of the World Health Organization in May. Taiwan could have long been a WHO member if not for China's blocking its entry. Shutting a country out of a non-political organization like the WHO is a flagrant violation of human rights. Exactly who is politicizing issues and making trouble here is very clear.
Taiwan is a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. But China has been trying to apply political pressure to block Taiwan's leaders from attending the APEC leaders' summit in Shanghai in October. If the chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) can attend the summit, why can't Taiwan's president have the same rights as other heads of state? On its English-language APEC Web site, Beijing calls Taiwan an "island province," proclaiming that "since 1949, the government of the People's Republic of China has claimed jurisdiction over Chinese Taipei." Beijing is using its host status to make statements that violate APEC rules. Who exactly is the troublemaker?
Cross-strait visits by officials from the two sides have become quite common. While visiting China, Taiwan officials have never fussed about seeing China's flag or Mao Zedong's
Hong Kong rolled out the red carpet for Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou
Beijing's contemptible behavior is that of a schoolyard bully, a petty tyrant.
If Beijing has any real self-confidence, it would treat Taiwan on an equal and open basis, and try to win the hearts of the people of Taiwan. Bully tactics, threats and troublemaking only serves to push Taiwan further away from China.
There are moments in history when America has turned its back on its principles and withdrawn from past commitments in service of higher goals. For example, US-Soviet Cold War competition compelled America to make a range of deals with unsavory and undemocratic figures across Latin America and Africa in service of geostrategic aims. The United States overlooked mass atrocities against the Bengali population in modern-day Bangladesh in the early 1970s in service of its tilt toward Pakistan, a relationship the Nixon administration deemed critical to its larger aims in developing relations with China. Then, of course, America switched diplomatic recognition
The international women’s soccer match between Taiwan and New Zealand at the Kaohsiung Nanzih Football Stadium, scheduled for Tuesday last week, was canceled at the last minute amid safety concerns over poor field conditions raised by the visiting team. The Football Ferns, as New Zealand’s women’s soccer team are known, had arrived in Taiwan one week earlier to prepare and soon raised their concerns. Efforts were made to improve the field, but the replacement patches of grass could not grow fast enough. The Football Ferns canceled the closed-door training match and then days later, the main event against Team Taiwan. The safety
The National Immigration Agency on Tuesday said it had notified some naturalized citizens from China that they still had to renounce their People’s Republic of China (PRC) citizenship. They must provide proof that they have canceled their household registration in China within three months of the receipt of the notice. If they do not, the agency said it would cancel their household registration in Taiwan. Chinese are required to give up their PRC citizenship and household registration to become Republic of China (ROC) nationals, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. He was referring to Article 9-1 of the Act
Strategic thinker Carl von Clausewitz has said that “war is politics by other means,” while investment guru Warren Buffett has said that “tariffs are an act of war.” Both aphorisms apply to China, which has long been engaged in a multifront political, economic and informational war against the US and the rest of the West. Kinetically also, China has launched the early stages of actual global conflict with its threats and aggressive moves against Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan, and its support for North Korea’s reckless actions against South Korea that could reignite the Korean War. Former US presidents Barack Obama
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