Americans are not ignorant
I would like to respond to Frankie Leung's recent opinion article ("Taiwan's place in the US Psyche," April 10, page 8). I am disturbed by the exaggerated and sometimes, outright false, stereotypes that he paints of the US.
Among the most outrageous statements are: no American politician would be willing to send troops because they would lose votes; the US cares more for China's markets than Taiwan's freedom; America's protection of Taiwan is mostly a coincidence; Taiwan is for America an unsinkable aircraft carrier and that any attention given Taiwan is due to lobbying efforts.
As an American (indeed of European and Latin American heritage), I am outraged. Leung paints a distressing picture of ignorance and self-centered indulgence.
First, he is incorrect in saying that since most Americans cannot tell the difference between people from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, we are indifferent to Asia. Truthfully, if faced with two people speaking Cantonese and Mandarin, I would not know the difference. Nor would I be able to identify the difference through most Asians' appearance. Do I recognize a difference? Sure. Could I identify that difference? Probably not. By living in Los Angeles, though, Leung should know that appearance is least important in American culture. We are a disparate country of immigrants. We have only two things in common: 1) our Constitution and 2) the "American creed."
Would someone from Taiwan be able to tell the difference between a Russian and a Pole? A German and a Dane? An Hispanic Texan and a Mexican, a Mexican and a Columbian, indeed an American and a Canadian? I doubt it. There are distinct differences but do they matter? Absolutely not. Most Taiwanese probably do not realize that the US is the second largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. Does this mean that Taiwanese are indifferent to America? Of course not.
Second, that no American would be willing to send troops to defend Taiwan is completely offensive. A major part of the American psyche roots for countries that we see as "under-dogs" -- especially when a country is a flourishing democracy faced by a bully like the PRC.
Taking a quick glance at where America has been active over the past decade debunks Leung's proposition: Kuwait, Bosnia, Haiti, Kosovo, Somalia. Each case carried the weight of American deaths. Only in the case of Kuwait could economic factors be argued and then only circuitously. I would also point out that the US parked two aircraft carrier groups off the coast of China during the 1996 Taiwan election, placing thousands in harms way.
America has 30,000 of her citizens in Japan, thousands more in Korea. The US Seventh fleet is on constant vigil there. Our fathers fought in Vietnam, out grandfathers in Korea and World War II. To surmise that parents, children, grandparents are ignorant of an area that may draw their loved ones into a war is, at best, insulting.
Leung hit on one thing correctly, America is war-averse. Would it do everything in its power to avoid one? Yes -- but would that include ceding Taiwan to PRC dominance? No. Taiwan was a major issue in the 2000 presidential campaign. Why? Americans consider Taiwan to be the place with the highest danger of American troops getting into a war. That risk is not that high and the US would be willing to go though contortions to avoid one.
But to say that we would not stand behind an embattled democracy is absurd. I am distressed that Leung has characterized Americans so poorly. The fact that he lives in Los Angeles makes it all the more upsetting. LA is one of the world's most diverse cities. There are seven continents and the US plays an active role on six of them. But to raise the notion that Americans are ignorant of Taiwan and Asia as a whole is, well, ignorant. Ironic.
Kristofer Harrison
Massachusetts, USA
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