The "one China" myth
It seems that some time ago a diplomat developed a simple solution to a complex problem. There were two governments each claiming to be the rightful ruler of China. Between the two, the ROC was at one time considered the legitimate government and then the US changed its mind and acknowl-edged the other government. The PRC became the official government of China. That left open an interesting and gray area -- is Taiwan, the territory still governed by the ROC, part of China?
While official US policy states that the US acknowl-edges that Taiwan is a part of China, the US insists that the issue be resolved peacefully. At the same time, the US discour-ages Taiwan from declaring independence.
This leads us to the issue of the divergence between reality and diplomatic talk. A diplomat may make every argument in the world that there is only one China, but that is like arguing that the sky is yellow. There are two Chinas. Or, more properly, one China, one Taiwan.
By every definition, Taiwan is an independent country. It has its own history, culture, military, government, economy and, unlike China, it is a demo-cracy. But because diplomats hate to make people angry (just ask Hitler), they give in to bullies. Therefore the Beijing bullies have made Taiwan the most isolated democracy in the world. If the US had been able to isolate Iraq as well as the Chinese have done with Taiwan, Saddam Hussein would surely have fallen by now.
Why should China get Tai-wan back? Historical ties are certainly not a factor. Taiwan has never been under the PRC's control; it was under Japanese control from the late 19th century until 1945. Otherwise, Britain could argue that the original 13 colonies are still part of the UK.
In reality, the US does treat Taiwan as a separate country. Several things show this. The US sells weapons to Taiwan based on the Taiwan Relations Act. Then there are the visas; Taiwanese have a much easier time getting visas than do the Chinese. Why? Taiwan is more developed. The Taiwanese, unlike the Chinese, are more likely to return and not overstay their visas. Regardless of what the US diplomats say, reality is another matter.
This brings us to the hypocrisy of the US. During the Cold War, the US did not say that West Germany and East Germany were Germany and there was only "one Germany." Taiwan and China were divided for similar reasons as East and West Germany, communist and non-communist.
China is only a bully today because US diplomats do not have the courage to stand up to them. US businesspeople have illusions about fortunes to be earned in China.
It is appalling that we are so hypocritical as to tell a democracy that they can not be free from a country known for its lack of human rights and its military ambitions. Writers of the Declaration of Independence would be appalled, as they decided freedom was important enough for them to take on a superpower.
I implore the American people to end the hypocrisy of "one China" and replace it with "one China, one Taiwan." Could this lead to war? Of course. Freedom is never free.
To quote US president Franklin Roosevelt, "We, and all others who believe in freedom as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live on our knees."
Are we to believe we were willing to defend Western Europe's freedom at any cost yet turn our back on Asia? The only way to prevent aggression is to counter it before it acts.
If we declare Taiwan free, and make a treaty with it before China can react, it would be better than waiting for Beijing to attack first before being forced into a major war. If China gets Taiwan back, the US will lose a reliable ally in Asia and China will have replaced the US in Asia.
So I say, "one China, one Taiwan." Let us speak what the reality is. And if the people of Taiwan eventually want to reunite into a "one China," that is for them to decide.
Stephen Marler
Oviedo, Florida
Because much of what former US president Donald Trump says is unhinged and histrionic, it is tempting to dismiss all of it as bunk. Yet the potential future president has a populist knack for sounding alarums that resonate with the zeitgeist — for example, with growing anxiety about World War III and nuclear Armageddon. “We’re a failing nation,” Trump ranted during his US presidential debate against US Vice President Kamala Harris in one particularly meandering answer (the one that also recycled urban myths about immigrants eating cats). “And what, what’s going on here, you’re going to end up in World War
Earlier this month in Newsweek, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to retake the territories lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. He stated: “If it is for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t [the PRC] take back the lands occupied by Russia that were signed over in the treaty of Aigun?” This was a brilliant political move to finally state openly what many Chinese in both China and Taiwan have long been thinking about the lost territories in the Russian far east: The Russian far east should be “theirs.” Granted, Lai issued
On Tuesday, President William Lai (賴清德) met with a delegation from the Hoover Institution, a think tank based at Stanford University in California, to discuss strengthening US-Taiwan relations and enhancing peace and stability in the region. The delegation was led by James Ellis Jr, co-chair of the institution’s Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region project and former commander of the US Strategic Command. It also included former Australian minister for foreign affairs Marise Payne, influential US academics and other former policymakers. Think tank diplomacy is an important component of Taiwan’s efforts to maintain high-level dialogue with other nations with which it does
On Sept. 2, Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal called “The US and Taiwan Must Change Course” that defends his position that the US and Taiwan are not doing enough to deter the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from taking Taiwan. Colby is correct, of course: the US and Taiwan need to do a lot more or the PRC will invade Taiwan like Russia did against Ukraine. The US and Taiwan have failed to prepare properly to deter war. The blame must fall on politicians and policymakers
RSS