Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Wednesday said that China is becoming more like Singapore and added that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) needs to show a “gesture of kindness toward China.” He also said that China is “no longer like North Korea” and that Taiwan should encourage Beijing to “continue progressing toward democracy and freedom.”
These irresponsible, dangerous and ill-informed statements must be addressed one at a time:
First, how is China like Singapore? China’s per capita GDP is 72nd worldwide, while Singapore’s is eighth, according to the IMF.
However, they do rank more closely on press freedom. China ranks 177th worldwide, while Singapore fares slightly better at 151st, according to Reporters Without Borders.
Second, how does Ko intend for China to be compared with North Korea? On the issue of human rights, the two countries are not far off from each other. The most recent report by Human Rights Watch says that human rights conditions have been worsening since Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) took office: As many as 1 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang have been sent to “re-education camps,” lawyers and humans rights advocates have been imprisoned and tortured, religious groups have been persecuted and had their property seized or destroyed, and two Canadians have been charged with “state subversion” after being detained for six months.
The Chinese government has also denied visitation rights to the wife of Taiwanese democracy advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲), who was in March 2017 similarly arrested on “state subversion” charges.
Third, Ko is convinced that China would “continue to democratize” with a little encouragement from Taipei.
That is mind-boggling, given that China refuses to even speak with Tsai’s administration, pressures other countries into barring Taiwan from participation at international events and urges countries to deport Taiwanese suspects to China.
Xi has removed term limits on the Chinese presidency and Beijing has been trying to influence young Taiwanese by offering free or low-cost trips to China, where they are forced to attend lectures on “Xi Jinping Thought,” and threatened that they would be “eliminated” if they reject the “one country, two systems” framework by getting involved in “separatist” activities.
While Ko, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and other politicians are devising plans to establish closer ties with China, the rest of the democratic world is scrutinizing its own relations with Asia’s aspiring hegemon.
Australia has introduced legislation to crack down on those found interfering with its democratic institutions and has barred some Chinese “academics” from entering the country; the US is engaged in a trade spat with China and has barred acquisitions by Chinese companies and the use of Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE products in its telecommunications infrastructure; and Canada has grown weary of China since it began arresting Canadians without fair trial and severing trade deals, seemingly in retaliation for the arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟) on a US extradition warrant.
At a time when the world’s democracies are distancing themselves from China, why would mayors in Taiwan — which has the most to fear from China — be advising the nation’s president and its people that they should seek closer ties with Beijing?
While it might be tolerable to cooperate with China in the South China Sea — as it will not leave the area — and to have trade relations with it, Taiwanese must remain cautious of their bully neighbor.
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