Early on Sunday morning, Taipei welcomed three US senators on a brief stopover during a tour of the Indo-Pacific region. Although Tammy Duckworth, Dan Sullivan and Chris Coons were only in Taiwan for about three hours, their presence made an outsized impact, as they appeared to personally announce a US donation of 750,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to help Taiwan reach the other side of the pandemic.
While some, including a reporter at a Central Epidemic Command Center news conference on Sunday, have said the amount was small compared with expectations, it is actually a significant contribution and a resounding gesture of friendship from one of Taiwan’s biggest supporters. The donation is part of the first 25 million doses Washington is distributing around the world, with another 55 million expected by the end of this month. As a world leader in vaccine production and international aid, the US has an obligation to fairly allocate limited supplies to help nations vaccinate their populations to put an end to the pandemic.
About 7 million doses were set aside for Asia in this first tranche, meaning that Taiwan is receiving more than 10 percent — certainly a significant number, especially compared with the populations of other recipient nations. Yet as an even greater gesture, the three US senators chose to fly to Taiwan to personally announce the donation. What other nation can claim the same?
The donations from the US and Japan, which last week generously gave Taiwan 1.24 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, are unequivocal gestures of friendship, offering Taiwanese “yet another example of how democracies work together to help one another,” as Duckworth said during her visit.
This kind of tangible assistance from overseas friends is especially important to demonstrate to Taiwanese, as Beijing redoubles efforts to sow division through vaccine deals.
Early in the outbreak, there were attempts to foment discontent around the government’s refusal to import Chinese vaccines. Even the BBC joined the fray with a May 28 headline claiming that “Taiwan must choose between virus and politics,” framing the decision as a choice between public health and China, as though no other vaccines existed.
Imagine if the government had continued to refuse Chinese vaccines, yet also received little to no aid from its purported friends. These weak attempts at division would have gained traction, lending credence to the false narrative that Taiwan’s only choices are between survival and absorption, as its friends would not come to its aid in times of need.
This lends weight to a growing call among US experts to discard Washington’s decades-long policy of “strategic ambiguity” toward Taiwan in favor of clear commitments. As US Center for Strategic and International Studies senior associate Robert Wang (王曉岷), a former deputy director of the American Institute in Taiwan, says in this month’s Foreign Service Journal, Beijing’s goal is to intimidate and fuel doubts about US commitments to Taiwan to isolate and undermine morale.
“As the people of Taiwan sense a relatively weakened US commitment, many more will succumb to Chinese pressures and seek a cross-strait compromise that does not reflect their own values and interests, but their fears,” Wang wrote.
This puts the onus on Washington to make it clear to Taiwanese that it would “have your backs” through strong moves such as committing to defend Taiwan, inviting Taipei to its planned Summit for Democracy, signing a trade agreement, and donating vaccines. Taiwanese can therefore rest assured that these boldly publicized donations are not just a drop in the bucket, but symbols of its friends’ determination to ensure that Taiwan can decide its fate on its own terms.
Speaking at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on May 13, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that democracies must remain united and that “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism.” Earlier that day, Tsai had met with a group of Danish parliamentarians led by Danish Parliament Speaker Pia Kjaersgaard, who has visited Taiwan many times, most recently in November last year, when she met with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office. Kjaersgaard had told Lai: “I can assure you that ... you can count on us. You can count on our support
Denmark has consistently defended Greenland in light of US President Donald Trump’s interests and has provided unwavering support to Ukraine during its war with Russia. Denmark can be proud of its clear support for peoples’ democratic right to determine their own future. However, this democratic ideal completely falls apart when it comes to Taiwan — and it raises important questions about Denmark’s commitment to supporting democracies. Taiwan lives under daily military threats from China, which seeks to take over Taiwan, by force if necessary — an annexation that only a very small minority in Taiwan supports. Denmark has given China a
Many local news media over the past week have reported on Internet personality Holger Chen’s (陳之漢) first visit to China between Tuesday last week and yesterday, as remarks he made during a live stream have sparked wide discussions and strong criticism across the Taiwan Strait. Chen, better known as Kuan Chang (館長), is a former gang member turned fitness celebrity and businessman. He is known for his live streams, which are full of foul-mouthed and hypermasculine commentary. He had previously spoken out against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and criticized Taiwanese who “enjoy the freedom in Taiwan, but want China’s money”
A high-school student surnamed Yang (楊) gained admissions to several prestigious medical schools recently. However, when Yang shared his “learning portfolio” on social media, he was caught exaggerating and even falsifying content, and his admissions were revoked. Now he has to take the “advanced subjects test” scheduled for next month. With his outstanding performance in the general scholastic ability test (GSAT), Yang successfully gained admissions to five prestigious medical schools. However, his university dreams have now been frustrated by the “flaws” in his learning portfolio. This is a wake-up call not only for students, but also teachers. Yang did make a big
RSS