Washington’s strategy should not fixate on counterbalancing China. Instead, defending Taiwan’s democracy should be among its priorities.
The ascendency of liberal democracy, having been recognized as the best form of government that humans have thus far achieved, seems unquestioned by those of the contemporary world.
However, democracy and its pre-eminence — such as, elections, government transparency and human rights — can be impaired when under authoritarian attack.
Let history speak for itself: In the 1920s and 1930s, newly born democratic states in Europe experienced social and economic distress when targeted by rising authoritarian governments, such as Benito Mussolini’s Italy, Adolf Hitler’s Germany and Francisco Franco’s Spain.
These non-democratic regimes in interwar Europe shared the same goal of diffusing authoritarian ideology, which was predicated on the use of violence or the threat of employing force to contain the spread of democracy.
The key takeaway is that the impact on democratic progress can be flagrant when authoritarian regimes are too powerful. The same would likely happen if great powers’ support for democracies became slim. Put differently, if not bolstered by advocates of liberal democracy, democracies could be overturned or experience severe damage. Defending democracies against authoritarian assertiveness requires strong political will and cooperation among major powers.
When juxtaposed with European democracies — such as the UK, Germany and France — Taiwan is a young democracy with political reforms adopted since the late 1980s. To Taiwanese, democracy refers to a struggle that cost blood and tears. The success of democracy in Taiwan teaches the cost of fighting for it and the necessity of defending it.
Taiwan’s success at transforming itself from an authoritarian regime to a democratic government has impressed the international community. “The public strongly supports democracy in principle, and by and large approves the island’s system in practice,” wrote Richard Bush, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center for East Asia Policy Studies, referring to Taiwan’s democracy.
Freedom House’s Freedom in the World report this year ranked Taiwan as the second-freest country in Asia and seventh worldwide, hailing Taiwan for its “vibrant and competitive democratic system.”
The report added that “an increasingly aggressive regime in China” has attempted to escalate “its campaign to sway global opinion against Taiwan’s government and deny the success of its democracy.”
Taiwan’s democracy is being threatened by China’s rising aggression. While China potentially using force to annex Taiwan is often discussed, Beijing’s intimidation of Taiwan’s diplomatic freedom is escalating. The People’s Republic of China has used its clout to demand that international businesses refer to Taiwan as a “province of China.” China’s behavior, without a doubt, has aimed to isolate Taiwan from the global community.
As aptly put by Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, China has employed “a vast array of coercive tools” to undermine Taiwanese’s confidence in their government.
Beijing’s efforts to limit Taiwan’s political and economic outreach could weaken Taiwan’s democracy. China is testing the political will of Taiwan and liberal democratic powers alike, including the US. The question is, how has Washington reacted to China’s coercive behavior?
Last month, when referring to Article 5 of the NATO charter, US President Joe Biden appeared to suggest that the US would defend Taiwan if it were attacked, but a senior official in the Biden administration quickly backtracked and said: “Our policy with regard to Taiwan has not changed.”
The long-held US position of “strategic ambiguity” toward Taiwan remains unchanged.
Strategic ambiguity might give the US an advantage when tensions cloud the Taiwan Strait or leave it with greater leeway when negotiating with Beijing, but the stance might do more harm than good if perceived by China as a concession. Washington’s ambiguity has left the door ajar to Beijing’s coercive actions toward Taiwan. In the long run, uncertainty does little to help Taiwan navigate the current crisis, which demands a stronger stance and decisive action from the US.
To be clear, at the beginning of the 21st century, few politicians and pundits saw the danger that Beijing could pose to Hong Kong, but China took advantage of its growing power to tighten its control on the territory. When the China threat came to Hong Kong’s doorstep, major global powers failed to prevent the crisis. Instead, the US and Western powers were quick to “name and shame” China, but Beijing was astute to turn the Hong Kong crisis into the status quo.
The Biden administration should learn Hong Kong’s lessons well. When the Taiwan Strait crisis explodes, the collapse of Taiwan could spill over into the Asia-Pacific region. As argued by Elbridge Colby, US deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development in the administration of former US president Donald Trump, Beijing’s successful invasion of Taiwan would send a message to other Asian countries about China’s dominance in the region.
The contagion of China’s authoritarianism from Hong Kong to Taiwan would also decry the legitimacy of a US liberal hegemony — that is, the US’ mission to spread liberal values worldwide and protect democracies from authoritarian regimes.
Brookings Institution senior fellow Robert Kagan has said that the US has sought to support democracy — sometimes to uphold universal principles, but often for strategic reasons.
Globally accepted principles and strategic calculations are the US’ interests when it comes to defending Taiwan’s democracy.
Taiwan has sought to make its liberal democracy sustainable, which is in line with the efforts of other democratic nations. Taiwan has sought a global alliance of democracies to uphold freedom, the rule of law, human rights and space for dissent, and engaged in international fora to share its vibrant democratic practices.
Taiwan, Japan and South Korea constitute a democratic triangle in East Asia. Geopolitically, Taiwan physically anchors the “first island chain,” a deterrent to China’s maritime aggression. Taiwan is a “sea fortress” against China’s expansionism into the Pacific, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) has said.
The US’ Taiwan strategy has slowly but surely made a quantum leap. Yet Washington could produce a new turn in recognizing the importance of Taiwan’s democracy, such as by inviting President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to its virtual “Summit for Democracy” in December. Taiwan is well-suited to participate, as the summit says it is to focus on “challenges and opportunities facing democracies, and will provide a platform for leaders to make both individual and collective commitments to defend democracy and human rights at home and abroad.”
The US’ undertaking of a determined posture, such as sending an invitation to Taiwan, would be a sublime signal toward supporting Taiwan’s democracy.
Huynh Tam Sang is an international relations lecturer and research fellow at the Center for International Studies at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
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