Taiwan, a steadfast soldier in the fight against authoritarianism, deserves a seat at the US-led virtual Summit for Democracy next month.
Rejuvenating global democracy has been the focus of US President Joe Biden’s foreign policy. His rhetoric on promoting democracy, known as the “Biden doctrine,” has as its core philosophy that contemporary democracies are in a competition to counter non-democratic regimes, such as Russia and China. Biden has pledged that the US would assemble a worldwide network of like-minded nations “to defend democracy globally, to push back authoritarianism’s advance.”
Taiwan’s democracy has gotten Washington’s attention. In the Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, released in March, the US underlined its commitment to “support Taiwan, a leading democracy and a critical economic and security partner.”
In April, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hailed Taiwan as a “vibrant democracy” and “a force for good in the international community.” Six months later, White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated the US’ “rock solid” commitment to Taiwan.
There have been calls to invite Taiwan to Biden’s democracy summit. Blinken once said that he would invite Taiwan, praising the nation’s “democratic success story.” Late last month, US Senator Rick Scott urged the Biden administration to “quickly and publicly” invite Taiwan to the summit as a showcase of the US’ “full and unapologetic support [for Taiwan] in the face of Beijing’s continued attempts at intimidation and threats of takeover.”
Taiwan deserves to participate in the summit on Dec. 9 and 10. The archipelago is a young but vibrant democracy. In Freedom House’s most recent Freedom in the World report, Taiwan was ranked the second-freest country in Asia and the seventh-freest globally. In an article penned for Foreign Affairs, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) underlined that Taiwan “has an important part to play in strengthening global democracy.”
While Taiwan’s successful democratization shows the world the burning desire that Taiwanese have for freedom and democracy, that democracy cost the blood, sweat and tears of millions of Taiwanese. Hence, the de facto nation is well-aware of its mission to defend that hard-won democracy.
As the “father of Taiwan’s democracy,” former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), said: “Taiwan’s existence and development is a unique case in the history of international relations; therefore, its status must be viewed from its realistic contributions to the world, rather than from the traditional perspectives of international law.”
Despite being a relatively young democracy, Taiwan has consistently committed itself to globally recognized values, such as liberal democracy, human rights and religious freedom. For example, Taiwan was the first nation in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, leading with a big step toward “true equality” and a major step toward eliminating sexual discrimination.
Taiwan’s experiences from transitioning to a democracy and its competence at navigating authoritarian tactics could benefit other free societies. Also, as democratic countries wrestle with safeguarding liberal democracy at home while restricting freedoms due to COVID-19, Taiwan has excelled as a model of keeping the pandemic in check without sacrificing democracy. Bringing to the summit Taiwan’s experiential knowledge and expertise at dealing with Chinese aggression could add strategies that democratic nations are likely to need.
As Biden has stressed an “inflection point” where democracy would and should prevail over autocracy, Taiwan seems to be a factor that could decisively determine who the winner is at the end of the war for democratic progress.
Unfortunately, Taiwan has been a target of authoritarian China. Beijing has stepped up its diplomatic, economic and military pressure on Taiwan, while echoing the possibility of resorting to military force to “unify” with Taiwan. China’s coercion aims to subdue Taiwan, which is engaged on the front lines as it bolsters its democracy and pushes back against Beijing’s interference. China’s ambitious goal of bringing Taiwan to its knees should not be brushed aside.
The presence of Taiwan — one of Asia’s most successful democracies — at the summit would likely anger Beijing. In August, China’s Global Times said that Tsai’s attendance would lead to Beijing enacting “resolute measures” to defend its “one China” principle, and that China would “respond more intensely than it did in 1995,” referring to its reaction to then-president Lee Teng-hui’s visit to the US.
However, how does China gain traction with its pervasive attacks on human rights, ranging from “an Orwellian high-tech surveillance state,” as Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth said when launching the organization’s World Report last year, to the global censorship imposed on Hong Kong and countries such as Taiwan, Australia, Canada, the UK and the US?
This year’s Freedom in the World report said that “China’s authoritarian regime has become increasingly repressive in recent years,” with “a multiyear crackdown” on human rights inside and outside the country.
“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has mounted an ideological insurgency against democracy by actively promoting an alternative governance model based on centralized control and censorship,” said Patrick Quirk, senior director of the International Republican Institute.
The repression of freedom-loving Hong Kongers and the territory’s democracy heading toward the abyss highlights just how fragile a democracy is if not supported — and unequivocally shows that China has no legitimate right to object to Taiwan’s participation in the democracy summit.
An article in Foreign Policy listed more than 100 leaders that Biden would likely invite; yet, Tsai was missing from the list, raising concern over Washington’s commitment to supporting Taiwan’s democracy.
Biden should be loud and clear in his support of Taiwan. However, while political rhetoric is sexy, actions do speak louder than words. If the liberal hegemony commits to revitalizing democracy, the US must turn the rhetoric into concrete actions by inviting Taiwan to the summit in a formal and public way.
Failing to have Taiwan at next month’s summit would signal a setback in the US’ approach to democracy and its Taiwan policy. China would capitalize on Washington’s mistake by defaming democracy and interpreting Taiwan’s exclusion as a victory for itself.
Even worse, “Taiwan could slide (or be dragged) into a new form of authoritarianism in the future” under the rule of the CCP, as Davidson College East Asian politics professor Shelley Rigger has said. It is worth citing Tsai’s warning: “If Taiwan were to fall, the consequences would be catastrophic for regional peace and the democratic alliance system.”
The US could prevent this dangerous scenario from happening. The fall of Taiwan would likely lead to the collapse of Washington’s credibility and the decay of a liberal international order that has defined international relations since the end of the Cold War.
Instead of ruling out Taiwan’s participation at the summit out of fear of provoking Beijing, the US should value Taiwan’s struggle for democracy and demonstrate its willingness to have Taiwan on board. Inviting Taiwan to the summit is an invaluable opportunity to have Biden’s Taiwan policy “walk the talk.”
Huynh Tam Sang is an international relations lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities and research fellow at the Taiwan NextGen Foundation. Phan Van Tim is a research assistant at Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
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