Liberal democracy and communist autocracy are at the initial stages of a historic battle.
Taipei has chosen its side in this fight and has sought to frame “cross-strait relations” as an international issue, while Beijing says that Taiwan is an “internal issue” and a hangover from the Chinese Civil War.
Taiwan’s status as a nation has new clarity and the international community is beginning to defend Taiwan’s democracy.
The Washington Post has praised Taiwan’s diplomatic achievements and Australian Minister for Defence Peter Dutton has said that it would be inconceivable for Australia not to join Taiwan and the US in a conflict with China.
NBA player Enes Kanter has recorded a video in which he urged people to “stand with Taiwan” and “support democracy,” and has worn sneakers embossed with the message: “Taiwan belongs to the Taiwanese people.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is returning China to the evils of communism: suppressing domestic dissent and riding roughshod over international norms, expanding Chinese hegemony, and issuing propaganda and rattling sabers as he seeks to annex Taiwan. This has allowed the international community to appreciate that Taiwan does not belong to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and has elicited more support for Taiwan.
While Taiwan’s diplomatic successes are setbacks for China, they are much more so for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and its muddleheaded nationalism. Former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) viewed the Taiwan Strait crises as international affairs, and instructed those within his party to oppose the PRC and defend the “democracy camp.”
Since then, the KMT has adopted an anti-Japanese and anti-US stance, and fallen headfirst into the “one China” trap, which views Taiwan as an unclaimed prize from the Chinese Civil War.
Retired army major general Yu Pei-chen (于北辰), a loyal Chiang disciple and the last gunslinger against the PRC within the KMT, has been accused of being a “Chinese independence” advocate, of wanting to save China from the Chinese Communist Party, and has received death threats from Chinese nationalists in Taiwan and China.
At the other end of the spectrum is retired air force general Hsia Ying-chou (夏瀛洲), who traveled to Beijing to attend a speech by Xi. Laying bare a corollary of the so-called “1992 consensus,” Hsia said Chinese warplanes “had the authority” to patrol Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
Chiang’s White Terror era left Taiwan with scars, but he did not want the nation to be swallowed up by the PRC. Chiang urged the Taiwan-China dispute to be considered an international issue. It is ironic that the spiritual successors to Chiang’s anti-PRC stance can today be found in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the KMT’s archnemesis.
In her Double Ten National Day address this year, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) noted that the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan is 72 years old, the same age as the PRC, and said that the two should not be subordinate to one another.
Tsai’s words recall Chiang’s declarations of the ROC’s independence and his defense of the nation’s sovereignty. She has placed Taiwan in the “democratic camp” and made the Taiwan-China dispute an international issue.
Tsai’s clarity regarding Taiwan’s international status has persuaded other nations to back Taiwan. In contrast with the KMT’s civil-war mindset, the DPP’s position conforms to international law, as well as the reality of the situation. Continued internationalization will bring Taiwan prizes, while a Chinese Civil War mindset will bring disaster.
James Wang is a media commentator.
Translated by Edward Jones
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
RSS