As Taiwan did a good job in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic, most Taiwanese — aside from those were diagnosed with the disease — were free to go to the polling stations on Nov. 26 to vote in the nine-in-one local elections.
In contrast, across the Taiwan Strait, dissatisfaction with the Chinese government’s harsh “zero COVID” policy spawned a “Blank Paper Movement” across the nation. Demonstrators chanted slogans calling for Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to step down. Clamoring for democracy and freedom of speech, some protesters were heard chanting: “Give me liberty, or give me death.”
In Taiwan, these appeals are already the fundamental rights of Taiwanese. If the public is dissatisfied with the government, all it needs to do is to vote the governing party out of office. From the Hong Kong protests to the “Blank Paper” protests on the mainland, it is hard to imagine why any Taiwanese would want to become part of China.
In the run-up to the elections, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) promoted the notion that a vote for the party is to “say no” to war and to extending mandatory military service. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that contributed to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) defeat.
Some of my friends, who had never voted before, went to the polls this time, bearing in mind former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) claim that “vote for the DPP and our youth will go war.” This will not be the last time we hear this slogan as the nation gears up for the 2024 presidential election.
Since 1949, the CCP has been employing different strategies — from politic to economics, foreign relations and military power — in its bid to annex Taiwan. This is an issue that the KMT, or any political party in Taiwan, must address. Not content with attacking Taiwan’s performance in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic, the opposition resorted to undermining national defense in its desire to the win the elections.
As Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu (孫子) wrote in The Art of War: “The highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy’s plans; the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces; the next in order is to attack the enemy’s army in the field; and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.”
Without military prowess, economic power and national defense, Taiwan would not have enough bargaining chips to “balk the enemy’s plans” or even negotiate peace with its enemy.
In the movie Captain Phillips, the mighty US Navy refused to negotiate with the pirates. When the pirates boarded the destroyer, they were immediately arrested. This shows that one can only talk with the enemy when one is powerful enough.
Military service extension should not be equated with war, but as a measure to boost military power, so that Taiwan has enough bargaining chips to deter an invasion. This issue not only concerns the governing party, but all Taiwanese. People should not be confounded by a simple, specious statement like “vote for the DPP and our youth will go to war.”
My generation witnessed the Tiananmen Square Massacre, while young people today have seen the protests in Hong Kong and China.
The election is over, and putting aside all the rhetoric and passion that went with it, Taiwanese still have to face up to the issue of “standing up to China, safeguarding Taiwan.” It is high time for the Taiwanese public to take this issue seriously.
Arthur Chang is a navy reserve lieutenant commander.
Translated by Rita Wang
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