Taiwan today cannot use its true national name. Instead, as a nation, Taiwan is referred to as the Republic of China (ROC). Due to this naming, Taiwan cannot become a normalized country.
Unique in its own way, Taiwan has caused a great impact, not only to itself but also to the world. Particularly in terms of military affairs, 21 issues can be identified that are extremely detrimental to Taiwan and the US.
One of the issues is that US troops cannot be stationed in Taiwan. Before Taiwan can be named properly, it is nominally a part of China.
If US military forces were stationed in Taiwan, China would certainly invade. However, Taiwan has long been an independent nation. The only thing that Taiwan lacks is a proper national name given to its government.
The relationship between the US and Taiwan is not one between nation and nation. As a result, to protect Taiwan, the US can only have its military forces deployed in areas around Taiwan, such as South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and Guam. Taiwan is excluded from US military deployments.
Once Taiwan is called by its proper name, it would become a normal nation and able to sign any pact with the US in its capacity as a nation. Once a nation-to-nation relationship is established, US troops can be officially stationed in Taiwan.
There are more than 20,000 active US military personnel in South Korea, and more than 50,000 in Japan. In Taiwan, the number is only about 200, far fewer than in South Korea and Japan, and they can only be privately deployed.
If a huge number of US troops can be stationed in Taiwan, both Taiwan and the US would benefit greatly. At this point, if a war breaks out, Taiwan can only fight back against China after it is attacked, which means that the nation can never seize the opportunity to strike first.
Moreover, even if Taiwan’s armed forces were able to defeat the enemy, the nation would be attacked and destroyed first, a miserable scenario that no one in the world would wish to see.
The most effective way to confront China is to have a large number of US troops stationed in Taiwan. Only in doing so can Taiwan truly stop Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) schemes.
Taiwan has no choice but to rely entirely on its armed forces, while counting on the US and Japan to confront the Chinese army outside the nation. This would lead to a huge failure. The external forces could not reach the inner battlefield, and Taiwanese forces could only fight alone.
Before the arrival of US military aid, the two battlefields inside and outside Taiwan would be severely disconnected from one another. Taiwan would definitely be in a state of disarray, and China’s collaborators inside Taiwan would exploit the situation and cause more trouble. Xi would become even more arrogant and do whatever he likes. In this case, China would never be deterred.
A hawkish US academic recently published his opinion on Taiwan, analyzing how to cope with China’s aggressions.
Referring to the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States signed in 1933, he believes that Taiwan is a sovereign state, with which the US should sign a mutual defense pact, and US military forces should be deployed in Taiwan.
Using South Korea as an example, he says that although North Korea’s armed forces are much stronger than South Korea’s, North Korea dares not do anything because a powerful US deployment — 28,000 troops — has been stationed in South Korea.
Many believe that Taiwan is a sovereign state. According to Article 1 of the Montevideo Convention: “The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.”
Taiwan is qualified as a sovereign state for its population, territory and diplomatic relations.
However, the government in Taiwan is not one of Taiwan. Instead, it is the government of the ROC, which is a Chinese government, not a Taiwanese government.
A government that corresponds to the nation of Taiwan has yet to come into being. In this sense, Taiwan is not qualified as a sovereign state.
No European state except the Holy See, nor the US or Japan, has officially recognized Taiwan as a nation, and this is evidence that Taiwan is only an autonomous entity at best.
The aforementioned US academic does not know that Taiwan is a unique country, an abnormal nation that cannot sign a pact with the US.
Therefore, US military deployments in Taiwan, which would be significantly beneficial for Taiwan and the US, cannot be put into practice.
Taiwan’s false name yields no good at all. The name “ROC” encourages China to invade while blocking US troops at the door.
Taiwan is in a situation of life and death. At this critical moment, why would the ruling party of Taiwan want to maintain the “status quo” and keep using a false name for the nation?
Lai Fu-shun is a retired professor and founder of the Strait Peace Education Foundation.
Translated by Emma Liu
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