On tuesday last week President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) expressed her concern and sympathy via a post on social media platform X to those affected by serious flooding in northern China in the wake of Typhoon Doksuri. Later, the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) leadership, the Mainland Affairs Council and the Straits Exchange Foundation also offered their sympathy to people affected by the disaster.
The next day, the Presidential Office announced that it would be glad to provide assistance to the Chinese side. This series of warm words was a collective political action based on a consensus, and thus attracted much attention.
In recent years, cross-strait relations have been frozen due to China’s military threats, and a warm greeting is rare. Why did Tsai take the initiative to display humanitarianism this time? The greeting, which was on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) “Army Day” (建軍節), during which, as expected, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) administration showed off its military strength, drew a sharp contrast between Taiwan and China.
Starting on the morning of Tuesday last week, the PLA sent 10 warships and five warplanes to harass the waters and airspace around Taiwan, and all the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) mouthpieces also broadcast a propaganda video for the 96th anniversary of the founding of the PLA. The propaganda video featured a special report on the remarks made by Xi — who is chairman of the CCP’s Central Military Commission — to the PLA Air Force during his visit to China’s western war zone on July 26, when he told the PLA to promote the modernization of the military, overall combat capabilities and leaders’ ability in war preparation. While Chinese were flooded, the elite of the CCP continued to talk prominently to the world, displaying a hostile attitude.
After Tsai sent her greeting in simplified Chinese characters to the Chinese side, the DPP government quickly followed her.
First, such goodwill might cool hostility, as Tsai took concrete actions to ease tensions and help foster peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, with the expectation that this would boost the legitimacy of democratic Taiwan.
Second, this is also a chance for Taiwan to show the world how it deals with Chinese hostility in a civilized way and under pressure, proving that US and global military aid is necessary, while trying to gain the right to speak internationally.
Third, Taiwan is amid a fierce presidential campaign. Faced with the China-US confrontation, how exactly the ruling party can flexibly handle the essential contradictions between Taiwan and China is a matter of survival for the DPP, which is responsible for convincing voters with its appeals.
Therefore, after Typhoon Doksuri passed by Taiwan and hit China, causing a catastrophe along its coastal areas from the south to the north, the government offered an olive branch to send a political signal to Xi’s regime.
In the second half of this year, China must attend to quite a few political events rationally.
During this month, Vice President and DPP Chairman William Lai (賴清德) is set to stop over in New York and San Francisco.
In November, the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting is expected to be held in the US, and the question of who is to serve as Tsai’s envoy is being closely watched by China. If Beijing insists that power speaks louder than everything, at least Taiwan has shown it courtesy before resorting to power.
Tzou Jiing-wen is editor-in-chief of the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times).
Translated by Eddy Chang
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