By bringing itself closer to its gifted populace, Taiwan’s unique native-born democracy, business community and civil society more effectively and deeply tap into, draw up from and bring into modern expression the timeless wisdom, aptitude and creative genius of the ancient Chinese people, time out of mind.
In marked contrast, in China we see ever so clearly how a style of ruthless communist dictatorship imported from Europe exalts itself ever so arrogantly high above the Chinese public, grabs power for itself which by rights should be theirs, controls the information they are allowed to receive and exchange, strangles their free expression, stifles their independent initiative and smothers their freedom to be who they are and think what they what to think.
By doing so, it very evidently quashes too large a part of the sizeable contribution that can be made by Chinese across the Asian continent and in the various countries which China has been snatching for itself over time, and continues trying to steal today.
In this category, Taiwan comes most readily to mind.
If big China somehow manages to win out over little Taiwan, it would only be because, like all ruthless bullies, it is bigger — not better.
Anybody can see that. Anybody, that is, who has free access to the available information, which those within China do not. Hence this charade continues down through the years, growing ever more ridiculous even as it grows more inevitable that the tyranny in China is not flexible enough to adjust to the changed facts of the situation, no matter what the consequences might be for the planet.
Yes, Taiwan was once part of the Qing Empire. It was also once part of the Japanese Empire. It has since become a free and independent country.
Yes, Taiwanese are predominantly ethnic Chinese.
However, the original settlers of what became the US were predominantly from the British Isles, as are those of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, yet the UK does not claim New Zealand as a “renegade province.”
One wonders how China can get away with what it is doing. Controlling the information that its 1.4 billion people receive might go a long way to explain it.
Too bad it is not yet able to control what information those of us over here in Taiwan get.
Too bad that it cannot seem to manufacture advanced semiconductor chips that this free and independent nation has learned to make.
Too bad that it has not been able to refrain from outright theft of intellectual property belonging to foreign companies operating factories on its soil — thus driving so many of them to Vietnam, India, Mexico and elsewhere, leaving multitudes in China newly unemployed.
Too bad that China has gotten so enamored with building big that it has neglected to construct dams that are more numerous, smaller and better dispersed instead of the monstrosities it so prides itself in, which prove so vulnerable to the wild floods that accompany climate change.
Finally, it is too bad for China that nobody anywhere really wants to involve themselves too much with a country which makes it so clear that it aims to dominate and control the world.
It is far better, and more comfortable, to do business with smaller, more agile and intelligent countries such as Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia — and Taiwan.
William R. Stimson is a US writer living in Taiwan who has taught an adjunct course at several universities in the country.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS