It’s “illogical” for the regime in Beijing to equate a possible communist takeover of Taiwan with Hawaii’s historical union with the United States because the Hawaiian people voted for U.S. statehood, according to Miles Yu, director of the China Center at Hudson Institute.
He was responding to a speech by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to the Asia Society on Sept. 23, when Wang said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was resisting Taiwan’s independence in the same way that the United States would oppose secession by Hawaii.
“Just as the United States will not allow Hawaii to be split away, China has the right to uphold the unification of the country as Taiwan is part of China,” said Wang.
He described the self-ruled island’s separation as “a highly destructive and dangerous gray rhino” that must be stopped, attributing the expansion of Taiwan’s defense forces to U.S. interference and “connivance.”
“As things stand, the Taiwan question is growing into the biggest risk in China–U.S. relations,” Wang added. “Should it be mishandled, it is most likely to devastate our bilateral relations.”
Hawaii became the 50th U.S. state in August 1959 after citizens of the cluster of islands voted in a referendum to accept the Hawaii Admission Act, which was signed into law by then-President Dwight Eisenhower.
“The people of Taiwan have never applied to join the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and the PRC has never exercised any management and sovereign control over the existing territory of Taiwan since its establishment in 1949,” Yu said.
The CCP claims that Taiwan is a breakaway province that must be united with the mainland, and vows to use military force to achieve this goal. Taiwan has been a self-governing democracy since the Chinese civil war ended in 1949 and has never been controlled by the CCP.
Regime’s Lies of ‘Win-Win’ Cooperation
In his speech, Wang said that China–U.S. relations can only improve if Washington adheres to the CCP’s three principles—mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation.However, the challenge is that what constitutes a “win” in terms of the values of China’s socialist state versus the United States’ democracy are fundamentally at odds, leading each side to accuse the other of aggression.
Yu said that it’s been the CCP’s aggressive behavior that is undermining peace in the Pacific, and that the Chinese regime conveniently continues to ignore the fact that its system of governance remains unattractive to the Taiwanese people.
Wang said that China wishes for cooperation with the United States to be driven by “win-win outcomes,” because the countries have “a lot to offer each other.”
But the CCP’s aggression in the region in the past few years suggests it only has to be a “win” for the communist regime, Yu said. He dismissed the CCP’s serenades for peace and cooperation as being “deception and meaningless.”
“China is a country that undermines peace, as it has done in the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, and other regions for more than a decade under the lie of ‘win-win’ [cooperation]. China has taken advantage of the world, including the United States.”
Yu said the U.S. government views relations with China from a “realistic perspective” as they recognize the “strategic intention” of the CCP, citing the regime’s inhumane treatment of the Uyghur minority, unfair trade practices, and regional security.
“Beijing regards U.S. criticism of China’s actions in all aspects as disrespect to China, so what Wang Yi mentioned is that the U.S. must first respect China. Otherwise, there will be no trust,” Yu said.
China began its largest military drills surrounding Taiwan in August following a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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