Taiwanese President William Lai (Lai Ching-te) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was elected in January and has only been in office since May. But he has already revealed himself to be an expert at political warfare.
Lai is a political warfare prodigy because he knows history and employs historical truth against the lies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). By so doing, he has thwarted Xi Jinping and continues to labor mightily to ensure Taiwan’s independence at a time of great peril.
The president’s most effective weapon is the truth. Lai has reminded the world of the historical truth in contrast to the ubiquitous deception of the CCP. On three recent occasions, Lai has shown himself to be a “great captain” in the realm of political warfare.
First, in his Taiwan National Day address on Oct. 10, he stated that the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan’s official name) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are not subordinated to one another. That was a welcome and bold remark, as was his recognition that Taiwan has never fallen under the control of the PRC and has no need to declare independence because it is already independent.
In response, the PRC announced Joint Sword 2024B, which, according to Beijing, is a joint sea-air readiness patrol, the blockade of key ports and areas, and strikes on sea and land targets. It is a coercive measure designed to intimidate Lai and his supporters while testing and augmenting the PRC’s capabilities to execute an invasion of Taiwan. Beijing is laboring mightily to create a “new normal” with routinized violations of Taiwan’s air and sea spaces and other coercive measures to help mask the invasion attempt when it comes.
Second, on Oct. 5, at a National Day event at Taipei Dome, Lai’s sagacity was on display when he informed the world that it was impossible for the PRC to be the “motherland” of Taiwan as the ROC was founded on Jan. 1, 1912, almost four decades before the PRC. He stated what is accurate historically. The truth is that the ROC was the “motherland” of the PRC.
The PRC is an outgrowth of the ROC that was birthed by Soviet power and imperialism. That is a verity, first, because the Soviets ordered the CCP to enter the KMT, or the Nationalist Party, which was the ruling party of China at the time. The KMT then fled to Taiwan in 1949 when the Communists won the Civil War with prodigious Soviet guidance, support, and protection. The CCP was, in every sense that mattered, controlled by the Soviet Union through the Third Communist International, or Comintern, and dutifully obeyed their Soviet masters. Second, it is also true because the KMT won the war with Japan in China with American support. Ironically, Japan’s defeat made the CCP’s final victory possible. The KMT saw China through the dark days of war with Japan, including when it stood alone. The KMT shouldered the burden of that war while the CCP had a “free ride” on the KMT’s efforts. Moreover, few Americans realize that the Nationalist divisions also fought alongside the Americans against the Japanese in Burma.
Last month, Lai demonstrated his perspicacity when he remarked that the dispute between Taiwan and the PRC is not about territorial integrity, as Beijing claims. If that were the case, he observed, then why does China not take back Russia? Lai referenced the 1858 Treaty of Aigun, one of the “unequal treaties,” which ceded much of the territory of what was historically Manchuria to Russia. This was a brilliant move by Lai.
Xi is hyper-aggressive. He has territorial ambitions not only against Taiwan but also against Russia. Lai usefully reminded the Russians that while they are waging war in the West, the crocodile in the East is eyeing their land. Irredentism cuts both ways. The fact that Xi lays claim to his erstwhile ally’s territory belies the foolishness of Putin’s action in Ukraine. One suspects that while Putin is Xi’s myrmidon today, he will be Xi’s victim tomorrow. In an act of gross strategic malpractice, Putin provided the logic and rationale for the PRC’s irredentism and gormlessly became dependent upon Xi to bolster Russia’s diplomatic position and security. It is only a matter of time before Putin has to break with Xi, or Xi will execute a regime change against Putin if he does not yield concessions, including territorial ones. In a masterstroke, Lai has called attention to this and done his utmost to open this Pandora’s box of the Sino–Russian relationship.
Beijing’s sharp displeasure was evinced in its pronouncements denouncing Lai and its Joint Sword 2024B exercise, all of which demonstrate that Lai is on the right track. However, he needs to be supported by the United States and its allies with immediate and demonstrable military steps. These are required in order to assure Lai he does not stand alone and to deter the PRC from executing an invasion. Unfortunately, the Biden–Harris administration has not taken these steps. That needs to be corrected today.
The recognition of historical truth serves as a corrective to the CCP’s lies. That recognition is the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of political warfare. Lai employs it brilliantly. In 1862, after the Battle of Shiloh, when President Abraham Lincoln was pressed to remove General Ulysses Grant, he replied, “I can’t spare this man—he fights.” Like Grant in kinetic war, Lai is a fighter in political warfare against the CCP, and the world can’t spare him. The United States needs to back him strongly and to do so immediately.
