Commentary
The fate of Taiwan is in the hands of liberal democracies. The situation surrounding Taiwan, if ignored, will allow communist China to consume them, and Taiwan will cease to be a democracy.
So when is it time for liberal democracies to stand up collectively and denounce China’s provocative actions and rhetoric toward Taiwan?
This is not just for Taiwan’s sake but for all countries that cherish liberty and freedom. The actions by China are not just about Taiwan, neither will they stop with Taiwan. As Population Research Institute President Steven Mosher highlighted in his book “The Bully of Asia”: “The goal of China is to change the world order. An order in which China is the world’s hegemon. China desires to be the center of the universe where all nations follow Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ideologies. Therefore, an attack on one liberal democracy will metastasize to an attack on all democracies.”
There are corrective actions democratic nations can take and should implement immediately. To doubt or delay this strategy only worsens the situation and draws the world closer to facing a major conflict that can be averted. Delaying action allows China time to follow Sun Tzu’s strategy written more than 2,000 years ago in his military manual, “The Art of War”: “Bide your time, hide your strength.”
An old saying goes, “To see one’s past, look at their present situation; to see one’s future, look at their present preparations.” What China has focused on in the past three decades is evident, as demonstrated by the rapid expansion of its economy. Beijing did this by investing heavily in manufacturing and increasing trade.
However, Beijing’s future intent really became much clearer under the Xi Jinping era of preparation. Chinese leader Xi came to power in 2012 and invested heavily in military manufacturing and its capabilities. China has increased the size and reach of its military, surpassing the United States in many areas, such as hypersonic weapons that we have no defense against. In addition, the CCP aggressively expanded its territories, encroaching illegally on sovereign nations’ borders and laying false claims to the so-called nine-dash line in the East and South China Seas.
So how does this relate to Taiwan?
Taiwan has been a prosperous, innovative, and independent nation since World War II. Prior to the Nixon and Carter administrations, Taiwan enjoyed full member status in the United Nations and was recognized by the majority of the world’s nations as an independent country. To appease China, the Nixon administration dropped national recognition of Taiwan in 1974, and the Carter administration dropped all diplomatic recognition of Taiwan in 1979. Many countries then followed suit and stopped recognizing Taiwan as an independent nation to appease China.
The results of Xi’s preparations have emboldened the CCP in its quest for world domination. China’s increased economic and military clout has been used to intimidate and bully other nations into accepting its demands.
Beijing has worked to isolate Taipei further from the rest of the world through these tactics and has even used coercion to get other nations to break diplomatic ties with Taiwan. This plan to isolate Taiwan has extended not just to nations but also to corporations in an attempt to force companies and countries to bow down to the CCP’s demands.
In addition, Beijing has expanded these techniques to encroach on several sovereign nations’ territories and exclusive economic zones. The result is the jeopardizing of the peaceful world order established after the conclusion of World War II.
China has become the dominant producer of many global supply chains upon which much of the world depends. If the world’s democracies do not unite, the CCP will continue this march toward world domination. This is why Taiwan matters. For democracies to do nothing only empowers China more.
The nations that enjoy liberty, freedom, and the rule of law around the globe should act in unison with a concentrated effort to send a strong, unified message to the CCP stating that there will be severe consequences for its continued aggressive actions in relation to Taiwan and the established world order.
These are suggested actions to be implemented by democratic nations collectively and immediately if China chooses not to change its actions. The choice is China’s.
First, democratic nations must denounce China’s blatant aggression and intimidation of other countries when it encroaches on those nations’ sovereignty and exclusive economic zones. Examples are Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Brunei.
Second, they should decrease China’s manufacturing output by working with allied and friendly nations to incentivize corporations to relocate production and manufacturing of goods outside of China, “ABC manufacturing—Anywhere But China.”
Third, they should diversify critical supply chains—such as rare earth minerals, pharmaceuticals, etc.—to other countries.
Fourth, they must hold the CCP accountable for its barbaric human rights violations of forced reeducation/labor camps, genocide, and organ harvesting at the U.N. General Assembly. Until the regime stops these practices, China should not be allowed to remain on the U.N. Security and Human Rights Council.
Fifth, they should encourage the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to stand collectively against the intimidation from Beijing and start diversifying trading partners to reduce China’s economic engine.
Finally, there needs to be a veil of protection created around Taiwan to let the CCP, Beijing, and Xi understand that a takeover of Taiwan is off-limits. This can be accomplished by the U.S. government considering reinstating full diplomatic relations with Taiwan as it was prior to the Nixon and Carter administrations and encouraging other nations to do the same. If not, China will succeed at its goal and become not just the “Bully of Asia” but of the world.
If the United States will lead on these action items, as difficult as they may be, other nations will follow. If not, the takeover of Taiwan is certain, and the collapse of a free society falls victim to the CCP’s ambitions of world hegemony. This will embolden China to continue Xi’s expansive claims in disputed lands of other nations such as Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, India, and anywhere else they want to flex their strength.
China must understand that their increased aggression and desire to control the world will come at a very steep price. Time is running out to change course and prevent the CCP’s growing ambition. The longer a course correction takes, the closer the world approaches a major conflict. This threat to world peace should be prevented at all costs.
Let the free world stand up for Taiwan.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
