“Politics make strange bedfellows” is certainly true in the Taiwan - USA relationship.
As a quick primer for those who may not have been paying attention — Taiwan WAS a pretty right wing country run by the former rulers in China before they got beaten by the Communists in 1949. Then starting in the mid 80’s Taiwan started to liberalize and in 1987 martial law was lifted and democracy started to bloom.
During the post 1949 period, Taiwan was seen as a bastion against Communism and so the GOP stayed as a very strong supporter. Democrats, not so much. It was GOP members who primarily pushed for arms sales to Taiwan and who visited and promoted Taiwan. Anything to go against the Commie Chinese I suppose.
Fast forward to today. Taiwan is a full fledged democracy with universal health care and quite a liberal government, including a trans Minister of Digital Affairs. So … why is it that the main supporters of Taiwan in Congress/government are some of the most right wing GOP (Cotton, Pompeo etc)?
Sure they will support anyone who is against China, but … where are the Democrats? Taiwan is a fantastic example of democracy in Asia, an example you would think that the Democrats would be falling over themselves to support. It makes no sense.
Taiwan is continuously under threat from China, which has indicated that it is willing to use force to try to absorb Taiwan. (Historical note: Taiwan is not part of China. It has never been ruled by the PRC. It was ruled by Japan from 1905 to the end of WW2. It is a classic example of how a land’s future should be determined by the will of its people — and its people DO NOT want to be absorbed by China).
Xi Jin Ping’s latest moves in HK show that China is not playing games. Few thought he would move so fast and so far in HK in such a short time. He is serious and when he says he wants to “take back” Taiwan we should be somewhat wary to say the least.
With a nation of 23 million people — Taiwan deserves recognition as the independent nation that it clearly is (it has its own government, military, currency, etc). The Covid-19 pandemic has shown Taiwan to be a model in how to deal with the virus — DESPITE it not being allowed into the WHO because of Chinese objections. (Look at all the tiny nations in the UN and then see that Taiwan with 23 million people is not allowed in — not fair!)
It is time for Democratic politicians to step up and stop yielding the Taiwan card to the GOP. The Democrats and the current government in Taiwan have so much in common (Tsai Ing Wen’s government is probably further left than the Democrats), that forcing them to align with the GOP is a shame.
Taiwan is an awesome island nation that deserves all our support. We can’t let the GOP monopolize this. The relationship with China on the other hand … under the authoritarian Xi … needs a real rethink. This is perhaps one of VERY FEW areas in which the GOP seems to ahead of the Democrats, and that is plain wrong. This is such an easy call.
