August 23, 2020

Time for the United States to acknowledge Taiwanese sovereignty

American Health & Human Services Secretary, Alex Azar, became the highest ranking U.S. Diplomat to visit Taiwan in over forty years. He met with President Tsai Ing - wen on August 10. The U.S. Secretary was there to praise Taiwan's expertise and resilience in the face of the COVID - 19 outbreak. The Chinese central government has shuttered Taiwan's existence out of the WHO (World Health Organization) and is purging Taiwan's allies with cash deals through Xi Jinping's BRI (Belt & Road Initiative) a return to the Silk Road that connected Asia with Europe, and beyond. So, with America in confluence vis a vis Taiwan security and defence interests enacted by Congress after U.S. recognition of China diplomatically in 1979 in a quid pro quo. The central government has been chomping at the bit to re-unify Taiwan with China. As Taiwan is now a full fledged democracy having moved past it's authoritarian machinations, the left leaning Tsai has all but declared Taiwan a sovereign state, owing most recently to China's pulling the legs out from under Hong Kong's promised 50 year democratic pact with Great Britain ensuring the same basic rights and freedoms to Hongkonger's, that have been enjoyed for a millennium. Tibetan's know full well about empty promises from the central government (with the failure of the 17 Point Agreement) and now Hongkongers are welcomed into the world of daily surveillance that is championed under Xi Jinping's China, is omnipresent in Xinjiang with the internment of ethnic Uyghurs, as well as cultural and basic freedoms that have been restricted in Tibet for over seventy years. Nationalists led by China kai - shek were supposed to be liberators from Japan's occupation following WWII, instead were viewed as "enemy collaborators" their gods confiscated and economy "despoiled" according to John King Fairbank "China: A New History." Suffice it to say, Taiwan's has recovered from its authoritarian history and is a well regarded and functioning democracy."

Currently, Chinese authorities are preoccupied as they struggle with Taiwanese reunification owing to their "One - China" policy, the massive flooding swelling the Yangtze River basin and dams, and the economic fallout from COVID - 19, coupled with the trade imbroglio with the United States. In no small measure, 2020 has seen American frigates transiting the South China Sea on a regular basis often with military drills accompanied by Japanese, Australian and others to support freedom of navigation, despite the central governments claim to the contrary through a "nine dash line" drawn up in the 1940's to support Chinese hegemony in the region.
"In November 1946, the Republic of China sent naval ships to take control of these islands after the surrender of Japan. ... The nine-dash line was originally an eleven-dash line first shown on a map published by the government of the then Republic of China in December 1947 to justify its claims in the South China Sea." Wikipedia.21.7.2020. 23.8.2020. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine-dash_line>.

And so, two friends according to Donald Trump - he hosted Xi and his wife, Peng Lijan, at Mar - a - Lago in 2017, are at ideological cross-roads, economic logger-heads, and now foreign policy divisions that add up to the potential for a military miscue. Xi needs a deflection from his troubles on the mainland, and Donald Trump wants to cement his legacy with a second term. Some scholars would say that Trump needs Xi more, though they both face great scrutiny within their respective parties and need to find solutions fast. The international community is looking at China with a jaundiced eye due to the COVID -19 delay and cover -up, while Mr. Trump and his detractors inside America are critical of his cavalier approach to the pandemic that will see the U.S. lead in infections, with fatalities surpassing 200,000 before 2020 is in the books, notwithstanding, a vaccine that is cogent, safe and effective.

Chinese officials have been warned not to fire the first shot, yet miscues are bound to occur with both sides not backing down and military exercises increasing on a weekly basis. For Taiwan's sake and Trump's presidential ambitions for a second term, Mr. Trump ought to take the next step and acknowledge Taiwanese sovereignty and as a partner with the United States. No shots fired, bow stretched.