With No Mutual Trust Between China and U.S., "Resist China" Only Harms Taiwan
China Times Editorial, November 11, 2022
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) successfully won the elections from 2014 to 2020 by promoting “resist China to protect Taiwan.” Especially in 2020, the DPP seized the opportunity to sell “a sense of national doom,” and President Tsai Ing-wen won the re-election with over 8.1 million votes. This year, the nine-in-one election prospective results look unfavorable for the DPP. Even after the DPP dished out the generalized “anti-China protectionist” sentiment again, the election polls still did not improve. In reality, DDP’s claim to “resist China” is fundamentally a catchphrase without actual actions and can be proven with the following series of events. First, the DPP Taoyuan mayoral candidate Cheng Yun-peng deliberately registered his nationality and residence as “Taiwan, China” to earn the Renminbi. Then, the Medigen vaccine, Taiwan’s domestically developed vaccine, is suspected to have its phase II trials executed by Chinese-funded companies. Finally, almost all the drones used on the National Day’s fireworks were Chinese products. Kuomintang (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Chiang Wan-an ridiculed the DPP’s “anti-China protectionist” as a “ghost story.” Incumbent Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je also said that the people would be too naive if they believed in DPP’s “resistance to China.” Even though the DPP is not exactly “friendly” with the Communists, they are not too far.
Cross-strait relations are too complicated for the DPP to segregate by claiming “resistance to China protects Taiwan.” Even though there is no consensus in public opinion on the future of Taiwan, the DPP still insists on its forcible operations. After a while, operation flaws inevitably surface, causing people to despise them. Taoyuan mayoral candidate Cheng was caught earning the Renminbi because he was in the teeth of the election season. There must be more DPP members who advocate “anti-China protectionist” but are using their Taiwanese identity to make a fortune in China. Previously, The DPP accused the BioNTech vaccines of being distributed in Shenzhen and having agents in Shanghai. Thus, the DPP deprived the people of Taiwan of vaccines when they obstructed the purchases of BioNTech by private enterprises. At the same time, the DPP allowed the Medigen vaccine phase II clinical trials to be entrusted to mainland Chinese-funded companies. The DPP repeatedly demonstrated their double standard on their “anti-China protectionist.” The drones used during the National Day performance were limited to the division of labor in the manufacturing chain and had to include mainland China-made components. This highlights the fact that Taiwan’s manufacturing industry is highly globalized and cannot separate from the mainland.
With the growing anti-China atmosphere in the United States, the DPP’s operation of “anti-China” sentiment may be beneficial for consolidating the regime. However, excessive operations come with a high price that the people will have to pay. “Anti-China” does not protect Taiwan, it harms Taiwan. The visit by Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the U.S. House of Representatives to Taiwan is a typical example of how “anti-China” can harm Taiwan. The DPP believes that Pelosi’s visit enhanced Taiwan’s international visibility and status. However, after Pelosi’s visit, mainland China immediately launched military exercises against Taiwan and seized the opportunity to complete its “strategic eastward expansion.” The mainland not only demonstrated its ability to erase the central line of the strait, but it also proved that it is more than capable of threatening the security of the east coast of Taiwan. Instead of being safer because of increased international visibility and status, Taiwan is in more danger than before.
Taiwan is perhaps in the most dangerous time it has been in 50 years since Henry Kissinger’s secret visit to China in 1971. Since the rise of China for over ten years, the mutual strategic suspicion in U.S.-China relations has been deepening. China and the United States may gradually fall into the “Thucydides trap.” After he took office, President Joe Biden decided to withdraw troops from Afghanistan to concentrate on dealing with China. Under the context of deteriorating U.S.-China relations, the DPP voluntarily acts as the gun pointing at China for the United States. It can be foreseen that the Taiwan Strait is doomed to become the world’s newest gunpowder depot.
A review of the relevant documents of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party reveals that although cross-strait relations have deteriorated, China’s fundamental policy towards Taiwan has not changed. What has changed is mainland China’s mentality towards Taiwan. The mainland no longer regards Taiwan as an add-on “value” to China, but as a “problem” that must be faced and dealt with. In the future, there will no longer be a “U.S.-China-Taiwan trilateral relationship”; instead, there will only be three bilateral relationships. The days when Taiwan could hope for the mainland’s benefits and help in participating in international organizations and activities are long gone. Taiwan must now bear the military and political pressure from mainland China’s opposition to independence and the promotion of reunification.
In reality, the DPP is very pragmatic. Their call for Taiwan’s independence is just a “vision statement on a tablet.” When President Tsai had the chance to win the election in 2016, she abandoned her previous claim that “the Republic of China is a foreign regime” and put forward the theory of a “Republic of China constitutional system” as well as adopted the political route of “maintaining the status quo.” The DPP may be pragmatic, but the voters are also very pragmatic and will not be bound by DPP’s claim to “resist China.” One day, public opinion may overturn. By then, KMT, who has lost its central idea and has followed DPP in resisting China, will once again be abandoned by voters.
The systems and ideologies of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are different, but they should not hinder the emotional and cultural relationship between China and Taiwan. The R.O.C. is sovereign and independent, but it should not hinder the legal connection between the two sides of the strait, which belongs to one China. “Resist China” may be beneficial to the DPP in the short term, but it is harmful to Taiwan in the long run. What Taiwan needs is a strategist to find a way for Taiwan to maintain relations with the United States without being reduced to a pawn to deal with China. That strategy will have to maintain Taiwan’s subjectivity and relieve mainland China from doubts about Taiwan reaching independence. That way, communication and dialogue with the mainland can restart, and Taiwan can return to peaceful development.
From: https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20221111004037-262101