Defending Taiwan against China
Taiwan Consul General James JK Lee tells Eric Shawn what his government is doing to defend the island nation from Beijing’s growing belligerence.
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China stressed its commitment to its claim on Taiwan on Saturday, telling world leaders gathered that anyone who stands in the way of its determination to reunite with the autonomous island would be “crushed by the wheels of history.”
The language was strong but, for the Chinese leadership, it was within the realm of normality.
“Only when China is fully reunified can there be true peace across the Taiwan Strait,” said Wang Yi, Chinese foreign minister at the UN General Assembly. He said Beijing “will take the most vigorous measures to oppose external interference”.
China regularly and vehemently defends its claim on Taiwan, which separated from the mainland after a 1949 civil war and now operates with its own government. A visit last month by the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, greatly intensified tensions between Washington and Beijing.
THE TAIWAN OFFICIAL NOTICES CHINA: “WE HAVE NEVER ANNOUNCED OUR FREEDOM”
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CCP Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivers an important speech at a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CCP
(Ju Peng / Xinhua via Getty Images)
The tongue, though pointed, reflected the typical intensity of China on the island; his statement is rarely not mentioned in major international speeches. Taiwan is a central issue of Chinese politics, and Wang’s appearance at the leaders’ meeting – in place of his boss, Chinese leader Xi Jinping – was a signal that the speech was not necessarily meaningful.
“The PRC government is the only government that represents all of China,” Wang said, referring to China’s formal name, the People’s Republic of China. “The one China principle has become a fundamental norm in international relations.”
He added: “Any move to thwart the reunification of China is bound to be crushed by the wheels of history.”
China exerts regular pressure around the world on any entity – country, company, cartographer – which also implies that Taiwan may be a separate nation. At the Olympics, for example, Taiwan has to compete as “Chinese Taipei”. The muscles of the mainland government have isolated the island’s government, although some UN members continue to have diplomatic relations with Taipei rather than Beijing.
BIDEN SAYS WE WILL DEFEND TAIWAN IF CHINA LAUNCHES AN “UNPRECEDENTED ATTACK”
Mirage fighter jets of the Taiwan Air Force taxis on a runway at an airbase in Hsinchu, Taiwan on Friday, August 5, 2022.
(Photo AP / Johnson Lai)
At the UN meeting on Saturday, just a few speakers before Wang, the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, spoke strongly about allowing Taiwan to raise its profile in international organizations, including the World Health Organization. .
“How can we resist the question, in relative silence and contented inaction, in violation of Taiwan’s legitimate right to exist in accordance with the wishes and will of the Taiwanese people?” she asked.
Wang’s appearance at the 2022 in-person edition of the UN General Assembly came after two years of speeches after the pandemic era of China’s top leader. Xi did not attend this year’s event, which Russian President Vladimir Putin also missed. US President Joe Biden spoke on Wednesday.
The United States and China have uncomfortable diplomacy and disagree on many fundamental issues. They have fought over human rights for decades, most recently over the mistreatment of ethnic Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region of western China. Beijing sees the criticism of the United States as hypocritical and an act of interference in its internal affairs.
TAIWAN’S OFFICIAL STRESS MUST RESIST THE CHINESE PROVOCATION, REQUESTS THE COUNTRY INCLUSION AT THE UNITED NATIONS
People walk past a billboard welcoming United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in Taipei, Taiwan on August 3, 2022.
(Photo AP / Chiang Ying-ying, File)
This is always reflected in the remarks of the Chinese leadership. Wang’s speech used lightly coded phrases and references that criticized Washington without saying it and saying it. For example, Wang said, “We are firmly against attempts to politicize human rights” and “We must stand up for fairness and oppose bullying,” both references to the longstanding irritation he has with US politics.
While Taiwan and human rights perpetually hinder relations between China and the United States, Wang and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in person on the sidelines of the General Assembly on Friday.
US officials said Blinken has stepped up the Biden administration’s efforts to push China to end provocative actions against Taiwan. The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in a summary of the meeting, said Wang told his counterpart that “current China-US relations are facing serious impacts and there are lessons for the US side to learn from.”
He said the two discussed “the recent wrongdoing of the US side on the Taiwan issue.” However, she also said: “Both sides believe that the meeting was sincere, constructive and important and have decided to maintain communication”.
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After the takeover of China by Mao Zedong’s Communist forces in 1949, Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalists moved to Taiwan and maintained their separate government. It was recognized by the United States until 1979, when Washington established relations with Beijing.
