From Seattle writer and consultant Matt Rosenberg...: Hands Across Taiwan

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Hands Across Taiwan

February 02, 2004

Citizens of Taiwan are flexing muscle - again - in their push for greater independence from China.

This AP report in today's Chicago Sun-Times says 70,000 Taiwanese formed a 40-mile human chain to protest China's continued strong-arming of the rival, island nation. It's a warm-up for an even longer human-chain protest on Feb. 28, of 190 miles. In a March national referendum, Taiwanese will vote on strengthening their defense capabilities if China won't withdraw almost 500 missiles pointed at Taiwan.

The story quotes former Taiwanese President President Lee Teng-hui telling a crowd, ''China has not eased its ambition to take over Taiwan, and we have to show our objection.''

To provide a better standard of living for its own people, China must make friends and influence people globally. That means a less aggressive foreign policy until China's Communist dictatorship permits essential freedoms at home.

A little too easily,President Bush is playing to China, by opposing the referendum and parroting China's "One China" line on Taiwan.

Perhaps from a larger geo-political perspective, it makes sense for the U.S. to tread softly here with the Chinese. They're a huge force to be reckoned with, the thinking goes, and over time, economic ties between China and the West will grow. This in turn should help pave the way for democratic principles to better inform China's domestic and foreign policy. Why get China cheesed by voicing support for Taiwan's full independence?

Perhaps Taiwan could ultimately accept a formalized unification if China becomes truly Democratic. That's one point made by Mark Palmer in "Breaking The Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust The World's Last Dictators by 2025." Palmer is former U.S. ambassador to Hungary, and serves of the boards of Freedom House and the Council for a Community of Democracies.

The Palmer book's strategic vision for promoting global democracy is valuable; likewise its nation-by-nation rundown of the 40-plus despots still in power around the world. Palmer's overview on Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin is pretty sobering.

China needs to gets its own house in order before aspiring to empire.

UPDATE: Here's a December piece from the lefty online publication alternet by G. Pascal Zachary, saying Democratic presidential candidates should highlight Bush's appeasement of China at Taiwan's expense. Is this really about a tougher line on global democracy, or just tweaking Bush? I'm not sure, but Bush - while he'll probably get my vote - needs to get a bit more exercised about the trampling of democratic principles by China and Saudi Arabia.