The Taiwanese Elephant

Taiwan is the elephant in the living room that we all have tried to ignore. Beijing sees the island as a breakaway province that must inevitably be reunited with the motherland. Taiwan is the bottom line of Chinese foreign policy, the place that Beijing would most likely use force to assert its will or to fend off what it sees as foreign interference. When we ask why China wanted American nuclear technology, we need look no further than Taiwan.

The fate of Taiwan is Reason Number One why the Chinese are so adamant that countries should not intervene in one another??р꽓s ???밿nternal??? affairs. Beijing??р꽓s rulers figure that if they are not making trouble for us in Cuba, we have no business bothering them about their renegade island. Those Red Army nukes are meant to enforce this view by saying, ???뱒tay out of our back yard.???

The trouble is that China has a big back yard. Besides Taiwan, we need to be concerned with Tibet, India (with which China shares a tense Himalayan border), Russia (another historically tense border), Burma (where the Chinese apparently maintain good working relations with a repressive junta), Korea (China probably does not want a united, prosperous and free Korea right next door, preferring to keep the peninsula quiet but divided), Vietnam and the rest of Southeast Asia, Japan (the traditional rival and not-too-long-ago invader), and even Indonesia and the Philippines, whose jurisdictional claims in the South China Sea overlap China??р꽓s.

Here’s another reference that neatly summarizes China’s Modern National Security Policy: The Chinese Security Concept and its Historical Evolution

The Communists of China physically captured the mainland, but they want to be given the island of Taiwan by default. If Taiwan agrees to stay non-nuclear (like Cuba) what else would China need to be happy?

[ I know this sane thinking would require the Communists to not be, well, communists. But.... ]

Of course I dare ya to name the lead representative of the US delegation to Chen’s inauguration. And name his position in the Bush administration. (That’s a trick question… because no one from the Executive Branch went to Taiwan… not even an assistant to the assistant of the deputy director of some sub-department.)

They left it to a member of the Legislature. Representative James A. Leach (R-Iowa) Chairman, Congressional-Executive Commission on China and
Chairman, House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific to lead the U.S. delegation.

From James Kelly’s testimony to the House International Relations Committee:

First, let me thank Chairman Leach for his service in leading the American people’s delegation to the May 20 inauguration of President Chen of Taiwan. Your longstanding interest in Taiwan underscores the respect we feel for the people of Taiwan, their democracy and our commitment to working with the new Chen Administration. And, your presence delivered a clear and unambiguous signal to Taiwan and the PRC on the importance of reducing tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

The Chinese Embassy sending letters is just a continuation of their normal policy, albeit a rather heavy-handed example, and while perhaps notable, is nothing particularly new.
The Korean response has been fun though.
If the Koreans are so worried about it, why did they cut ties with the ROC, hhhmmmmm?

Don’t get me wrong. I support the Taiwanese.

Of course I dare ya to name the lead representative of the US delegation to Chen’s inauguration. And name his position in the Bush administration. (That’s a trick question… because no one from the Executive Branch went to Taiwan… not even an assistant to the assistant of the deputy director of some sub-department.)