{"id":99288,"date":"2024-01-14T21:36:42","date_gmt":"2024-01-15T03:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=99288"},"modified":"2024-01-14T21:36:42","modified_gmt":"2024-01-15T03:36:42","slug":"99288","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=99288","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Taiwan Casts Its Lot with Freedom<\/a><\/p>\n

Taiwan just pushed back against bully China\u2019s\u00a0threats<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0elected<\/a>\u00a0a pro-Western, pro-sovereignty candidate to be president of the island nation.<\/p>\n

William Lai Ching-te, the current Vice President of Taiwan and candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party defeated his rivals from the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People\u2019s Party (TPP). He won the election handily, as by 8 p.m. Taipei time, Lai had garnered 40% of the vote. His closest competitor, Hou Yu-ih, candidate of the KMT and mayor of New Taipei, lagged behind with 33%.<\/p>\n

Moreover, Lai\u2019s predecessor, current President Tsai Ing-Wen enjoyed eight years as leader of Taiwan, so it appears the Taiwanese strongly approve of the party\u2019s leadership. The DPP has\u00a0stood for<\/a>\u00a0continued independence and firmness against Chinese aggression.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party do not approve of the election.<\/p>\n

Despite the name \u201cprogressive,\u201d don\u2019t confuse the DPP with the far-left, ostensibly Marxist politics seen in the United States. Tim Mak, who writes on Ukraine and Taiwan for his Substack\u00a0The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak<\/em>,\u00a0notes<\/a>\u00a0that the DPP is \u00a0a \u201cnewer centrist party.\u201d It favors a pragmatic and non-partisan approach to reform and modernization, as well as greater independence from China.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What Inspires the Taiwanese is Ukraine<\/h3>\n

Tim Mak writes:<\/p>\n

The last few elections in Taiwan have been heavily colored by outside factors \u2013 more often than not, China \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year? The wars in Ukraine and Gaza.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You\u2019d think that wars in two very disparate nations would not affect an election in Taiwan. But the Taiwanese have been watching and taking note of the fate of Ukraine in particular. And they also firmly support Ukraine in its war with Russia. Some Taiwanese even dedicate\u00a0prayers<\/a>\u00a0to the sea goddess Mazu for Ukrainian peace.<\/p>\n

\"Taiwan<\/a><\/p>\n

LBWS CAT 63\/Instagram<\/a>. Ukrainian artist in Taipei.<\/p>\n

More ominous, however, is that the Taiwanese no longer trust the United States.<\/p>\n

For example, Angelica Oung, who supported TPP in the election,\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0Tim Mak:<\/p>\n

Here in Taiwan\u2026 there are some people who just don\u2019t believe that the United States is ever going to step up for us. And I myself actually found it harder and harder to argue that case\u2026 [Taiwanese voters see] how the U.S. is treating Ukraine as a possibility for how it might treat us in the future. And there\u2019s a strong fear\u2026 that Taiwan might become a second Ukraine.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In addition, Dr. Shen Ming-Shih, who heads National Security Research at a Taiwanese think tank, said:<\/p>\n

If Ukraine loses the war, it will encourage Xi Jinping, because [he will say,] the United States, your power has decreased. You cannot help Ukraine\u2026 [therefore] you cannot help Taiwan.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s no wonder people in Taiwan look at Ukraine and worry. Especially since we have a weak president in Joe Biden and a noisy and growing isolationist wing in the Republican party.<\/p>\n

As Mak wrote:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a reminder of just how interconnected all these seemingly-disparate events are: fighting in the trenches in Zaporizhzhia, arguments in the U.S. Congress, and balloting on the islands of Taiwan.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No matter how much anyone thinks they can hole themselves off the rest of the world, it never, ever pans out like they expect. Just like socialism, isolationism doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Next for Taiwan?<\/h3>\n

Taiwan may have voted for continued independence, but Xi Jinping will continue to bully the nation. In fact, the pressure will probably increase.<\/p>\n

As writer Cindy Yu\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0The Spectator World<\/em>\u00a0just before the election:<\/p>\n

Xi has made it clear that, whoever holds power in Taipei, reunification with Taiwan is his \u201cunswerving task.\u201d \u201cRe-uniting the motherland is a historical necessity,\u201d he said in his new year\u2019s message.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Helen Raleigh, writing in\u00a0The Federalist<\/em>\u00a0as well as her own Substack\u00a0Confucius Never Said<\/em>,\u00a0cites<\/a>\u00a0Beijing\u2019s long-time meddling in Taiwan\u2019s affairs.<\/p>\n

Raleigh should know. She\u00a0grew up<\/a>\u00a0in Communist China, came to the United States as a student, and became a US citizen in 2013. From her experience, she\u00a0writes<\/a>\u00a0that a free Taiwan is a threat to Beijing:<\/p>\n

Beijing sees a democratic Taiwan as a threat to the CCP\u2019s legitimacy. It must thus be eliminated because a free and prosperous Taiwan discredits Beijing\u2019s claims that Chinese culture and democracy are inherently incompatible and that the Chinese people can have peace and prosperity only under the CCP\u2019s totalitarian rule.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, Xi Jinping makes no secret as to his designs on the island nation. Last month he warned Joe Biden that Beijing will eventually\u00a0reunite<\/a>\u00a0with Taiwan. And, in his New Years address to the Chinese people, Xi\u00a0reiterated<\/a>\u00a0that the two countries \u201cwill surely be reunified.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plus, China has a history of meddling in Taiwan\u2019s affairs. In 2019, for example, a Chinese spy\u00a0claimed<\/a>\u00a0he interfered in Taiwan\u2019s 2018 election through media and internet companies. China has also loudly disapproved of the teaching of Taiwanese history and culture in its schools.<\/p>\n

Beijing has even gone so far as to\u00a0investigate<\/a>\u00a0a popular Taiwanese rock band for the \u201ccrime\u201d of lip-synching, or, as they term it, \u201cdeceptive fake singing.\u201d (The investigation came about, as a source told Reuters, because the band \u201cMayday\u201d refused to say something positive about China prior to the election.)<\/p>\n

And then there are the missiles the Peoples\u2019 Liberation Army has fired into the waters off Taiwan, as well as Chinese fighter jets that fly into their airspace. China also conducts frequent military exercises near the Taiwan Strait. On top of that, Taiwan\u2019s Ministry of Defense has reported spy balloons \u2014 similar to the one that floated over the United States \u2014 have been flying over the island.<\/p>\n

Despite the threats, Taiwan has chosen to continue to its status as proudly independent. \u00a0She will not be bullied. The question is, however, will the United States support Taiwan in her bid to remain free of China? Sadly, Joe Biden is a feeble leader, and the current populist climate in the GOP is to abandon President Reagan\u2019s lofty goal of \u201cpeace through strength.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Taiwan Casts Its Lot with Freedom Taiwan just pushed back against bully China\u2019s\u00a0threats\u00a0and\u00a0elected\u00a0a pro-Western, pro-sovereignty candidate to be president of the island nation. William Lai Ching-te, the current Vice President of Taiwan and candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party defeated his rivals from the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People\u2019s Party (TPP). He won the … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99289,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99288\/revisions\/99289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}