With the world focused on the battle against the coronavirus pandemic, the US is once again playing the “Taiwan card” to contain China. Recently the US president signed into law the "Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act of 2019", or the so-called “TAIPEI Act”, vowing to support Taiwan in strengthening its official diplomatic relationships and enhancing its participation in international organizations. This Act, like many of its predecessors, seriously violates international laws and the basic norms governing international relations and is fraught with hegemonic thinking, self-contradictory logic, and political deception. Whatever ulterior motive the US is harboring, it is doomed to fail.
The basic idea of the so-called TAIPEI Act is that the US will reward or punish other countries based on their relations with Taiwan. The Act states that the US will increase its “economic, security, and diplomatic engagement” with “nations that have demonstrably strengthened, enhanced, or upgraded relations with Taiwan”, and will alter its “economic, security and diplomatic engagement with nations that take serious or significant actions to undermine the security or prosperity of Taiwan”.
The US has long exercised its “long-arm jurisdiction” in the international community and “judged” other countries that offend US interests based on its domestic laws. The TAIPEI Act saw the US upgrade its hegemonic logic by trying to dictate other countries on their relationships with Taiwan. In the bipartisan act, the superpower poses itself as the big brother and Taiwan its little brother, and the big brother would teach everybody a lesson if he dared not befriend his little brother.
The Act is focused on helping Taiwan consolidate its “diplomatic relationships”. In other words, Washington is set to punish those countries that had severed their ties with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in favor of Beijing. The problem is, the US itself forged official diplomatic relationship with the People’s Republic of China on the one-China principle 41 years ago. On what ground can it demand other countries not to do the same?
Altogether 180 countries in the world have formed official diplomatic ties with China. The US cannot change the fact that the one-China principle is now an international consensus, a common aspiration, and an irreversible historical trend. Before the TAIPEI Act was cooked up, the US had already attempted to interfere with certain countries either by threatening or coaxing, yet the DPP has lost seven “diplomatic allies”, like a Domino game, after it took power in 2016, fully proving that Washington’s peremptory impositions are unreasonable and unwelcome.
Knowing very well that its attempt for a two-China or one-China, one-Taiwan policy will not go anywhere, Washington’s TAIPEI Act is full of ambiguous words, pays lip service, and sends out stench of deception. Who does it try to deceive then? It is the DPP authority that still dreams of “Taiwan independence” leveraged on the Taiwan Strait and persists in fawning on the US and antagonizing the mainland. Washington put forth the TAIPEI Act to spur on the “anti-China vanguards” in Taiwan while charging it with enormous protection fees. In this political trick, it takes DPP as nothing but a pawn, a chess piece, a bargaining chip and a cannon fodder under the presence of support.
The US has only one reason and one purpose in playing the “Taiwan card” - American interests. It doesn’t care about Taiwan’s interests at all as it is nothing more than a piece in America’s tool kit. This is as plain as daylight, but the green camp politicians in Taiwan just refuse to admit the obvious fact.
The TAIPEI Act has produced immediate adverse effects as the DPP authority always savors any deliberate misguidance and political deception from the American side. The green camp politicians were so invigorated that they couldn’t wait to express their gratitude and loyalty to the US and wasted no time in following American politicians’ step of smearing the mainland, while the green camp media were busy touting the illusion that the US will help them achieve “Taiwan independence”. With Washington’s instigation, the DPP has once again accelerated its moves of going against the mainland.
How selfish and narrow-minded the US must be to willfully play the “Taiwan card” at such a critical juncture of combating the COVID-19 pandemic? But if we take a long perspective, every “Taiwan card” the US plays is bound to be useless and the DPP’s fantasy of “resisting the mainland with America’s help” and “Taiwan independence” is just a pipe dream. The Taiwan question concerns China’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and core interests. It is the bottom line that should never be challenged. No one should underestimate the Chinese government and people’s determination and will to safeguard our core interests.
China is taking big strides forward on the path of peaceful development and national rejuvenation. China’s reunification is a historical trend that will not and cannot be stopped by anyone or any force. Those who act against the historical trend will eventually eat their own bitter fruit.
Disclaimer: This article is originally published on haiwainet.cn, which is the website of Overseas Edition of the People's Daily. The article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
