Steven-
Apologies in advance if I have confused a statement you made with that of someone else. I do not think I have, and I proceed on the basis I am correct about your statement, but I'm not gonna take the time to check it out.
As I recall, you once opined- in a tone of supreme confidence as though you were issuing a statement of fact-, "It [the takeover of Taiwan by the PRC] will not be violent". I was duly impressed at the time with your confidence about how brutal dictators who would not shrink from systematic execution of dissidents and pacifist religious organizations, as well as barbaric sexual torture of Tibetan nuns, would proceed on the matter of reunification.
But now, from today's NY Times:
<<But today's government report on Taiwan adds -- for the first time in such a definitive policy statement -- that if Taiwan refuses indefinitely to pursue "the peaceful settlement of cross-straits reunification through negotiations, then the Chinese government will only be forced to adopt all drastic measures possible, including the use of force, to safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
See the following for the article and a link to the White Paper:
nytimes.com
Monday's White Paper, however, threatened that China could resort to force if Taiwan failed to respond in a manner satisfactory to the dictators in Beijing on negotiations to unite the two sides.
Perhaps your ideology requires you to ignore what brutal dictators have to say about their intentions. Or perhaps, since it wouldn't affect you personally, you couldn't care less if the will of the people of Taiwan were to be trampled on by the dictators of Beijing in a manner similar to the way they have trampled on those of the people of Tibet. Or possibly your world view is so skewed you fail to take brutal dictatorships at their word, particularly when the lives, treasures, and liberties of other people are at stake. Particularly if they are dictatorships you "like" (for other people). But whatever the reason, perhaps the people of Taiwan could be excused if they fail to take such a relaxed view as you do of Beijing's intentions or the prospects of submitting to the dictators.
I can only wonder if you know that your expressed view of Beijing is nonsense, but your ideology requires you to dissemble, or if the lessons of appeasement of dictatorships has been lost on you.
Those who value freedom will seek to come to the aid of the people of Taiwan in their struggle against the colossus to their west. Had Hitler been stopped at the Rhine, an enormous war and human tragedy would have been avoided. The time to stop the dictators in Beijing from swallowing up another polity is now. The US should make it clear that it is no longer business as usual with the thugs of Beijing. We should supply the weaponry that Taiwan has requested of us. And, if it comes to it, we should back it up with arms of our own. China should no longer be treated as a friendly power, and it should be make clear that China will bear a price for aggression.
Larry |
