Taiwan and Ukraine
Updated: Feb 16
People have been comparing the Russia Ukraine situation with China and Taiwan. There are many similarities. It’s not so much a big authoritarian power vs a small democratic country. Rather the common factor is US meddling and willingness to use Ukrainians and Taiwanese as cannon fodder in their attempt to maintain global hegemony.
Some brief background. The Chinese Civil War is an ongoing conflict between the PRC (mainland China) and the ROC (Taiwan). Both believe that there is only one sovereign state under the name China and Taiwan is part of China, the One-China Policy.
The Communists forced the Nationalists to flee to Taiwan in 1949. The Nationalists set up government in Taipei and immediately imposed a brutal murderous martial law targeting leftists, dissidents, and intellectuals for the next 40 years called White Terror, entirely supported by the US. White Terror was implemented in the aftermath of an anti- government uprising that was brutally suppressed and resulted in the death of almost 30,000 known as the 228 massacre. The US supported the Nationalists throughout this brutal repressive period and prevented the Communists from taking Taiwan and were even willing to risk nuclear war during the Second Taiwan Strait crisis in 1958 (just more yellow people that would be killed like in Hiroshima and Nagasaki).
Above: The Horrifying Inspection by Taiwanese printmaker Li Jun. It describes the hostile environment in Taiwan shortly after the February 28 incident, which marked the start of the White Terror period
Above: A Taiwanese political dissident after and prior to his execution
Photo: From Wikipedia
Above: Dwight D. Eisenhower with Chiang Kai-Shek in Taipei, 1960. Illustrating US support for brutal dictatorial regimes, as long as they are anti- communist.
China US relations warmed in 1972 under Nixon taking advantage of the Sino Soviet split. The UN then recognized the PRC and PRC got its permanent seat at the UN Security Council replacing ROC. This occurred with US approval.
Above: U.S. President Nixon shakes hands with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing
China's economy and stature steadily increased over the next 30-40 years. The standard of living and life expectancy of its billion plus population improved dramatically. This was largely both accepted by the US, whose corporations benefited greatly from the economic growth that China powered, and unnoticed by the US that was preoccupied with the Cold War and then, during its unipolar moment, numerous murderous ventures overseas (Global War on Terrorism resulting in many millions dead, 40 million displaced, and 8 trillion wasted according to the Costs of War Project out of Brown University).
But then Obama saw a potential threat (not a military threat but rather an economic peer competitor) in China which would be unacceptable to this global hegemon. He initiated the Pivot to Asia. Trump escalated the rhetoric and policies to contain China. And now under Biden, the militarization of Taiwan (like Ukraine) and diplomatic gesturing continue.
As late as 2015, at the Ma-Xi meeting, PRC ROC relations were relatively warm and the 1992 Consensus (One China, different interpretations) was reaffirmed. The One China policy also happens to be official US policy, however their actions would say otherwise. China points out this duplicity on a regular basis.
Above: President of ROC Ma Ying-jeou (left) and President of PRC Xi Jinping (right) shaking hands on 7 November 2015.
It is China's intention to reunite with Taiwan peacefully. 26% of Taiwan's exports go to China and 21% of Taiwan's imports come from China. The numbers are 2% and 6% for China. China is much more important to the economy of Taiwan than Taiwan is to China's economy. The use of force would be the absolute last resort for China but there is a redline—Taiwan declaring independence. Everyone has been perfectly happy with the status quo, a tacit understanding to agree to disagree on the interpretation of One China.
But guess who is meddling? The USA. The same mafia don who meddled in Ukraine that provoked Putin to invade. Putin’s redline was no NATO expansion to Ukraine. Well Ukraine was becoming a de facto NATO member and Putin made his move. Everyone remarks how valiantly the Ukrainians are fighting, how much trouble Putin is having. Imagine how much more trouble Putin would be having had he waited another year or two. This is not meant to justify Putin’s invasion in any way. It is illegal under international law and a war crime. Rather it is to point out the pattern of US meddling all over the world to maintain global hegemony. This is the recurring undeniable blatantly obvious theme that somehow goes unnoticed by the mainstream media and its viewers.
The West stands for freedom and democracy you say? Only if subservient countries say "no" to the mafia don. The reality is that the US leads the so-called free world in heinous crimes and acts of war all over the world and, with our unwavering support, we are all complicit.
Sources:
White Terror
https://www.fpri.org/article/2017/02/taiwans-white-terror-remembering-228-incident/
White Terror (Wikipedia Photos)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Terror_(Taiwan)
1972 Visit by Richard Nixon to China
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_visit_by_Richard_Nixon_to_China
Cost of War Project, Brown University
https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/papers/summary
The American Pivot to Asia
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-american-pivot-to-asia/
Ma-Xi Meeting
Nixon Photographs:
By Series: Nixon White House Photographs, 1/20/1969 - 8/9/1974Collection: White House Photo Office Collection (Nixon Administration), 1/20/1969 - 8/9/1974 - https://catalog.archives.gov/id/66394264, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=94418304