>Sender: >To: >X-Original-Message-ID: <001201bf3bec$3b7ad6d0$9acf69cf@pacbell.net> >From: "Peter McWilliams" >Subject: The Taiwan Syndrome, continued >Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 03:07:18 -0800 > > >Oh me, oh my, I seem to have stirred up a controversy. ME? I can't imagine! > >I have a few closing thoughts at the end. > >Enjoy, > >Peter > >------------ > >Hi Peter, > >While I enjoy being on your mailing list, this one message kinda torqued >me a bit... it's an issue close to my heart, since I've been living in >Taiwan for most of the last nine years... > >(In the interest of "fairness" I hope you will broadcast this opposing >view to your mailing list, just as you did with Rasa's.) > >In short (in case you don't make it all the way through this rather long >diatribe): Taiwan is *NOTHING* like the description in Rasa's email. It >is a vibrant, thriving democracy deserving of more attention and >recognition on the "international" scene. > >I'm in a quandary over this myself. On the one hand, I abhor violence >-- of which warfare is the quintessence. On the other hand, my >experience in both China and Taiwan has taught me that Taiwan is a good >place, and a good people. The idea of Taiwan coming under the thumb of >one of the most inhumanly totalitarian regimes on the planet (the PRC) >is truly sickening. > >Anyone who truly cares about freedom should be aware of this, and use >whatever means they personally feel are appropriate to discourage PRC >hegemony in the region and encourage free and democratic powers such as >Taiwan. > >I recommend the following websites for more info: > > http://www.taiwandc.org/ > http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/ (I'm the webmaster for this site.) > >Here is my point-for-point rebuttal to Rasa's email: > > > >There is NO WAY the United States can stop China from taking Taiwan if > > >China set its mind to taking Taiwan. Now that Bush has thrown down the > > >gauntlet, however, will China be able to resist? What a propaganda coup to > > >defeat the United States of America in a military engagement! If Bush's > > >policy becomes U.S. policy, China will have to take Taiwan, even if it > > >doesn't want it. > >Actually, most military analysts I've read speculate China does *NOT* >have the capability to take Taiwan right now. Sure, they could >*destroy* the island with missiles, but that's not the same thing, is >it? (For that matter, Taiwan has missiles of its own, and the PRC is >well aware of this.) > >As for China defeating the USA in a military conflict over Taiwan? >Highly unlikely! > >Yes, it would be madness to try and take the PRC mainland by military >force (like Vietnam, only 100 times larger). But for similar reasons, >it would be *extremely* difficult for the PRC to take Taiwan. That >would require a massive amphibious assault force -- a force which the >PRC simply does not have -- which would have to be defended against >attack from aircraft, surface-to-surface missiles, ships, and >submarines... And then, assuming they *could* secure a beachhead, they >would then be faced with a long guerrilla war, just like we faced in >Vietnam... > >Those of us who actually live here, under the constant threat of attack >from the PRC, tend to stay abreast of these issues. > > > After "teaching" English in Taiwan for a few months, in 1984 I traveled to > > Mainland China and met a young law student who told me, "China will not > > invade Taiwan when Ronald Reagan is President. China will wait until > > American has a president like Jimmy Carter." > >This point would seem to argue in favor of a President who at least >"talks" tough about Taiwan/PRC cross-strait issues. At least if you >give a shit about little things like human rights, freedom and >democracy... > > > China has a loooong view of history. They don't mind waiting some scant > > decades to make a political move (a hundred years later Hong Kong looks like > > a good patient political move on their part). > >Yes, and look at the results. Less than a year after the UK announced >it would not avail itself of its contractual right to "renew its lease" >on HK, the PRC massacred a couple thousand peaceful democratic >protesters in Tiananmen square. > >In just two short years of PRC rule, Hong Kong citizens have already >seen their rights and their democratic institutions hamstrung on several >fronts. > > > And Peter is right. There is > > no way, short of total war, that we could defend Taiwan. China could > > instruct 10 percent of their army to swim to Taiwan and the island would be > > overrun before our navy figured out we were not looking at some strange fish > > migration. > >Right... swim the 100-plus miles of open sea, and then when you arrive, >exhausted and waterlogged, attack a well-defended beachhead... Good >idea! (Note: one of Taiwan's small islands, Kinmen, is within a >"swimmable" few miles of the mainland, but it's mostly just a military >outpost.) > >But look at history: when Taiwan held the first direct presidential >elections in the history of "China" in 1996, the PRC lobbed missiles >over our heads to "warn" the Taiwanese against electing Lee Teng-hui -- >which the people of this island promptly did, by an overwhelming >margin. At that time, the US simply parked an aircraft carrier in the >strait of Taiwan (for "exercises"), and the PRC soon declared that their >"missile tests" were a success, and ended them... without a single shot >fired or life lost by the USA. > >And then something truly amazing happened. On the night before the >elections (it was a Friday night, I remember clearly), the streets of >Taipei took on a carnival atmosphere. Whole families walked the streets >with ear-to-ear grins, waving campaign flags and just plain *reveling* >in the knowledge that they were going to elect their own president for >the first time in history. As an American, coming from the jaded >political scene back home, I was awestruck by such enthusiasm for >democracy... damn near made me cry. > > > I never quite could fathom Taiwan. Unbelievable pollution from unregulated > > technology usage, and political repression to the point where my students > > would sit shaking with fear or with eye's wide and jaw's dropped if I ever > > uttered even a slightly left of center political sentiment in the >classroom. > > The Front of the Capitol building in Taipei is decorated with a large map of > > the Republic of China's land mass, which includes not just Taiwan, but all > > of Mainland China, so they think. Most people there are schooled to live > > under the delusion that with America's help they will one day regain control > > of all of China. They never stopped fighting the Cold War. > >Well, Rasa may have lived here for a "few months" in 1984, but I've >lived here for seven of the last nine years. It's a vastly different >place now -- even the changes I've seen since I first came here have >been startling. The changes since 1984 are more like a revolution. > >In 1984, Chiang Kai-shek's son, Chiang Chien-kuo, was still in power. >That was just five years after the USA switched diplomatic recognition >from the "ROC" to the PRC. Taiwan was still under martial law (which >was lifted in 1986, I believe). > >Yes, that regime was sick and repressive. The Taiwanese language >(vastly different from the "official" Mandarin Chinese) was forbidden in >schools and businesses. (Now the ability to speak Taiwanese is a >de-facto prerequisite to getting elected to any office here.) The >numbers "228" could not be written because they commemorate the >"Kaohsiung Massacre" when KMT thugs killed thousands of native Taiwanese >some 50 years ago. (Now the government has built a "228 Peace Park" >just a stone's throw from the Presidential Palace.) And yes, students >were taught in school that the glorious KMT would someday retake the >mainland and "liberate our compatriots from the thrall of communism"... >(Not anymore, of course!) > >And yes, Taiwan has a pretty pathetic record on the environment. > >However, to be fair, the situation is far worse in the PRC. I've lived >there too, you see (1986-87 school year) and I'm pretty fluent in >Chinese... > >Chinese students are taught that Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang (aka: East >Turkestan) are all parts of "Greater China" and that independence >movements in these places are no more than small, vocal groups of >"outside agitators" (sound familiar?). They used to claim parts of >Vietnam as well, until the Vietnamese kicked their butts in a border war >back in (around) 1980, as you may recall... > >While Taiwan is only beginning to "see the light" on environmental >issues, China's record is simply appalling by comparison. They are >unrepentant as they continue building the Three Gorges Dam on the >Yangtze River, which most see as a costly, ineffective boondoggle -- and >an environmental catastrophe. > >As for human rights, there is simply no comparison. I'm shocked and >offended that I should even have to mention it. The Taiwanese have >freedoms (press, assembly, speech, religion, due process, etc.) that the >Chinese people can only dream of. There are vigorous political and >social debates raging across issues which would have been taboo even >here just 10 or 15 years ago. There is a real chance that the KMT could >lose power soon, in free and increasingly "clean" elections. > >While I lived in the PRC, I came up with an idea: "Rule of Man" vs. >"Rule of Law". It was the only way I could get my brain around the >horrible repression (and submission) I saw all around me. Later on, I >discovered that others had already coined this phrase long before me... >(I could tell *MANY* stories to illustrate, but this is already getting >way too long.) > >Yes, the Taiwanese have problems, just as we do in America. But they >are quickly building the democratic mechanisms needed to solve these >problems, and I can assure you they do *NOT* appreciate being thwarted >at every turn by the malignant, cynical, power-plays of the PRC! > >The Taiwanese want nothing more than to be left alone in peace. The PRC >is the *only* entity which insists on prolonging this last remnant of >Cold-War sabre-rattling. By refusing diplomatic ties with any country >that dares to officially recognize Taiwan, they force the rest of the >world to participate in this tired farce as well... including Taiwan! >Yes, the *only* reason Taiwan has not yet "officially" dropped the >"one-China" fantasy is because the PRC swears they will bomb the >bejeezuz out of 'em if they do. > >I don't advocate the US going to war with China over the issue of >Taiwan. However, the way in which the US and others have been led >around by the nose by China ever since Nixon is really disgusting. For >Chrissake, Taiwan is the USA's seventh-largest consumer, and yet we >aren't "allowed" to recognize her officially because the PRC feels it >would "lose face" as a result. > >It's time to stop coddling the belligerent, repressive regime in the PRC >and start making some real demands for political reform. > >Sincerely, > >-- John Diedrichs > > + taiwanjohn@pobox.com + > + http://pobox.com/~taiwanjohn/ + > + SysAdmin/Webmaster, "The Taipei Times" + > + Linux User + Music Lover + Beer Connoisseur + > + STOP THE DRUG WAR! Visit http://www.csdp.org/ + > > "It is sweet to let the mind unbend on occasion." -- Horace > >----------- > >John's chief argument for defending Taiwan seems to be "that Taiwan is a good >place, and a good people. The idea of Taiwan coming under the thumb of >one of the most inhumanly totalitarian regimes on the planet (the PRC) >is truly sickening." > >I agree, but I do not agree that saving any "good place" and "good people" >(other than the United States, of course) is worth one American life. Oh, >Americans are welcome to fight--as they did to fight fascism in Spain in the >1930s--but none should be ordered to do so. We simply must mind our own >business and let other sovereign nations minds theirs, just as we must let >sovereign adults run their own lives as long as they are not physically >harming the person or property of nonconsenting others. > >The "prohibition" of the PRC in Taiwan has lofty goals, as does the >prohibition of drugs, but in practice it simply cannot work. (I do not for a >moment doubt John's sincerity.) > >We cannot win in Taiwan because Americans simply do not have the will to >fight another "prohibition" war as we did in Vietnam--and this is good. If, >however, China were attacking Tennessee and not Taiwan, we would rise like >"a sleeping tiger" (a Japanese General's description of the US in his >unheeded warning not to attack Pearl Harbor) and the hills of Tennessee >would be safe once again. > >Enjoy, > >Peter > > > > >================================================================ > >This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to > the mailing list . >To unsubscribe, E-mail to: