Let’s Wake up the Left on Taiwan
It is time to start selling the wonderful progressive appeal of Taiwan to the Left
Last month The Atlantic published a truly inept piece by Peter Beinart proposing in its title that “America Needs an Entirely New Foreign Policy for the Trump Age”. The statement was true enough, but the ideas it forwarded as “new” are the same tired policies we have all seen advocated by commentators for the last three decades, including — almost inevitably— selling out Taiwan:
If China renounces the use of force, the United States should support its reunification with Taiwan along the principle of “one country, two systems.” The U.S. should ask China to commit publicly not to station troops or Communist Party officials in Taiwan, and to let Taiwan manage its domestic political affairs…
It’s likely that under reunification people in Taiwan would lose some of their freedom as well. But, even if Taiwan sunk to Hong Kong’s level, it would remain far freer than Vietnam, a country some Washington hawks are clamoring to ally with in order to contain China.
His position is not a democratic position in any sense of that word…
Beinart’s policy argument, already presented by Hugh White (whom he cites), is strategically inept and politically naive. His position is not a democratic position in any sense of that word, and while Beinart is imagining he is moving the party away from “GOP hawks” he is simply proposing a variation of the same corporate-backed foreign policies that the “GOP hawks” embrace. This is not how to talk about Taiwan from a “Left” point of view.
Beinart’s defend Taiwan/give up Taiwan policy dichotomy is a discussion between various wings of America’s center-right political establishment — financial and corporate types who argue that Taiwan should be sold out to China so they can make money, and more security-oriented types who view Taiwan as a kind of alternative China to be embraced when relations with Beijing are poor. Pro-Taiwan types need to wrest the “defend Taiwan” choice from their grasp and make it a bipartisan choice that has wide support across the political spectrum. A choice that both right and left, conservative and progressive, can support because both sides are committed to building a world where democratic values and trade are valued and fostered.
For years center-right pieces like Beinart’s have dominated “left” discussions on US — Taiwan policy. Meanwhile lefties and progressives have either ignored or damned Taiwan as a relic of the Cold War. Indeed, one of the most distressing confluences of policy thinking is that between the financial and consulting firms and individuals who do business in China and advocate selling out Taiwan for better relations with “China” (read: the Chinese Communist Party hacks and Chinese businessmen they do deals with) in their think pieces in the media, and lefties who argue that Taiwan should be given to China for essentially similar reasons. When lefties are forwarding the arguments of rightists, it is time for a rethink of how we should talk to them about Taiwan.
When pro-Taiwan types talk to the Right, Taiwan is an easy sell, with many possible appeals based on national security, anti-Communism, and Taiwan’s position as an important US market.
It is time to start selling Taiwan as an issue to the Left.
It is time to start selling Taiwan as an issue to the Left. Fortunately, Dissent Magazine this month published a wonderful piece on The Island the Left Neglects that is a primer on how to talk about the wonderful progressive appeal of Taiwan. In addition to pointing out that Taiwan is a vibrant democratic state headed by a female president, it observes…
Forty-three out of its 113 lawmakers are female, which, in proportion, is almost double that of the U.S. Congress. With a modern, efficient single-payer healthcare system like Canada’s, it provides comprehensive insurance coverage for every citizen at the cost of just around 6.2 percent of its GDP per year. A bill granting aboriginal languages official status was passed in May 2017 as part of a wider endeavor to uphold the rights of its indigenous communities after they received a formal government apology earlier for centuries of “pain and mistreatment.” The landmark decree by its highest court that same month is paving the way for it to become the continent’s first nation to legalize same-sex marriage. It is also striving to meet an ambitious goal to phase out nuclear power by 2025 and ensure that one-fifth of its total energy output is renewable.
This is a list of useful talking points when approaching progressives and lefties on the Taiwan issue. The article notes that President Tsai is not from a political dynasty, and it might have been added that she is one-fourth aborigine herself. Another useful point for US lefties: guns are not legally available to the bulk of the population, and gun crime is rare.
On the Left it is routine to claim that Taiwan is part of China and that the US recognizes that. Both these claims are false, and pro-Taiwan types should always be armed with the rebuttal: under both international law and US policy, the status of Taiwan remains undetermined.
Another problem that faces pro-Taiwan types in talking with lefties is that Taiwan is typically seen as a “right” or “Republican” issue. It is useful to point out that the Taiwan Caucus in Congress is the second-largest caucus in Congress with 137 members from both parties. It is also useful to observe that in the 1970s and 1980s major Democratic figures such as Claiborne Pell, Stephen Solarz, and Ted Kennedy were staunch Taiwan supporters and Kennedy himself went on record many times condemning KMT authoritarianism in Taiwan.
Another way to pique interest in Taiwan with Americans (of any political stripe, not just lefties) is to point out that it is the origin of the peoples of many Pacific Islands which are US territories and of course, the peoples of Hawaii, along with the early peoples of Philippines, a close US ally. This not only provides a ready-made historical linkage with the US but also challenges the idea that Taiwan is only “Chinese”.
Pro-Taiwan types need to work on communicating to people on the left that Taiwan deserves their support. Taiwan needs to be reclaimed from the perception that it is a “right” issue and redefined as what it actually is: an issue of interest to all Americans.
American Citizens for Taiwan Foundation articles, the Congressional contact tool, and Congressional Guide remain free, but take an enormous amount of time to research, write, and post — and thousands of dollars to sustain each year.
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