The Colonialists Holding the Wheel
When will the Taiwanese have full control of their own destiny?
“How can you thank a man for giving you what’s already yours? How then can you thank him for giving you only part of what’s already yours?” — Malcolm X
Think of the current global political landscape as a super highway and nation-states as vehicles. A driver has the freedom to travel anywhere without any restraints, similar to a nation-state having the ability to establish diplomatic relations with other countries, participate in international organizations and sign economic trade agreements. As the other 193 cars (nation-states) are driving to their destinations, Taiwan does not enjoy the right of freedom of navigation, being compelled to sit in the passenger seat. The reasoning behind Taiwan’s complex political predicament is simple: The Taiwanese people are currently not the drivers of their own vehicle.
Throughout Taiwanese history alien regimes, from the Netherlands to the Chinese Nationalist Party, have imposed colonialism upon the island nation. What are the results of strangers taking control of Taiwan’s vehicle, driving where they want, and holding Taiwan hostage in the passenger seat? Taiwan has been deprived of the fundamental right to self-determination. Its resources, capital, and labor, were taken from the island and used to enrich other nations. Sustained state violence has marked these centuries of foreign rule, including the 22-8 Massacre and the White Terror, the second longest period of martial law in the world, which lasted 38 years and 57 days. The Taiwanese people have had no opportunities to drive their own vehicle, except for the short-lived Republic of Formosa, existing only a few months before it was annexed by Imperial Japan in 1895.
At present the Taiwanese passenger is currently held hostage by the Republic of China government, which moved to the island in 1949 after losing the Chinese Civil War. However, there’s another who wants to abduct that passenger and drive off with Taiwan, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the CCP has routinely spread a false narrative about Taiwan being a part of the so-called “Motherland” since ancient times, and that it is the “sacred mission” of the Party to annex and impose a colonial police state on Taiwan, in all likelihood similar to the repression now occurring in Xinjiang.
The CCP has proposed the “One Country, Two Systems” plan to the Taiwanese people. A political system formulated by Deng Xiaoping, it is now in place in Hong Kong and Macau where they were to retain economic and administrative autonomy for 50 years, while the rest of China would continue being under One-Party rule. The CCP has lauded the system as the best way for so-called “peaceful unification”, however in recent years, freedoms in Hong Kong have been eroding. According to watchdog Freedom house, Hong Kong’s freedom ranking has deteriorated to partly free, due to excessive political pressure coming from Beijing. Under the puppet strings of the CCP, Hong Kong has banned political parties, imprisoned political prisoners, and implemented political screening. Meanwhile the Taiwanese have been consistently rejecting 1C2S for two decades, since credible polling began.
The Taiwanese people can see the human rights abuses committed by the CCP occurring in both Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Why should another hostile driver, who clearly doesn’t respect human rights or universal values, unilaterally take the control that rightfully belongs to the Taiwanese people? The Taiwanese people need to take control of the wheel and prevent another regime from expropriating what rightfully belongs to them: the right to decide their own future.
The Taiwanese people need to take control of the wheel and prevent another regime from expropriating what rightfully belongs to them: the right to decide their own future.
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