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Politics
Of Political Capital and Opportunism — A New Paradigm in Cross-Strait Relations.
America plays diplomacy in the name of democracy — primarily a window dressing in the market of world politics. China grabs the moment and sets a new normal with Taiwan under the pretext of Pelosi’s visit.
Despite being a self-ruled democracy with a separate government and military, only 14 countries in the world, including Vatican City, support Taiwan as an independent country. America stands with it, provides military support, and endorses its democracy but does not recognize it as an independent nation. It adheres to China’s ‘One-China policy.’ Of course, there are plenty of pragmatic reasons behind it; still, it is difficult not to call it hypocritical.
I find the hypocrisy behind this position easy to understand but difficult to accept. Supporting democracy in Taiwan and its independence from China are not mutually exclusive. The two factors are not just congruent reciprocally but also uphold each other. After all, being independent is one of their democratic decisions.
Among the four interests America has in its policy towards Taiwan, three are sincere, and one is synthetic…
