| The following is Paul Jackson's August 20, 2002 column in the Calgary Sun . TEST OF FREEDOM World must pressure Beijing to stop bullying Taiwan By Paul Jackson Just a year ago I strolled past some government buildings in Taipei, the capital of the island nation of Taiwan, and stopped to watch a group of students demonstrate on some issue or another. A couple of police officers stood idly by in case trouble erupted. None did. Demonstrations are a casual occurrence in Taiwan -- the free Republic of China, where some 90 political parties bid for votes. That's not the case on Mainland China -- the misnamed People's Republic of China -- where demonstrations are banned and the only political party allowed is the Communists. There, as the world witnessed in 1989, the dictators in Beijing sent in tanks and machine guns and mowed down hundreds of young men and women student demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, later sending thousands more to concentration camps. No wonder then, that the 23 million men, women and children shudder whenever Beijing talks about 'reuniting' Taiwan with the mainland. This would be virtually a death sentence for them. Following my column "Independent" (Aug. 13), in which I pointed out Beijing is again threatening Taiwan after President Chen Shui-bian had talked about holding a referendum on the unification issue, many readers phoned, suggesting that, surely, the civilized world wouldn't stand by and let the Beijing regime actually subjugate Taiwan. With all due respect -- what naivete! We stood by when Red China enslaved tiny Tibet. We stood by and handed over Hong Kong to Beijing. We stand by while Robert Mugabe's regime brutalizes white farmers in Rhodesia -- yes, it will always be Rhodesia to me! We may well stand by as Middle East dictators try to throttle Israel. So, cowardly turning our backs on Taiwan is surely not out of the question. Red China, with its 1.2 million soldiers, sailors and air men, constantly holds 'war games' in the Strait of Taiwan, in order to rattle the island's government and people. That, with a military of less than 500,000 itself, Taiwan stands resolute against capitulation, is admirable. Yes, the United States has always promised it will defend Taiwan -- and has moved aircraft carriers and battleships into the area at various times, including when Beijing launched missiles into the straits in brazen displays of intimidation. But Beijing is now buying a fleet of attack submarines from the former Soviet Union -- once a close Communist ally -- and the question is whether the U.S. would risk losing aircraft carriers and battleships to a submarine attack. Beijing knows such a scenario would give Washington the jitters. Taiwan does want reconciliation with Mainland China and constantly makes overtures, which are routinely rejected. The dictators in Beijing talk about a "one country, two systems" formula -- but this would turn the democratic Republic of China into simply an administrative region of the monolithic People's Republic of China. How long would the charade of freedom last? Would China really allow the entrepreneurial, prosperous and freedom-loving people of Taiwan to infect the mainland? Dream on -- the Beijing regime has blood up to its arm pits. So the truth is that there is only one legitimate, legally elected government in the 'two' Chinas. That is the government in Taipei, not in Beijing. The government structure on Taiwan was instituted by one of China's great patriots, Dr. Sun Yet-san, in 1912, later to be transferred to the island in 1949 ahead of Mao Tse-tung's Communist hordes. What the world should do is pressure the government in Beijing to abdicate, and allow the government in Taipei to initially take on a caretaker role while arranging free elections on the mainland. Then we'll see just what kind of a political system the people in both Chinas want to live under -- a repressive dictatorship or a free democracy. I think we all know what the answer would be. Back to the home page. |