The US is required to sell missiles to Taiwan under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, and of course, China has a problem with this. China views the Taiwan issue as an interior problem, which the US should not meddle in.
China-US tensions seem to be increasing, and this upcoming weeks' events may increase them further. Barack Obama will be meeting with the Dalai Lama and Taiwan's President will visit the US.
To be frank, this worries me. The fact that war is possible at any time in the future is something to shudder at, and rising tensions with a rising super power is not something desirable. It is to be hoped that Obama and the Chinese administration find some way to ease this tension. The Taiwan dispute will, as long as Taiwan, China, and the US exist, be a source of disagreement, but it would be nice if we could focus on something other than disagreements. How about, for example, the billion dollars worth of goods the US imports from China every day? There's some good there, right?
There must be some kind of analogy comparing this situation to two toddlers and a teddy bear in a sandbox, but I don't know it.
8 comments:
Here's my two cents.
Taiwan is an ally. Taiwan separated from China using the same reasons the Patriots separated from Great Britain in 1776, roughly. We have initiated the Taiwan Relations Act. We must hold up our end of the bargain. This situation is not too different from North and South Korea. We should come to the Taiwanese defense when the time comes. China does not deserve to complain against the U.S. after this recent Google situation.
By the way, if somebody wants war, it will be China. They'll be the ones who initiate something and we'll respond appropriately.
However, at the same time, war is not likely. So let's not go too far off the deep end and fret about nothing. Chinese and American relations are too strong for this kind of hostile engagement, as you pointed out in your last concluding sentences.
I was not saying that war was likely, only that it was a small possibility of the far off future. Growing tensions between super powers makes me uneasy.
Despite war being unlikely, what we have here is definitely a problem conflicting interests, which I say is a euphemism for a lit fuse or "trouble waiting to happen". There will inevitably, as there always is, have to be a resolution and egos will be hurt; it may not end up being pretty.
How likely is it that China will decide to be the mature party and say, "sure Taiwan, go ahead and stick it to us. After all, it is all for the sake of freedom, democracy and continued economic interests"? Hmm... not so sure... But that is the million dollar question :)
I agree with you that these and other similar demonstrations of the tension that exists between the US and China are worrisome. We are at a point when our relations are tense enough so that the issue is not just on the mind of American leaders, but the general public's as well (as evidence of this, the TV show "Better off Ted" made several jokes last night about being prepared "for when we go to war with China).
At some point down the line, I anticipate more direct confrontation between the two countries. That usually means militarily, and that's not really my intent--but perhaps our disagreements, such as whether to impose sanctions on the Sudanese government, will boil to a point when we cut off more ties.
Undoubtedly, this is a little scary.
I definitely found this post to be an interesting read, considering I have ties with all three places (the US, China, Taiwan) and I know many students at Aragon do as well.
"Looming economic friction made U.S.-China relations the top global risk of 2010."
(from http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/
2010/1/14/worldupdates/2010-01-14T012710Z_01_
NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-453532-7&sec=Worldupdates)
I agree that conflict with China seems inevitable at this point. Google recently threatened to shut its Chinese-language site because of censorship and hacking by the Chinese government, including attacks on human rights activists using its Gmail service. The U.S. has shown it is willing to stand against China on the prevalent issue of human-rights, and I think it will eventually be this issue that causes the most conflict regarding Taiwan.
Hopefully the "billions of dollars worth of goods" will be enough incentive against military action...
i found this post pretty relevant to myself as well but i was wondering why the U.S. would support the Taiwanese if our connection to China is much more important and beneficial to our country.
is it another term of the taiwanese relations act ? or is it for any other reason
personally i could only foreshadow worse and worse relations with china if we continue to follow this trend and even though war is not very likely we should really not antagonize china anymore as anyone else would agree to
Drew, Chiang Kai-Shek and the KMT, then the ruling government of China, "separated" because the Chinese Communist Party successfully led a rebellion and forced them to retreat from the mainland to Taiwan. That's not the same as what happened in 1776.
Post a Comment