Could Taiwan Go It Alone?

If President Trump has a phone conversation with his Free Chinese counterpart, William Lai, a prospect mooted by Taipei, it could help clear the air on the independence of the island democracy of Taiwan. “I’m not looking to have somebody go independent,” is how Mr. Trump frames the issue of autonomy for the Republic of China, of which Mr. Lai is president. Yet Taiwan has no need to declare independence, since it is already a sovereign state.“Taiwan, the Republic of China, is a sovereign and independent democratic country,” asserts Mr. Lai. These remarks followed the parley between Mr. Trump and the Communist Chinese party boss, Xi Jinping, who insists that the future of Taiwan is “the most critical issue in China–U.S. relations.” Mr. Xi eyes a takeover of Free China, but Mr. Lai avers that “Taiwan’s future must follow the will of all the Taiwanese people.”Mr. Lai’s appraisal echoes one of his predecessors as president of the Republic of China, Sun Yat-sen, a New York Sun contributor. Sun, who helped topple the imperial regime at Beijing, was a pioneer of Chinese democracy. Inspired by Lincoln, Sun advocated “government by the people, of the people, and for the people,” because “I believe in the Chinese people.” Sun’s vision blossomed on Taiwan, which is today China’s only representative democracy.The very existence of a multi-party self-governing Chinese state just 100 miles away from the mainland rattles Mr. Xi. This is in part because it undermines his pretensions to be a legitimate leader of China. Mr. Xi’s talk of “reunification,” too, ignores that the communist regime at Beijing has never controlled Taiwan. The Republic of China decamped to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao, who then declared the People’s Republic. Taiwan’s history since then, its envoy at Washington, Alexander Yui, tells CBS News, bespeaks “resilience and resistance against Chinese aggression.” Sun Yat-sen’s successor as president, Chiang Kai-shek, described the island as “citadel of freedom.” Mr. Lai echoes that view when he says “Taiwan will not provoke” a conflict, yet “will not under pressure give up national sovereignty and dignity, as well as the democratic and free way of life.”If the idea of merging with the mainland has been entertained by some Taipei politicos, the notion seems to be fading among current or potential voters. Beijing’s promise of “one country, two systems” rings hollow in Hong Kong and Macau, and, it seems, Taiwan’s electorate has taken notice. Communist China’s boot is too threatening to those on the Taiwanese island who have gotten too used to the notion of freedom to now give it up.To avoid a “war,” Mr. Trump says, “I have to speak to the person” who is “running Taiwan.” Of Taiwan’s leaders, Mr. Trump says, “I want them to cool down.” He wants Beijing, too, to “cool down.” He calls an American arms sale package to Taipei a “negotiating chip.” This is hardly the way to treat an ally like the ROC. Yet any decisions made by Messrs. Trump and Xi, reports the Financial Times’ Gideon Rachman, “are not the last word.”A trenchant point. Mr. Rachman sees that “Taiwan is not a colony or an uninhabited island, whose future can be negotiated away by outsiders.” Taiwan just voted to boost its defense budget by some $25 billion. Ukraine’s resistance to Russia looms large, Mr. Rachman reckons. If the Taiwanese themselves oppose “the idea of coerced incorporation into mainland China, they have an excellent chance of success — with or without American support.”

Could Taiwan Go It Alone?

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