{"id":263382,"date":"2024-06-03T12:00:58","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T11:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=263382"},"modified":"2024-05-31T06:22:43","modified_gmt":"2024-05-31T05:22:43","slug":"taiwan-continues-toward-us-engineered-ukraine-ization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2024\/06\/taiwan-continues-toward-us-engineered-ukraine-ization\/","title":{"rendered":"Taiwan Continues Toward US-Engineered \u201cUkraine-ization\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

New Eastern Outlook<\/p><\/div>\n

27 May 2024 <\/em>– The Chinese Island province of Taiwan continues to be targeted by the US and its political proxies through efforts to further consolidate political control over it and transform it into a geopolitical \u201cbattering ram\u201d against the rest of China.<\/p>\n

Considering the catastrophic consequences the Eastern European nation of Ukraine is suffering from a similar US-engineered strategy, understanding what Washington is doing to Taiwan and why there is essential in exposing and possibly avoiding similar consequences of unfolding in the Asia-Pacific region.<\/p>\n

New \u201cPresident,\u201d Same Policy of Separatism\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The US-backed Democratic Progressive Party\u2019s (DPP) Lai Ching-te took office as the local administration\u2019s \u201cpresident,\u201d doubling down on a policy of integrating Taiwan further with the United States which includes military, political, and economic subordination.<\/p>\n

Lai Ching-te\u2019s predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen oversaw the expansion of a US troop presence, which\u00a0according to<\/a> the Wall Street Journal, includes outer islands claimed by the Taipei-based administration, as well as growing tensions with the rest of China. Taiwan\u2019s local economy has suffered consistently as the island\u2019s administration attempts to reduce its \u201cdependency\u201d on the rest of China, which represents the largest market (nearly half) for all exports from local industries.<\/p>\n

Taiwan is Not a Country<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Guardian in its\u00a0article<\/a>, \u201cChina warns of reprisals against Taiwan after president\u2019s inauguration speech,\u201d attempts to portray China as bullying a \u201csovereign\u201d Taiwan.<\/p>\n

The article claims:<\/p>\n

Beijing has warned of undefined reprisals against Taiwan after the inauguration speech of new president Lai Ching-te in which he maintained his government\u2019s position on sovereignty, and did not concede to Beijing\u2019s claim that Taiwan is a province of China.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, the fact that Taiwan is a province of China is not merely\u00a0\u201cBeijing\u2019s claim.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0It is recognized as such by the\u00a0United Nations<\/a>, the \u201cOne China\u201d policy of nations around the globe, including the United States and most European states, as well as the\u00a0constitution\u00a0<\/a>of the Taiwan-based \u201cRepublic of China\u201d itself.<\/p>\n

The Guardian along with much of the collective West\u2019s media deliberately misinforms the general public regarding the status of Taiwan to help enable US efforts to transform the island province into a proxy against the rest of China much in the same way Ukraine has been transformed into a proxy against Russia.<\/p>\n

The Guardian also noted:<\/p>\n

China\u2019s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) called Lai\u2019s speech \u201ca downright confession of Taiwan independence\u201d, and again labeled Lai a \u201cdangerous separatist\u201d.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNo one hopes to achieve the reunification of the motherland through peaceful means more than we do,\u201d the statement attributed to TAO spokesperson Chen Binhua said. \u201cHowever, we must counterattack and punish the DPP authorities in colluding with external forces to pursue \u2018independence\u2019 provocations.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The external forces being referred to of course are Washington and its allies. The DPP, and both Tsai Ing-wen and Lai Ching-te specifically, have a long history of consorting with the US government through the Taiwan-based \u201cAmerican Institute in Taiwan\u201d (AIT).<\/p>\n

The AIT serves as a de facto US embassy, since the US does not officially recognize Taiwan as a nation. In fact, on the US State Department\u2019s official website<\/a>, regarding the status of Taiwan, it specifically says,\u00a0\u201cwe do not support Taiwan independence,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0while admitting the AIT is\u00a0\u201ca non-governmental organization mandated by the Taiwan Relations Act to carry out the United States\u2019 unofficial relations with Taiwan.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Washington\u2019s Political Capture of Taiwan\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Originally, Taiwan served as the refuge of the fleeing Kuomintang (KMT), the US-backed losers of China\u2019s civil war following the end of World War 2. To prevent China from sweeping away the remnants of Washington\u2019s proxies, the US stationed thousands of troops on the island of Taiwan and invested heavily in maintaining what was then considered a pseudo-government-in-exile.<\/p>\n

In the 1970s, the objective of reinstalling the KMT into power over the rest of China was no longer practical. Washington, along with the rest of the world, officially recognized the Beijing-based People\u2019s Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China, including Taiwan. The US also agreed to withdraw its military forces and eventually end the sale of weapons to Taiwan.<\/p>\n

Despite these initial steps and the US to this day officially denouncing Taiwanese independence, its policy in recent years has been exclusively focused on promoting separatism, including through the return of US troops on the island, building up the military forces of the island\u2019s administration, building up the DPP, maneuvering it into power, and aiding it in consolidating political control over the island to then pivot the population toward an anti-China, pro-separatist footing.<\/p>\n

Taiwan: A Disposable Proxy\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the ultimate goal has for decades been to transform Taiwan into a US client regime, fully independent of China, and use it as an \u201cunsinkable aircraft carrier\u201d against the rest of China, the likelihood of this happening now is low. A much more measured objective is to use Taiwan as a means of complicating China\u2019s rise, contributing to a larger US strategy of encirclement and containment, and raising the cost significantly for the eventual, full reunification of Taiwan with the rest of China.<\/p>\n

More recent think tank papers, including a January 2023 Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)\u00a0report\u00a0<\/a>titled, \u201cThe First Battle of the Next War: War gaming a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan,\u201d discusses a possible Chinese \u201cinvasion\u201d of its own island province, and admits that while it believes the US can ultimately frustrate such a military operation, it comes at the price of \u201cextensive damage done to the Taiwanese infrastructure and economy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Obviously, scouring the physical surface of Taiwan of all industry and infrastructure, rendering its economy destroyed, equates to the destruction of Taiwan\u2019s administration itself. Just like with Ukraine, which US policymakers in 2019 suggested\u00a0<\/a>aiding in a military build-up meant to provoke, rather than deter a Russian military intervention, the goal is not to deter conflict or save either Ukraine or Taiwan, but instead provoke conflict that can incur steep costs for both Russia and China, hopefully \u201cextending\u201d either or both nations to the point of a Soviet Union-style collapse.<\/p>\n

Ukraine is already paying the cost of this policy vis-\u00e0-vis Russia, the policy having categorically failed in \u201cextending\u201d Russia or precipitating a collapse of either its government or economy. The use of Taiwan in a similar manner is unlikely to be any more successful for US policymakers, but Taiwan itself is just as likely to suffer catastrophically in the event of a future conflict as Ukraine is suffering now amid the current, ongoing conflict. Just as the rest of Europe is suffering from Washington\u2019s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, Washington\u2019s use of Taiwan to provoke Beijing is having a destabilizing effect on the entire Asia-Pacific region.<\/p>\n

The US-backed DPP remaining in office in Taipei ensures the danger of Taiwan becoming the next \u201cUkraine\u201d remains a high likelihood. In the meantime, Taiwan\u2019s local economy will continue to suffer as the current administration irrationally pivots away from the rest of China and further subordinates itself to US foreign policy objectives.<\/p>\n

Only time will tell if Beijing\u2019s own policy toward full reunification can outpace Washington\u2019s policy of destroying the island before this happens. China\u2019s approach involves a combination of military power to confront the growing US militarization of the island and a growing number of economic incentives to share with Taiwan the peace, stability, and prosperity the rest of China has increasingly enjoyed since the turn of the century.<\/p>\n

_________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Brian Berletic is a Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher and writer.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original – journal-neo.su<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

27 May 2024 – The Chinese Island province of Taiwan continues to be targeted by the US and its political proxies through efforts to further consolidate political control over it and transform it into a geopolitical \u201cbattering ram\u201d against the rest of China. D\u00e9j\u00e0-vu all over again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":263386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[417,244,1126,1050,1148,961,70],"class_list":["post-263382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific","tag-bullying","tag-china","tag-hegemony","tag-imperialism","tag-taiwan","tag-ukraine","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263382"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":263387,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263382\/revisions\/263387"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}