By Walt Zlotow
America is risking war with China in its obsession over the status of Taiwan.
That relationship is none of our business. Yet we’re risking war 8,000 miles from the homeland on China’s doorstep that if started, would be virtually impossible to win, short of going nuclear.
Current US government and media narrative erases the last 6,000 years of China-Taiwan history to create a new cause célèbre for US military adventurism, America’s No 1 industry just gifted with the world’s first trillion dollar annual budget. Without historical context, the US electorate is being deceived into supporting self-destructive policy foolishly deemed necessary to US national self-interests: defending freedom over authoritarianism on the other side of the world.
A brief review of the long tortured China, Taiwan history refutes that narrative.
Chinese from Southwest China settled Taiwan over 6,000 years ago. Beginning in 1624, the Dutch and Spanish moved in to exploit Taiwan’s resources, as Europeans were want to do worldwide. But the Chinese kicked them out by 1683, ruling Taiwan for 212 years till Japan gobbled up Taiwan after in the Sino-Japanese War in 1895. For the next 50 years Japan used Taiwan (Formosa at the time) as a land-based aircraft carrier for their pan Asian adventurism.
But at the Cairo Conference in 1943, the Allies declared a major war aim was full return of Formosa to China. This occurred by a UN mandate upon Japan’s surrender in 1945.
With Japan defeated in China, Mao’s communists resumed their civil war to overturn the corrupt, unpopular nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek. In 1949, Mao prevailed. Chiang fled with about two million of his die hard supporters to Formosa, setting up their own version of the Republic of China renamed Taiwan.
The US looked at the 538 million Chinese living under communism on the mainland, the two million on Taiwan, and said ‘Nope, we’ll recognize Chiang on tiny Taiwan as the legitimate Chinese government till he can kick out the dreaded commies.’ They even gave Chiang the military assistance to prevent any unification with China – which was inevitable without that support. Is it any wonder the people and government of China would embark on eventual reunification, whether taking years, decades or even a century?
On October 25, 1971, the UN ended the 2 China policy, voting to expel Taiwan, claiming to be the Republic of China, and replacing it with the mainland Peoples Republic of China. Just a year later Nixon’s thaw with mainland China cemented US recognition of the mainland One China policy. The US severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and in 1980 ended their security treaty with Taiwan initiated in 1955.
Without abandoning Taiwan completely, the US embarked on five decades of ‘strategic ambiguity’ which kept tensions with China over Taiwan’s status on the back burner of US China diplomacy.
That changed when President Obama’s ‘Pivot to Asia’ in his second term moved pro-Taiwan policy to the front burner. His successors Trump, Biden and again Trump have so turned up the heat that war with China, over its long-term plan for eventual absorption of Taiwan into Chinese sovereignty, is now a possibility.
From Strategic Ambiguity, President Biden authorized a provocative Taiwan visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, increased arms sales to Taiwan as well as Pentagon training of Taiwanese military. Worst of all Biden repeatedly pledged to defend Taiwan if China attacked.
Trump’s return to power offers no pullback from China hysteria. He’s filled his administration with China hawks including himself and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Trump’s super China hawk, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, engages in reckless fearmongering touting America getting prepared for war with our most dangerous enemy. No surprise it’s China. China hawks in Congress include Senators Tom Cotton and Josh Hawley along with Representatives Mike Gallagher and Raja Krishnamoorthi. No congressperson pushes back against this madness as demonizing China goes with the job.
Ignoring the 6,000 yearlong interwoven China-Taiwan history has proven disastrous to sensible, peace promoting US diplomacy. America made the wrong decision on the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and has chosen to govern largely in ignorance for the past 76 years. On this issue ignorance is not bliss. It may mean nuclear war.
Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL
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Australian citizens must wake up to what the ANZUS Treaty means if and when America commences hostilities with China over the future of Taiwan. Australia will be drawn into a “no winners” war where our sovereign territory will be targeted by China’s nuclear capable ICBMs. At the same time mainland USA will experience the high technology of China’s war machine and will offer us no assistance or protection from China’s actions. It is the case that Australia is at greater risk being an ally of USA than if we were an enemy. There is no logic or justice attached to Trump’s continuing anti-China provocations. Worse still is the mindless compliance that our Minister for Defence displays towards every wish and desire of the Pentagon without any reference to the opinions of the Australian electorate. The constant anti-China fear campaign emanating from our media does not suggest that there is any hope of avoiding this looming conflict. What is required now it a mass campaign of public protest of the intensity that was achieved during the Viet Nam War era coupled with the “recovery” of US intelligence and military assets now operational on Australian territory.
Any notion of Oz sending weaponry to the proximity of China / Taiwan to fight a war against China is utterly ludicrous. Kowtowing to any line of hegemonic America with regard to the Western Pacific, China and SE Asia is equally ludicrous and under T-Rump becoming moreso by the day. The ANZUS treaty is not worth the paper it’s been written on. And according to the actions of T-Rump, all treaties it has ever entered are erasable by one stroke on his ego and his ‘Sharpie’.
Over the centuries of America’s existence, it has been corrupted and self-destroying by its own exceptionalism, and today is blighted by corporatized consumerist greed, xenophobia and ignorance. The advent of T-Rump, his masters and flunkies, has seen that corrupted exceptionalism turned to wanton narcissistic disregard and brutalism. A truly feudal regression whilst the world seeks a journey to cooperation, equity, peace, and sustainability.
They are surely an unrealiable partner no-one wants. Any efforts with the US, made by countries outside them, is purely designed to prevent their warlike hubris-driven crumbling mismanaged economy from driving the world to decades-long collapse and environmental obliteration.
Those who fail to remember the lessons of history are condemned to repeat…
I seem to recall that the Americans (and allies) pretty much got their arses whipped in the Korean war… by who? The Chinese.
The notion that America’s armed forces, who can’t even march in step let alone prosecute a successful military mission, could take on the Chinese and win is, to echo Clakka’s comment, ludicrous. Even the stateside war-gaming industry has said as much, with repeated versions of USA v. PRC engaged in virtual conflict continuing to show the Americans losing.
I hope the Australian government takes these messages seriously and moves to a position of neutrality, as well as cancelling all contracts for onshore American military assets… get rid of them ASAP. Dump AUKUS. Dump American military alliance.
@Canguro
I support your conclusion as an example of clear thinking – the logic unavoidable.
Given the subject matter, I was reminded of a similar example written in 2017, part of which I set out below: https://johnmenadue.com/post/2017/08/mark-beeson-the-unconventional-wisdom/
“True, defense policy tends to be a specialist interest, but given the colossal sums of money involved in acquiring military hardware, one might have expected that the underlining principles of Australia’s strategic doctrine might be subject to more searching scrutiny…
…Remarkably enough, however, and despite the fact that thousands of young Australians have given their lives during one conflict or another, bipartisan support for the alliance with the US remains as strong as ever. Rarely is the fundamental contradiction at the heart of the alliance actually unpacked: if American power really is the key to international security and stability, why have we been called upon to fight in quite so many wars? (My emphasis).
…This would be a not unreasonable question to ask at the best of times. These are plainly not the best of times, however, not least because Donald Trump is perhaps the most under-qualified, erratic and unpredictable president in American history. Adding to the dangerous international situation, of course, is the existence of equally alarming potential adversaries like Kim Jong-un…
…So what should an independently minded middle power do in such circumstances? In Australia’s case the simple answer is, we don’t know. The overarching strategic reality is that by cleaving so tenaciously to the alliance, generations of Australian policymakers have essentially given up even the pretense of independence of action. (My emphasis)…
…Why would a notionally sovereign independent state want to give up its freedom of action in this manner? In part, I think, its because there has been a similar loss of the ability to think independently. So engrained is the conventional wisdom that it is quite literally unthinkable for many of our prominent commentators to consider any alternative to the status quo. (My emphasis).
…If it was unambiguously clear that such policies had kept us immune from danger, while simultaneously generating an economic peace dividend then there would be little to debate and the orthodoxy might actually be applauded. But that is plainly not the case. Not only do we continue to invest in evermore-expensive weapons systems for reasons that are rarely clearly justified, but we also find ourselves yet again on the brink of war… (My emphasis)
…Unless we have the capacity to think for ourselves as members of a relatively minor power with no enemies and a potentially distinctive take on the world, not much will change. When the world is rather short of creative thinking about a growing number of threats and challenges, such thinking and alternative responses to age-old problems are desperately needed. We know only too well what the old models look like and lead to.”
Uhm ….. The USA (Universal Surveillance Always) use fear as a principal weapon to control their population and intimidate their economic targets.
The Taiwan matter recognises that there are more computer chips produced in Taiwan than anywhere else in the world, and the American economy relies upon regular and reliable supply to produce manufacturing output & so profits for the overpaid corporate executives.
So keep the US population fearful about Taiwan without advising the commercial ink and the media manipulatoers will have a field day.