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The world must be fully aware of the perils that would erupt should China occupy its tiny southeast Pacific coastal neighbor, Taiwan, and abolish it as a separate, internationally recognized republic.
How would the United States and the world react if Beijing eliminated Taiwan and integrated it with the mainland?
Background of the current situation
Chinese vessels are circling Taiwan, at times, around the clock, seemingly surveying and preparing for an invasion of the South China Sea republic. From western Taiwan, the mainland Chinese coast is clearly visible, just miles away.
On Oct. 11, the Washington Post published a column entitled “Congress Must Untie Biden’s Hands On Taiwan.” The author: Congresswoman Elaine Luria (D-VA).
Ms. Luria quotes a Woodrow Wilson Center colleague as saying: “Chinese leaders either believe they will have to fight the United States for the future of Taiwan, or they do not.”
In Representative Luria’s view: “It’s time to untie the hands of our president so that he can, in fact, carry through with a ‘rock-solid’ commitment to Taiwan if actions by China require it.”
She added: “My Republican colleagues introduced the Taiwan Invasion Prevention Act last February to grant President Biden the authority to act against an invasion and occupation of Taiwan (a republic of 23 million citizens) and prevent what she termed “a fait accompli.”
Her conclusion is: “The Taiwan Invasion Prevention Act is a starting point, not a conclusion. The time for debate in Congress is now, not after an assault on the tiny republic occurs.”
“It is time to untie the hands of our President now,” Congresswoman Luria concludes, “so that he can carry through with a ‘rock solid’ commitment to Taiwan if actions by China require it.” The world will be watching.
As a 36-year veteran of the Voice of America (VOA), Alan Heil traveled to more than 40 countries a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, and later as director of News and Current Affairs, deputy director of programs, and deputy director of the nation’s largest publicly-funded overseas multimedia network. Today, VOA reaches more than 275 million people around the world each week via radio, television and online media. Read More
