Should Taiwan join with China?
Beijing’s strategy is clear and autocratic in its behavior of neighboring states. Currently now there are only 26 countries left in the world that recognize Taiwan’s full diplomatic recognition as a nation. The numbers are getting less due to China’s economic boom and influence around the world. We have already seen in the last year a slight shift in the Yuan resulted in chaos in our money markets overseas, and put at risk our financial markets to the rest of the world. There is only one Saviour that can come to Taiwan’s aid and that is the United States. Without her Taiwan is finished.
The question remains, should Taiwan be an integral part of the Chinese system? We know that the Taiwanese are in fact Chinese by culture, that Taiwan’s trade with China stands in excess of 2.2 billion U.S. dollars, about half of the $4.2 billion that the rest of the world has invested in Taiwan. Should Taiwan put the past behind her and “marry” the mega economy for its own prosperity including its prosperity with the rest of the world? These questions and more should go to the general Taiwanese people themselves. They were after all the victims of a repressed and autocratic and brutal regime, and tried to stop communism. Can the Taiwanese live with a marriage of convenience much like the smaller states of Hongkong, Macao, Tibet? The Taiwanese have enjoyed freedom from its neighbor for some time now, and they continue to enjoy there own culture and freedoms. Therefore having a taste of life away from the dominant specter of the dragon, can Taiwan live with the directives from Beijing.? I hardly think so. Therefore it is only prudent that Taiwan defend itself and build long term economic markets that ensures diversity and maintains long term sustainability. It must be able to defend its waterways and trade routes, and look at smarter initiatives that keeps China and the mainland at arms length. Taiwan has no choice but to build a significant deterrent to its threatening neighbor and must remain strong to counter the overwhelming military threat from the North.