.jpg)
Taiwan
Frontline Formosa
Taiwan’s fate will, ultimately, be decided by the battle-readiness of its people, says Alice Su
- Taiwan: Taiwan is a vital island that is under serious threat
- The past: How Taiwan is shaped by its history and identity
- The economy: It is time to divert Taiwan’s trade and investment from China
- Semiconductors: Taiwan’s dominance of the chip industry makes it more important
- The home front: The battle with China is psychological as much as physical
- Defence: Taiwan needs a new defence strategy to deal with China
- Politics: Taiwanese politics faces a crucial election in early 2024
- What Taiwan needs: Taiwan desperately needs support from the world
It would spread far across the region, with devastating consequences for the world
| GUAM, HONOLULU, OKINAWA and TAIPEI
"THEIR FACES smeared in green and black, some with Stinger anti-aircraft missiles on their packs, the men of “Darkside”—the 3rd battalion of America’s 4th marine regiment—boarded a pair of Sea Stallion helicopters and clattered away into the nearby jungle. Their commanders followed in more choppers carrying ultralight vehicles and communications gear. Anything superfluous was left behind. No big screens for video links of the sort used in Iraq and Afghanistan: to avoid detection, the marines must make sure their communications blend into the background just as surely as their camouflage blends into the tropical greenery. The goal of the exercise: to disperse around an unnamed island, link up with friendly “green” allies and repel an amphibious invasion by “red” forces.
✓ Ignore the polite abstractions. The marines are training for a war with China, probably precipitated by an invasion of Taiwan. Their base in Okinawa, at the southern end of the Japanese archipelago, is just 600km (370 miles) from Taiwan. The two islands are part of what American military planners call the “first island chain”: a series of archipelagoes and islands, big and small, that stretches from Japan to Malaysia, impeding naval passage from China to the Pacific. Whether by harrying Chinese ships from a distance or—much less likely—by deploying to Taiwan to help repel a Chinese landing, the marines will be early participants in any conflict."
How to avoid war over Taiwan
"EUROPE is witnessing its bloodiest cross-border war since 1945, but Asia risks something even worse: conflict between America and China over Taiwan. Tensions are high, as American forces pivot to a new doctrine known as “distributed lethality” designed to blunt Chinese missile attacks. Last week dozens of Chinese jets breached Taiwan’s “air defence identification zone”. This week China’s foreign minister condemned what he called America’s strategy of “all-round containment and suppression, a zero-sum game of life and death”.
As America rearms in Asia and tries to galvanise its allies, two questions loom. Is it willing to risk a direct war with another nuclear power to defend Taiwan, something it has not been prepared to do for Ukraine? And by competing with China militarily in Asia, could it provoke the very war it is trying to prevent?"
RELATED CONTENT on this blog
.jpg)
.jpg)
.png)
During the Cold War, why didn’t the US want to support Chiang Kai-Shek retaking mainland China from Taiwan?
"His reputation in Taiwan is not good. Regardless of whatever the facts are, there is political gold there: We say the KMT is bad, therefore the DPP is good. Simple logic: I don’t like durian, therefore dragon fruit must be good, no?
In the long run, I think CKS will be viewed as someone like 漢先祖劉備 Liu Bei, who fought futilely to restore the Han. Chinese love tragic heroes.
Give it a couple hundred years. All Chiang needs is a 羅貫中 Lo Guanzhong to write him up. All the elements are there: Chairman Mao a wondrous, talented, heartless villain who let Chiang do most of the fighting against the Japanese, the brilliant strategist who let Chiang bleed himself dry and then ate him up. The corrupt warlords Chiang had to work with, as well as his beautiful, greedy wife. Chiang himself lived austerely, but because of those were the only people he had to work with, Chiang has been stained as corrupt.
(Corrupt: here’s a story an American army officer told me, from around 1965 in Taiwan. An inspecting general came from the US, inspected the ROC troops, examined their clothing, and said, “This is not the cloth we provided you with. The men’s uniforms should have better cloth.” Chiang found the ROC general who was in charge of that, had him shot the next morning, and had new uniforms issued before long.)
(Austere: I don’t know if they’re still there, but shortly after CKS died, you could go visit his homes, even go into the bedrooms and look around. My desk is better than his! And I don’t think many people would be willing to sleep on his narrow, hard bed.
Also, something he earned respect for was that after a certain age, I forget when, maybe 70, he wore only Sun Yatsen outfits or his army uniform. Nothing else, never Western clothes, nothing really fancy.
When he was alive and kicking, sometimes downtown you would see a big black car ~ there weren’t many ~ and as it went by, young men standing casually by the road would start talking to their handbags: no cellphones then. When his son, Chiang Chingkuo, became President, he rode in just a regular car, but you could tell it was his car because they wove through traffic with one or two motorcycles following right on the back bumper; their skill was admirable, even for Taiwan. Also, he stopped for red lights, just like anyone else. I know, because I stopped at a red light with him once. Those were in the days when there was still fighting going on. Today, when President Tsai or anyone in her Administration ventures onto the streets of Taipei, first they have dozens of police securing the route, watching nervously. Then the police blow their whistles and shoo people away, turn all the traffic lights red, and everybody waits for a couple minutes. Then the motorcade, five or six (very expensive) heavy armored black cars whoosh by, and once they are a safe distance down the street, traffic is allowed to resume.)
Chiang fought hard, lost, and retreated to Taiwan. He was supported by the US, which provided him with weapons that didn’t shoot very far. Because of CKS and his wife, the US provided money that led to the economic reconstruction of Taiwan after the Japanese had tried to ruin the economy; also, patriotic Chinese from around the world, especially SE Asia, were willing to come invest in factories and provide money to build the infrastructure. Without CKS, Taiwan would probably be something like the Philippines or Indonesia today.
CKS stayed in Taiwan for the rest of his days. He did not take a bundle of money and retreat to the Riviera. He remained loyal to Sun Yatsen and the ROC to the end of his days; people contrast that to Lee Tenghui, Chen Shiubian, and the like who would like nothing more than to become the Father of the Country.
So just sketching the broad outlines, there is material here for a great novel about the devoted patriot who never gave in to defeat. Again, Chinese love people like this, those who have their faults and failures but remain dedicated to their principles and their loyalty. This is why I think that a couple centuries from now, CKS may stand with Liu Bei as a great folk hero.
*
My opinion of Chiang has changed dramatically over the years, because of the people I have known who worked with him personally. Everybody from his driver to American military officers, everybody I know who worked with him personally, all held the man in the greatest respect. I am not a CKS apologist, but I believe there are people who blame him for everything for their own political benefit."
.jpg)
VIDEO
Posted: 2 days ago
No comments:
Post a Comment