Explore with me the problems and opportunities both America and China face if they are to achieve their rightful place on the world stage. In this section I address a Chronicle of China's Recent Repressive Actions. If you would like to discuss the contents of my novel, Year of the Tiger, or any information on my website, you can email me at  stan@sowensmith.com.

Click on cover image below to enlarge

Chen Shui-bian was narrowly re-elected to another term as president of Taiwan in August, 2004. The dangerous confrontation that loomed with China over the election and referendum for independence was only temporarily abated.

It is pure fantasy on the part of those who imagine that by cleverly "re-framing" the bellicose rhetoric that China periodically unleashes, stability will be maintained in the Asia region (see Taiwan Tensions: Avoiding a War With China, WSJ, p.A15, May 24, 2004). The Asian editor of the WSJ appeases the pro-China lobby in the State Department, when he suggests that China's aspirations to control international air and sea lanes in the South China Sea have in any way diminished.

The U.S. is pledged to defend Taiwan against China by the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act but most Americans don't realize the U.S. is ill-prepared to defend Taiwan against the 600 Chinese ballistic missiles now pointed at Taiwan.

The Aegis High-Tier ballistic missile defense being developed by the U.S. is not expected to be operational before 2013, if then. In the interim, the U.S. could not only fail to prevent China from invading Taiwan but lose access to the critical choke points that lie along the energy corridor from the Mediterranean, Middle East and Caspian areas to the South China Sea.

The only thing that prevents China invading Taiwan is Bush's clear, unambiguous statement on April 15, 2001 to both sides of the Taiwan Strait that the U.S. will not allow reunification by force of arms and does not want Taiwan to mess with the status quo. This was a clear departure from decades of living under a policy of "strategic ambiguity."

Recently, China has ratcheted-up its hostile rhetoric toward Taiwan. The reason is that when the presidential opponent, John Kerry, was questioned about foreign policy including Taiwan and Iraq, he rejects war and states if he is elected he will return to a policy of ambiguity because he argues, along with his running mate John Edwards and Senator Joe Biden, that it is better to be intentionally vague about going to war because "... any situation which results in the use of force is unlikely to be black or white...". This language of a true anti-war protestor encourages China to increase pressure on Taiwan and the U.S. By rejecting Bush's clear unambiguous policy, Kerry repeats the same rhetoric of Secretary of State Dean Rusk in the Truman administration that led the U.S. into the Korean War with China.

Trivializing Taiwan's determination to prepare adequate defenses against China's unceasing threats or its continuing efforts to distance itself from the threat of submitting to China's dictatorship will not encourage other players in the neighborhood from being bullied. Hong Kong's progress towards representative elections and human rights have been severely repressed and haven't gone unnoticed by the Taiwanese people and other freedom loving Chinese outside of China. The Bush administration or any other administration that follows will be sorely tested if a key democracy is invaded and allowed to fall.

The WSJ reported on August 18, 2004 that China, after threatening Taiwan's businessmen who supported Chen Shui-bian's re-election as president, denied them visas to travel to Hong Kong.

A certain euphoria prevails amongst many Americans in the business community who turn a blind eye to China's repressive actions against its neighbors because in the short run China's trade and growth supports the world economy. This is a transient phenomenon which in the long run will be replaced by harsh realities as China competes for scarce energy resources and its rigid fascist leadership's inability to become a cooperative player on the world stage becomes more apparent. China's experiment with capitalism and free trade is on a collision course with its fascist ideology and its antiquated state controlled enterprises and banking system.

China can claim the fastest growing economy in the world, but with that claim comes two sets of challenges that create social, political and economic turmoil and tension within China as well as threatens global stability. One set of challenges has to do with individual rights and political freedom. The other set of challenges has to do with managing the transition from a centrally-planned state economy to capitalizing and managing free markets. The slightest hiccup with either set of challenges has dire implications for the rest of the global community.

Top of Page

The Good News From China

The Bad News From China

Chronicle of China's Repressive Actions

China's Problems with Individual Rights

China's Rush to Arm and Proliferation

China's Transition Economy

America's Rush to Defend Itself

Home  Author  Book  Excerpt  History

Buy Book Direct  Barnes&Noble  Amazon

Copyright  by S. Owen Smith. All Rights Reserved.

Web design by Oak Ridge Web Designs