The US is hitting China hard over treatment of Uyghurs. Nearly all imports from Xinjiang will be banned. At the same time, the US bolsters the call to bolster Taiwan’s military defense. However, Taiwan has the seeds of the same tyranny; it just doesn’t materialize into anything alarming because Taiwan remains small. The most obvious problem is that Taiwan refuses to allow Taiwan citizens to renounce citizenship, but demands Americans renounce their citizenship to become Taiwanese. Taiwanese can become dual-citizen Americans, but Americans can never become dual-citizen Taiwanese. That’s what some people call a “clue”.

Any double standard, no matter how small, will grow exponentially as a nation or organization grows. Taiwan’s double standard must be stopped before bolstering Taiwan’s military. Expunging double standards to escape fake democracy is the most effective way to help Taiwan right now.

China has been lecturing Taiwan about democracy. And, Taiwan has rightly and appropriately responded with harsh words. “It is ridiculous that China, which is not democratic at all, dares to tell Taiwan what democracy means,” said Spokesman Lo, from the Executive branch. That’s true. But, in terms of equal treatment to all people, Taiwan has its own deficiencies—which is fine because we all have deficiencies; but Taiwan’s deficiencies are being utterly ignored. We must ask why.

Is Washington so focused on China’s threat that leaders can’t foresee the next problem they will fear? Are lobbyists blind to the next problem, just as they were blind to the problem of making China so wealthy with exported American jobs over the last three decades? Is it greed? Is it a carefully crafted “next crisis”? Or, is it pure unawareness or apathy? We don’t know, but we need to be asking why America is running to help a country that treats Americans as “lessers”. Failure to do so actually makes China’s nonsense look less legitimate.

Don’t rush to automatically take sides in conflicts that have lasted centuries. The scariest part is that China’s government ignores the problem as much as the Taiwanese and American governments. That is what some call a “larger clue”.

Trade & Tech

U.S. undecided on further restricting China’s SMIC: Reuters, citing sources // CNBC

“Taiwan… and China”
EXPLAINED: Wafers, Chips And How India Is Eyeing A Slice Of The Semiconductor Pie // News 18 (India)

Chinese Chip Industry Has a Plan B, and Now US Sanctions Are Catching Up // Tech Taiwan

China

US hits China with sanctions and trade curbs over Uighurs // Taipei Times

Taiwan

“It is ridiculous that China, which is not democratic at all, dares to tell Taiwan what democracy means”
Taiwan warns China on intervening in its affairs // Taipei Times

Massive defeat for KMT-Nationalist party
Voters say ‘no’ to all four referendum questions // Taipei Times

Military Faceoff

New Chinese J-15 fighter jet looks ready for faster take-off // SCMP