According to a BBC interview with Sha Zu Kang, Chinese Ambassador to United Nations (Geneva) in 2006, Beijing’s policy toward Taiwan, and the priority of that policy among Beijing’s other objectives, is as unmistakable as it is severe.

Here are some selections from Sha Zu’s comments…

…Taiwan is the most important issue, that is to say, the issue on which we don’t have any room for compromise.

 

…I think for any sovereign country in the world today, no country in the world will tolerate division of the country forever… Sovereignty territory integrity it the most important thing… We treat that sovereignty more important than our lives…

…No force on the world can shake Chinese nation’s determination to achieve the unification of my great motherland.

…The moment it declares independence, by Taiwan, supported by whomever, China will have no choice. We will do the business through whatever means available to my government. Nobody should have illusion on that.

…Economic development, we want it, because without economic development you can’t do anything else… if we go to war… If we have to choose between sovereignty territory integrity and economic development, we will choose the mightiness of State sovereignty and territory integrity. This is of the core interest. But once we have achieved this integrity, we still have time to build our economy. But, if China is forced to choose, I told you, we will choose that territory integrity… at any cost.

…It’s not a matter of how big Taiwan is, how useful the territory is. But, for China, one inch of territory is more valuable than the life of our people.

[Interviewer asks why China is giving priority to military, with references to some statements by US Defense Secretary, Rumsfeld, rather than pouring money into the much needed economic development in China, especially when China faces no threat from other countries.]

…We don’t need anyone to preach [to] and teach us. And no one in the world is qualified to teach and preach [to] China…

[The ambassador presents his logic that, since the US has the largest military budget and most advanced technology, the US is therefore not qualified to instruct China about military matters.]

…It’s better for the US to shut up! Keep quiet! It’s much, much better. China, the military buildup is not threatening anyone! It’s for legitimate defense. If you don’t have any ambitions, you should not be afraid of [us]… Read our history… We are not killing the innocent people anywhere in the world today. But look what they [US] are doing today!

…Why blame China? No. Forget it. It’s high time to shutp! Don’t preach [to] and teach China. I’m sorry. I’m being not diplomatic. But I feel very strongly about it… We are not killing anyone, not like they are doing in the world today…

…Who knows China better? China itself knows it better… Don’t tell us what is good for China! Thank you very much. Our military capability is exclusively for the self defense, to make sure, to deter those who dare to harm China.

The concern I have with these statements is the apparent contradiction in the definition of “sovereignty”. The government of Taiwan, in it’s capital, Taipei, is the original government of China, which the current Chinese Communists rebelled against in 1949. If “sovereignty” and “territory integrity” truly is the Chinese priority, more important than life, then  I would think that the Communists would surrender the mainland to Taipei, the original government.

However, doing “the business by whatever means available to [China's] government” in response to Taiwan declaring it’s independence—this doesn’t sound like “unification” is Beijing’s objective. Rather, it seems like Beijing is using “unity” and “sovereignty” as a means to take away and seize the original sovereignty from the previous government of China—to justify their own rebellion against the government they have not been able to defeat, even after more than 60 years.

Also, I’m disturbed by the line of reasoning that having the most advanced technology makes one unqualified to give advice to others. Usually we seek the advice of those with more experience, who have made more advances than we have, not those with less experience. The “logic” of Beijing, here, eludes me. It sounds more like “rationalizing”.

Moreover, the ambassador makes it clear that China is building it’s economy for the purpose of building their military, and that they plan to sacrifice their economy once that military is strong enough to use “whatever means available” to achieve “unification” of China… “Unification” seems to have been recently been defined by their new map of China in the new Chinese passport.

From what I gather, this public information, released by the Chinese ambassador, suggests the following planned phases:

1. Trade with the world to make lots of money,

2. use that money only to build a big military,

3. invade several other countries with whom they have enjoyed peace for six decades, claiming “self-defense”, which these newer Communists claim was originally in their possession, even though that time occurred before the Communists existed,

4. sacrifice international trade, their economy, and their reputation, without regret, and then,

5. reconvene international trade with the West, rebuild their economy, after they fly their Chinese Communist flag over these other nations.

…though I’m not sure how Beijing plans to find any countries that are willing to trade with them after the Chinese flag flies over parts of India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, etc. Perhaps Beijing hasn’t thought that far into the future. Or perhaps they have a plan for re-establishing peaceful relations with the world, they’re just keeping it secret, for a pleasant surprise, later on down the road.

In other words, public declarations from Beijing officials told us, seven years ago: China isn’t building it’s military for parades. Every customer, every company, every store, every retailer, every wholesaler, every investor who pours money into China is funding China’s publicly acknowledged “most important issue” of invading Taiwan, along with the rest of the region, possibly the world.

So, it seems that China’s definition of “self defense” is the same as how “invasion” is defined by Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It’s unfortunate that China was not capable enough to identify and explain this difference of definitions, since they seem to be above the need for teachers and preachers in regard to international matters. Perhaps they knew about this difference of opinion and chose to keep it from us.

Perhaps China thinks that invading other countries isn’t really “invading” them. Perhaps China thinks they already own the world, so, those military operations would be “within their own borders”. Though, usually it helps the reputation of a government when the people of that government acknowledge that government’s sovereignty. But China doesn’t need any advice. Perhaps China isn’t thinking at all, and they are merely acting on instinct.

Regardless of what China may or may not be thinking, the message is clear to the world. They don’t want to be lectured, so the rest of the world should respect that. Don’t lecture them. ASEAN and the West must respect China’s request and move into the next phase, the phase that comes when talking fails. Diplomacy ended in 2006 when the Chinese ambassador himself said, “I’m being not diplomatic.”

Here is a link to an audio selection from YouTube: http://youtu.be/nly67CQW-3A

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That’s not to say someone won’t try. And the obvious country in question is China, of course.

One non-factor is the growing number of Americans living within Taiwan. Based on Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency, in 2009, Americans made up approximately 2.5% of the island nation’s 350,000 alien residents. While that number has grown since, and will likely continue to grow, it would never be enough to affect America’s alliance with Taiwan, R. O. C. one way or the other.

So, what are the reasons an invasion of Taiwan is untenable?

1. America

The United States will always prefer Democracy over Communism. Likewise, America has a tendency of siding with smaller countries and standing against bigger ones. Taiwan is a small democratic republic that gets along with everyone. China is a large socialist-communist nuisance. Do the math. America will always side with Taiwan because they know, if anyone invades Taiwan, Hawaii will likely follow… And Japan remembers what that would mean.

2. Terrain

Taiwan has some of the tallest mountains in the world, though they don’t rival Everest. Formosa, the historic name of Taiwan’s main island, isn’t a mere “hilly tropical island” in the West Pacific. It’s more akin to a fortress.

Most of the population lives near the west coast of the island, off the Taiwan Strait, which large naval ships don’t get too close to. If a force ever did take the plains on the western side, they’d have to deal with a military onslaught from atop Taiwan’s complex mountains with rolling foothills… Not to mention rivers that sprawl every which way as they exit those mountains and empty into the strait.

The east side of the island is filled with mountains—right on the coastline in many places. Any east-side plains are small and sheltered. Historically, the Dutch were not able to overtake the Aborigines who lived in the eastern mountains. Only the Christian missionaries could reach them, with the gospel from the Prince of Peace, which is why so many Taiwan Aborigine tribes are Christian to this day. Even then, from a military perspective, taking those eastern mountains wouldn’t accomplish much.

Lastly, there’s Taipei, the nation’s capital. Far in the North, the entire city, also Taiwan’s largest city, is inside an enormous “bowl” of mountains. This even affects the weather because both hot and cold air get trapped in any season. The only access is narrow or from the sky.

For similar reasons to the difficult terrain of the United States, Taiwan’s geography definitely favors the force who was there first.

3. Prepared Militia

Taiwan military service is compulsory for all healthy males older than 18 not enrolled in school. This means that almost every adult man has already been trained in the structure, chain of command, procedure, and equipment of Taiwan’s military. If needed, a civilian military could be raised quickly and would be effective since everyone has already been trained.

4. Skilled Military

On the surface, Taiwan’s military may seem to be unthreatening. But that’s only the surface. America and Israel are not the only nations in the world with deadly Special Forces, which, technically “don’t exist”. So, technically, this reason “doesn’t exist” either.

Unofficially, if any invader parked their navy off the coast of Taiwan, the main threat to those maritime vessels would not be an air strike nor torpedo assault, but amphibious Special ops from Taiwan, capable of commandeering command.

Notwithstanding that Taiwan has no small Air Force.

5. Regional Allies

Japan is one of the few countries to recognize Taiwan as a full-fledged nation. In WWII, the Japanese occupied Taiwan. Since then, there has been forgiveness and friendship, similarly to the United States and Japan. Taiwan reportedly delivered more aid to Japan after the tsunami in 2011 than any other country—by accident. Taiwan simply loves Japan and Japan knows it.

Taiwan’s current island dispute with Japan is mostly accepted by Taiwanese. It’s China who has a beef to grind.

If harmed, Taiwan wouldn’t depend on help from only the Yanks. Okinawa isn’t all that far away either.

6. Jeremy Lin Chose a Career in Basketball

In other words, he’s famous and has family from Taiwan. That’s not to say Jeremy would come out with an opinion. But, certainly, someone in the mass media would ask him for one. And that’s all it would take. Everyone knows Jeremy and that helped make Taiwan famous. Taiwan couldn’t get attacked without the the world of NBA knowing about it.

7. International Business

Believe it or not, many Apple products depend on engineering and development done in… you guessed it! Taiwan.

HTC, Google’s favored Android label—a Taiwanese company.

Giant—the bicycles… Taiwan.

Many large companies have offices in Taiwan, from all around the world. If those offices came in harms way, every government in the world would be knee-deep in telegrams from the big players in business.

8. Transportation

When the Japanese occupied Taiwan, they build a vast and extensive train system. Taiwan’s high speed rail aside, with airports everywhere, nearly every road paved, and trains up the “Yin-Yang”, mobilizing within Taiwan would be no problem for the Taiwanese military or the local economy. In the event of fuel shortage, many people get to work by bicycle anyways—and there are plenty of great bicycle manufacturers on the island. Streets are littered with bicycles.

9. Food

Unlike Hawaii, Taiwan grows most of its own food—and much of everyone else’s. The plains grow rice and soy in surplus. The mountains supply plenty of tea… an Asian staple. Formosa also grows fruit that many people have never heard of.

In a blockade scenario, the price of tea would likely go up—not in Taiwan, but everywhere else in the world, driving more international pressure, especially among the British—who drink tea almost as much as the Taiwanese. But, the price of tea would probably drop inside Taiwan, since it wouldn’t be exported.

10. Apples

If an invading force began with a blockade, it would probably improve Taiwan’s economy, if anything. It would be the perfect alibi for Taiwan to stop exporting Apple’s stuff to America, not being allowed to sell Apple products in their own nation until months after being shipped out and sold elsewhere.

Maybe then, Apple could sue China for economic damages—just like they sue everyone else. An American judge would probably agree. And, consequently, Taiwanese companies wouldn’t have to worry about exporting to America and getting sued by Apple. It’d mostly get Apple out of the way… no offense to Apple’s great computers. They really are great computers. They’re partially designed in Taiwan, after all.

In any case, if Taiwan were ever attacked, Apple wouldn’t be happy. Everyone knows, if Apple isn’t happy, nobody’s happy. An App would soon be written to update people on the situation.

11. The Seventh Fleet of the US Navy

In the last three decades, all those wars… Iran’s drama with Reagan… Two wars with Iraq… Afghanistan… Not to mention the drama in Syria and Clinton’s fiascoes in Africa… The Seventh Fleet didn’t leave China’s coast for even a moment. It’s stayed closer to Taiwan than a hop, skip, and a jump. Right now, it’s main mission is to prevent any disturbance, not so much in the South China Sea, but around the Taiwan Strait.

12. God

There are three nations that seem to get supernatural help whenever it’s needed. Israel, the United States, and Taiwan.

Most readers know about the six-day war and Israel’s long streak of “luck” in military matters. Some readers know about the strange “fortune” America had in fighting the British, as well as their own Civil War… Even the hurricane that wiped-out the British army that came to “Occupy DC” in the War of 1812.

Taiwan has its own stories where “acts of God” worked in their favor. Remember the tsunami that hit Japan in 2011, when Taiwan helped out more than any other nation? In Taiwan the tsunami was barely noticeable. One beachfront hotel evacuated and the owner was angry that the wave didn’t damage anything. Japan might have loved to swap Fukushima for Taiwan’s “luck”.

…So, invading Taiwan would be a bad idea, to say the least. Even if it happens, the invader, no matter how big, would likely lose. They’d lose not only their military forces, but their reputation, money, and their pride. Of course, losing one’s pride isn’t a bad thing, but it’s best to lose pride without losing a war first.

Will China attempt the untenable? I hope not, though it seems to be their pattern. Recently, Beijing seems to want to fool the world into thinking that they respect other free people’s intelligence, that they respect their neighbors, that they respect their own people, and that they respect the West’s ability to gather intelligence about their intentions. That propaganda  also, is untenable. One only need read the newspaper to see why. Beijing is only fooling Beijing.

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TAINAN—Washington’s decision from the Senate could be far reaching. Within Taiwan, the President, Ma (馬英九), is often accused of being in cahoots with Beijing. However, I hold him in similar regard to Obama: inexperienced, not evil. Both presidents should learn that we can’t apologize our way into befriending enemies. But history doesn’t lend infinite time for such lessons. We often don’t realize the importance of Peace from Strength until we’ve lost both.

The international community often views China as an axis of secret evil operating with economic motives. In truth, Asian “Shame” culture, often eluding the Western mind, explains that China merely wants respect. Beijing doesn’t understand that victory over Taiwan, which China is still technically at war with, will only breed distrust.

It’s been over half a century since Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) escaped to the island of Formosa (Taiwan) in flight from the Chinese Communists. When China keeps a silent war with the previous generation on their books, to the rest of the world Beijing simply appears to be insane. If a Chinese politician heard that he’d think he was being shamed rather than informed. But “Shame” is a value of the Far East, Westerners couldn’t care less about shaming others. We in the West value survival over vendettas. Maybe it was Christianity from Jerusalem that taught this to the West two thousand years ago. China has yet to be fully evangelized. The decision of the Senate could hasten that process..

Understand China’s background: No international war experience, only revolution. Soldiers’ garb is solid, not camouflage, because the are actually internal police. Among the largest nations in real estate with an underestimated population—from two-children families who lie in a census—China still leads. Poor until the last decade, China has that itch for action of a fifteen-year-old who can’t wait to drive. Communist-China doesn’t know its limits because they’ve never been for a test drive.

The true political evil is Russia, having effectively faked a democratic revolution and puppet-republic failure. But even Russia knows not to invade other countries—for the time being. China doesn’t. They are wet behind the ears. Mark these words: If China invades Taiwan it only means Taiwan will soon be recognized by Beijing.

Though downplayed in the media, Taiwan is still a force to be reckoned with. Japan recognizes Taiwan—unlike the United States with our “one nation, two governments” policy. Tokyo wouldn’t tolerate Beijing’s courting once the Communists raise their colors and topple regional peace. India has border disputes with China and knows that if Taiwan falls today, India “gets it” tomorrow. The United States just announced a large placement of troops in Taiwan. Everything suggests that China thinks international leaders are weak, will soon become overconfident, invade Formosa, loose to a swift international response from all sides (except Russia), be weakened from likely unrest in Shanghai and Tibet, and be forced into normalizing relations with Taiwan.

Moscow will show its true colors. Beijing will get past their past.  Taiwan will see the end of their beginning.

From the Taipei Times, today: Hope of F-16C/Ds dashed by US Senate

From the Taipei Times, last week: No F-16C/Ds in US arms deal

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What do we mean by “success?” The term often hides expectations. Success means happiness to some. To others it means having a master’s degree, a house on a two acre lot with a picket fence, and 2.5 kids. For me, “success” means setting a goal and reaching it.. nothing more.

Depending on your perspective, America may have seen the last days of her “success” ..or her best days may be just around the corner. Either way, her short-lived age of global trend-setting is over.. and I’m not so sure it’s a bad thing.

Do we really want more eggs in the face? “The longest blade of grass gets cut first,” and, “The early worm is for the birds.” Would Al Qaeda have been as obsessed with destroying our buildings if Australia held the reputation as the “world’s cop” instead of us?

I’m not suggesting that America did anything especially deserving of ill treatment. The world treated us just like they treated every global superpower. They wanted to be like us.. and everything was our fault. We reacted the same as super powers before us. We were “too big to fail,” hooked on entertainment, and didn’t even do research before pretentiously spreading our so-called “compassion” of Christian missions in the mid 1900′s and African “aid mission” 50 years later. And, no, it wasn’t Obama’s fault, or Bush or Clinton. Any leader we’ve had could only hasten or delay the inevitable. Let’s face it: we got lazy, we relaxed our game, and others are now taking the lime light.

In the shift ahead, Asia Pacific and India will be substantial leaders. If India’s the sleeping giant then China is the quiet elephant that sneaks up on you. While we’ve been watching football and gaming our XBOX’s, Asia hasn’t been messing around. They’ve been learning and mastering the entertainment and manufacturing excellence that America downsized to raise bottom lines. More accurately, we auctioned our principles, razed our revenues, and flat-lined. Asian industries haven’t caught up with us.. yet, but they are traveling faster while we are letting off the gas.

When it all happens—when the market realizes what some of us have already foreseen—that’s when we’ll rise to the occasion and realize our potential which lies outside of the lime light. We weren’t meant to be the shining star, we were meant for quiet excellence. With someone else out in front to take the glamour, and the tomatoes from the crowd, that’s when we’ll get our game back. The corporate bureaucrats won’t have “our past success” to compensate their spite for creativity and the drama queen politicians won’t have so loud a bullhorn to fight over. The shallow sex and circus entertainment base will sober-up to reality: when reproduction is reduced to recreation, society faces extinction. The gay pride crowd will realize that they’ll save more in taxes by supporting the Fair Tax than a Gay Marriage honeymoon could ever dream to deliver. Success will be redefined because it will finally have enough workspace.

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