On Thursday, March 25, former White House China Policy adviser Yu Mao-chun said that Taiwan is a model of democracy and that Taiwan’s democratic achievements are tied to the fate of the United States, which is why the United States has a firm and unchanging security commitment to Taiwan.
Yu made the remarks in an interview with Taiwan’s Central News Agency. He said that the U.S. defense commitment to Taiwan is not only to protect Taiwan and stop the expansion of the Chinese Communist Party‘s power abroad, but more importantly to defend the ideas and values that Taiwan represents and the very valuable democratic achievements of the Taiwanese people, which are closely related to the fate of the United States.
Yu Mao-chun believes that Taiwan is a very healthy and remarkable society. The people of Taiwan have made amazing achievements that are remarkable to the world, transforming peacefully from an authoritarian regime into a completely open, free and progressive society. The state apparatus under the authoritarian system, such as the military and police, has also been fully subordinated to democratic principles after the transition. He said that Taiwan is a model of democracy and the people have full confidence in Taiwan’s democratic system, which has a huge relationship with the efforts of the Taiwanese people and the quality of democracy. He also bluntly said that Taiwan’s democracy is very mature and the Chinese (mainland) people should learn from Taiwan.
He said that the United States attaches great importance to Taiwan’s democratic achievements, as demonstrated by the breakthroughs in U.S.-Taiwan relations during the Trump presidency. Bilateral officials are gradually becoming more open in their interactions, and the U.S. government has clearly increased its efforts to support Taiwan.
Commenting on the lifting of years of restrictions on U.S.-Taiwan relations by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo before he left office, Yu said the decision involved major U.S. government policy and was the right one, reflecting a realistic change in current U.S. policy toward China, Taiwan, and the entire diplomatic bedrock.
Yu said the U.S. has had to rethink its policy toward Taiwan because of the gradual collapse of the Communist Party’s commitment to “one country, two systems” in Hong Kong, but no matter how complicated the situation is, the U.S. must respect the will of the Taiwanese people and align itself with Taiwan. Yu pointed out that the overwhelming majority of Taiwan’s public opinion is to maintain the status quo, not to unify with China, and that the U.S. must truly treat Taiwan as an ally to help deter China’s (CCP) provocations and threats.
Over the years, there has been a school of thought in the U.S. government on the issue of whether or not to assist in Taiwan’s defense: If the U.S. sits back and allows the CCP to violate Taiwan by force, it will cause the U.S. to lose the trust of its allies. Niall Ferguson, a leading British historian, recently published an article saying that the United States would lose its leading global position if it allowed Taiwan to fall into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
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