Issues And Answers: China And Taiwan Part II

On February 19, I posted part one. Read it and then you will see that if this issue doesn't get attention soon, it will soon escalate into an Asian crisis that will surely affect the rest of the world. Right now, China is in the midst of an arms build-up that will make the Cold War pale in comparison. Their goal is the repatriation of Taiwan and they appear to be serious.

Since the annexation of Hong Kong, the Chinese government is realizing more revenue than ever, with much of it going towards the military. Their aim is to obtain Taiwan for the same purpose; they want more revenue for more military spending, with the long-term goal of matching the United States.

The world community needs to watch this. The balance of power tilted towards China would be the world's worst nightmare. Europe needs to watch this. But instead, they are lifting the arms embargo because Europe needs the business. The US needs to watch this. But as of yet, the Bush administration has yet to form a policy on China and Taiwan (other than the age-old generic ones used by earlier administrations).

The US, EU, UN, or someone needs to encourage a dialogue between Taiwan and China. Both parties need to see how far apart they really are, in order to know how far they must travel. China needs to drop the military threat as a bargaining chip and quit threatening to do so at every other turn. Taiwan needs to put the skids on the independence rhetoric, at least for now. And both need to put their stubborn egos on hold for a time, and speak. They need to stop acting like two brothers that have had a major falling out.

Where are the Europeans? Where are Chirac, Schroeder, and Putin? Where is the UN? Where is Kofi Annan? Where are the quintessential diplomats that have claim to have world peace as their ultimate goal? But sadly, I must also ask, where is the United States and the Bush administration?

I guess they will all show up, after the first round of missiles land on Taiwan. What do you want to bet, there will be an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss and debate possible wording for a resolution condemning China, if or when this happens?