The Taiwanese leader defying Beijing

Fears of war on the Korean peninsula may be receding, said Jürgen Hanefeld on Deutschlandfunk (Berlin), but we must start worrying about a possible conflagration over Taiwan. China’s communist regime has viewed the island as a “renegade province” ever since 1947, when defeated nationalist forces made it their last stronghold. When the Taiwanese elected the leader of the fiercely anti-beijing Democratic Progressive Party, Tsai Ing-wen, as their president two years ago, Beijing began stepping up its campaign of “intimidation”. China’s President Xi has declared that regaining Taiwan will be a priority for his second term. Chinese warships and fighter jets have been patrolling menacingly around it, and Beijing has been putting pressure on Taiwan’s few remaining diplomatic allies to cut relations. Last month, both the Dominican Republic and Burkina Faso switched allegiances to Beijing.

Foreign businesses are also feeling the heat, said the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong). Ordered by Beijing to cease referring to Taiwan as a “country”, global airlines and multinationals have rushed to comply, fearful of their business in China being crippled. Their websites now refer to “Taiwan, China”. Some firms, including Delta Air Lines and Marriott, have actually apologised for causing “emotional damage to the Chinese people”. Clothes retailer Gap was forced to say sorry for having sold T-shirts that pictured a map of China without Taiwan, and pulled the offending items from stores around China. Taiwan has diplomatic relations with just 18 countries, and at this rate it will soon be none, said Yu Ning in the Global Times (Beijing). President Tsai is now playing the victim and fanning “anti-mainland sentiments” in a “final desperate plunge” to win over the public. So we must keep up the pressure and be prepared to reunify the island by force if peaceful efforts fail. It would be wise to take Beijing’s threats seriously, said Tom Cheshire on Sky News: an attempt at military takeover is not as unlikely as many believe. Certainly Tsai is taking no chances. She has ordered the army to conduct frequent drills; civilian groups are also taking part, and warning sirens have been heard in the cities. Beijing’s psychological pressure is unlikely to bear fruit, said Michal Thim in the South China Morning Post. Under international law, lack of diplomatic recognition does not undermine a territory’s claim to statehood; in any case, it’s not as if the likes of Burkina Faso are Taiwan’s lifeline to the outside world. What counts is Taiwan’s enduring relationships with the US, Europe and Japan. It can undoubtedly count on these if China did seriously threaten its security.