“We no longer have a democracy worth defending”

Johanna Lei takes a hard line with her country. The confrontational course with the People’s Republic of China is dangerous. The USA is adding fuel to the fire.

Interview by Joanna Lei* conducted by Pierre Heumann

(21 March 2023) Taiwanese opposition politician Joanna Lei accuses the government in Taipei of dismantling democracy and trying to distance itself more from the People’s Republic. Instead, Lei favours peaceful coexistence with mainland China, for example by founding a “commonwealth”. This is causing displeasure in Washington. According to Lei, the USA wants to assert its own interests at Taiwan’s expense. She fears that America could use the small Republic of China, i.e. Taiwan, for a proxy war against the People’s Republic.

Weltwoche: Ms Lei, Xi Jinping, the President of the Chinese People’s Republic, is trying to push for the reunification of the two Chinas by force. Does that frighten you?

Joanna Lei: The quest for reunification is not new. It has been talked about for many years. But although both Taiwan and the Peoples’ Republic claim that they are the only legitimate representatives of the whole of China, there has been no war since 1958.

That was when tensions between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China last led to armed conflict over strategic islands in the Taiwan Strait.

Since then we have had peace, 65 years already. However, then the then Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, landed in Taipei …

… that was in August 2022.

Whereupon Beijing immediately published a new white paper on relations with Taiwan and reunification. It was not new that the People’s Republic reserved the right to seek reunification by force. It was already in the two white papers of 1983 and 2000. But after Pelosi’s visit to our capital, two provisions were added.

Which?

Should foreign intervention occur or Taiwanese independence be declared, violent reunification would be the consequence. This is already having effects. Beijing no longer adheres to the centre line in the Taiwan Strait.

You are talking about the unofficial border between the People’s Republic and Taiwan, which used to be respected.

Now it is no longer. After Pelosi’s visit, Beijing’s fighter planes and warships crossed this unofficial border.

Do you now fear that Taiwan could be attacked like Ukraine?

I know that this scenario, the comparison between Ukraine and Taiwan, is currently being discussed intensively in the West, in the USA, in Europe, in Japan and in Australia. I will say it again: in the last decades, differences or not, we have always been able to keep the peace. In the first three years of our President Tsai Ing-wen’s reign …

… that is, from 2016 to 2018 …

… nearly four million Taiwanese migrated to mainland China. Currently, more than 1.5 million Taiwanese are studying or working in the People’s Republic. Although the rhetoric about the Taiwan Strait became extremely hostile, businessmen and the people made their own decisions and benefited from the relative peace and stability of the past years. After all, the People’s Republic is the most important market for us. Half of our exports go there.

Does this amount to a de facto reunification in the end?

It is, to use a Chinese proverb, like a river. It is impossible to cut it in two with a knife. We must therefore move forward with the peace agenda as soon as possible.

What would the peaceful solution look like?

There are different options; for example, a Commonwealth solution in which Taiwan does not become part of the Chinese political system. In previous white papers, the People’s Republic even agreed to accept different national flags, national anthems or national identities. Since Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, however, it no longer wants to know anything about this.

How is Taiwan arming itself against escalation?

Firstly, the period of military service has been extended for the young men, from four months to one year. This provision will come into effect in January 2024, which is a U-turn by our government. It was only in 2018 that we reduced compulsory military service from one year to four months. Secondly, the defence strategy has been completely transformed. In the past, we bought platforms, big ships or aircraft so that we can fight offshore. Taiwan, as you know, is an extremely small island with no strategic depth. Now the army is focusing on asymmetric warfare and buying smaller, more
mobile weapons. The latest acquisition is a system for laying anti-tank mines along the coast of Taiwan. This scares the citizens quite a bit.

Why is that?

We don’t want war on our small island because it would quickly be fought in our towns and villages. It also scares the citizens that the number of Americans training our soldiers has been increased. This gives us the feeling that war could be imminent. On the other hand, we don’t really believe that the People’s Republic will launch an all-out war against Taiwan.

In your opinion, would Taiwan be strong enough for a military confrontation with Beijing?

Not at all. All the war scenarios of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) show that. In none of them do we have the slightest chance of winning. Taiwan cannot successfully defend itself without reinforcements from the US and/or Japan.

In autumn, US President Joe Biden once again assured that US troops would fight against the People’s Republic of China in case of an invasion of Taiwan. In doing so, he probably wanted to warn Beijing of the consequences of an invasion of Taiwan without completely abandoning “strategic ambiguity” in favour of “strategic clarity”.

I do not think much of Biden’s assurance. The US has repeatedly disappointed Taiwan in the past and moved closer to the People’s Republic, always at our expense. In 1978, Washington recognised the People’s Republic and broke off diplomatic relations with Taiwan shortly afterwards. What was particularly ugly was that the Americans informed our president in the middle of the night at that time. It is therefore clear to us that the United States does not always decide on the basis of our interests, but puts its own first. The strategic ambiguity therefore has nothing to do with Taiwan, but serves the US exclusively.

Who would you rather have in the White House now, Trump or Biden?

At first we thought Trump was terrible because he was against globalisation. But now we see that Biden is widening the gap between West and East. In addition, Biden brought the chip factory TSMC from Taiwan to Arizona, which was mainly politically motivated. What usually takes three years was pulled off in just three months. America took the whole factory, including the workers, their families and their dogs. They all migrated to Arizona. You see: whenever American interests are at stake, we have to take a back seat.

Taiwan’s President Tsai will step down next year. How do you judge her term in office after eight years?

It has been disappointing. Under her government, Taiwan became increasingly an illiberal democracy. Political parties and political organisations were dissolved. She revived a law that allows the government to confiscate opposition property. This includes my party, the Kuomintang. In addition, a commission was established that has the right to reinterpret our history. Taiwan is no longer the liberal democracy it likes to pretend to be. We no longer have a democracy worth defending.

Excuse me?

In the West, democracy is high on the list of values, along with freedom and equality. But more important is the right to live. If we only talk about democracy, freedom and equality without talking about the right to live, and are even prepared to push Taiwan into war, it means that we are making great sacrifices for the other three values. That would not be fair to the Taiwanese. That is why we would like to see people also upholding and promoting the peace agenda.

It sounds like you are saying that the West is driving Taiwan into war.

We see the danger that the US could use Taiwan for a proxy war against the People’s Republic. It would be a war for the US – and not for us.

* Joanna Lei, 1958, studied at the National University of Taiwan and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. Joanna Lei was a member of the Taiwanese parliament. She was particularly committed to the rights of domestic workers and migrant workers. She also organised petitions to strengthen the family as an institution. Since 2017, she has been chairperson of the National Women's League.

Source: Weltwoche No. 7/2023 of 16 February 2023
Reprinted with kind permission of the publisher.

(Translation “Swiss Standpoint”)