At the high-level meeting to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations the other day, one of the country leaders stressed in his speech that the international order should not follow the principle of “might makes right”, and that “no country is entitled to dictate the destiny of another country, and should act according to its will regardless of other’s opinions, establishing hegemony, bullying and being peremptory”. The remarks sound like a friendly country of Taiwan’s speaking up for Taiwan, as China has recently been escalating its military intimidation against the island in an attempt to press it with its mighty power to relinquish democracy and its sovereign right and establish hegemony in the Taiwan Strait, as well as internationally bullying it on end. Ironically, the country leader who seemingly spoke boldly to uphold justice for Taiwan at the meeting is exactly the one who has ferociously been bullying Taiwan– President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping.

Not long after China bullied Hong Kong by unilaterally tearing up the joint agreement on “one country, two systems” asunder in the first half of 2020 , recently it has been escalating its bullying against Taiwan. Over the past few months, China has taken Taiwan getting closer to the U.S. and Europe as an excuse to put more strain on the Taiwan Strait. Different kinds of military aircraft and battleships have been harassing the Strait more frequently, even shooting live rounds in military drills, which has revealed its overbearing attempt to alter the status quo of the Taiwan Strait with hegemony and peremptoriness.

The so-called status quo of the Taiwan Strait is a political entity in which both are not subordinate to each other with the Taiwan Strait median line as the baseline of mutual non-aggression. Though the Taiwan Strait median line is suppositional, China and Taiwan not crossing the line to provoke each other is a tacit understanding for sustaining the Cross-Strait status quo, which has been respected by both sides and not been breached for a long time, hence carrying both political and military significance.

In recent years, China has got in disputes with quite some adjacent countries over border issues, and has been acting on expansionism to browbeat the countries into giving in by means of intimidating diplomacy. On top of that, it has also been wiping out dissenters by force in border areas. The autonomy or “one country, two systems” in so-called autonomous or special administrative regions exists in name only. Whenever a smidgen of threats are anticipated, crackdowns are enforced, and Xinjiang and Hong Kong are no exception. The next sufferer could be Inner Mongolia.

Peremptorily bullying neighbourhood countries and domestic ethnic minorities in border areas is the true colors of the Chinese regime, revealing its disgraceful manners of posing as a Celestial Empire. Though there has been an enduring debate on the peaceful rise of China or China threat theory, in light of the Belt and Road initiative and its continuously developing sharp power and external propaganda, peaceful rise is proved to be a veil only. China, which is in pursuit of expansionism and poses a threat to democracy, has been shaping into a surge of pressure substantially felt by more and more countries during the post-pandemic era.

Regional safety and stability is collective responsibility borne by regional stakeholders.

Instead of wrecking mutual trust, negotiations and dialogues on an equal footing is the way to peacefully resolve divergences. Xi jinping made a high-sounding talk: “Might making right is not the way”. However, China currently aggressing with considerable quantities of military aircraft and battleships is one of the ways to flex its muscles. Military affairs are an extension of politics and diplomacy. China is picking a quarrel by asserting that there is no such thing as Taiwan Strait median line, as well as unilaterally altering the Cross-Strait status quo, causing damage to the tacit understanding maintained by both sides for safety and peace.

To confront China’s peremptoriness, Taiwan should keep on winning over support from the international democratic alliance, apart from strengthening its national defense and psychological support.

For national defense, besides buying advance defensive weapons to add to its possession, the Ministry of National Defense should stabilize the source of conscription in addition to improving the quality of military training for an elite army that can ensure national safety. For psychological support, solidarity is yet what Taiwan people, not least the capitulationists and defeatists, have to achieve. Though no one wants to get involved in a war, psychological support is a strong social backing of the National Army. Under Chinese bullying, a crop of capitulationists embellishing fear of war and disseminating isolationism as well as presuming no democratic countries would support Taiwan is in fact a breach in unity.

China peremptorily bullies Taiwan in a bid to strive for regional hegemony. In the past it was manifested on international occasions, but now the former is making an attempt to alter the status quo of the Taiwan Strait. For the time being, Taiwan people should seek solidarity, showing that we are not seeking a war, but well prepared for it. Both national defense and psychological support are essential.

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