Who is a Friend of Taiwan?
Truly Meaningful Aid that Matters
A few days ago, a video from the Tennessee State House was sent to me. In it, Representative Mary Littleton had been fielding questions from Representative Justin Jones about her resolution to protect Taiwan’s democracy. Littleton, a member of the Republican Party, introduced the resolution as a way to counter China, but failed to answer the most simple questions about Taiwan. She could not independently name the president or capital of Taiwan, and when asked about the ruling party of Taiwan by Jones, she responded with, “communism, communism from China.” After Littleton’s failed attempt at responding to basic questions, Jones mentioned that he supported the resolution, but because of more substantive reasons, such as Taiwan’s stringent gun control laws and single-payer healthcare system, something after which Bernie Sanders modeled his own healthcare plan during his presidential bids. The video stops here, and while many saw this as yet another example of Republican incompetence, I saw this as a core issue with the Republican approach to Taiwan.
To put it in a few words: The Republican Party in 2024 do not care about Taiwan, and if they do, they never showed it.
No, the main China-oriented policymakers in the Republican Party, such as Mike Gallagher, would not answer with silence when asked about the name of Taiwan’s president, capital, or governing party. But examples like this are an almost-satirical illustration of the Republican Party’s views on Taiwan. It clearly outlines the motives of the Republican Party when it comes to Taiwan. The Republican Party’s outward and surface-level affinity for Taiwan has always been deeply rooted in the idea that Taiwan is a bastion of freedom against communism, rather than the approval of Taiwan’s own merits and progress.
The truth is, anti-communism ultimately did not make for a good ally, at least not for Taiwan. Anti-communism never stopped the United States and its allies from switching their recognition to the People’s Republic of China. Anti-communism never prompted official U.S. policies to care about Taiwan and its people during the martial law era beyond arming the military dictatorship that imposed itself on it, which would spend three decades criminalizing Taiwanese identity. Anti-communism never even stopped Republican candidates from stating that they would abandon Taiwan on the grounds that Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is stealing jobs from American workers, while the opposite is true. Trusting a party that puts its “blood and soil”-style ideology above care for the liberal international system that protects Taiwan is not a viable strategy. Anti-communism is not a bloodless pursuit, and the Taiwanese people have been irreparably harmed in this geopolitical strategy for three decades.
I do not trust a party that relies on culture wars and weaponizing the diversity of American society to distract from the fact we live in some of the safest and most prosperous times in the history of the United States and the world. To put it directly, a vibes-based world view, and from complaining about a supposedly-weak economy under Joe Biden and misguided notions surrounding immigration to vague platitudes about Taiwan, that is all that the Republican Party can offer in 2024. Nor do I trust a party that seeks to install a theocracy on a country whose constitution specifically opposes theocracy. Trusting a party that promotes identitarian and nationalist views as Taiwan faces down a nation that seeks to annex Taiwan on these very grounds is an uneasy and laughable notion.
It is difficult to envision Representatives like Littleton supporting the policies that make Taiwan what it is. As Rep. Jones said, Taiwan has one of the world's most comprehensive single-payer healthcare infrastructure. The Republican Party has been resolutely against the creation of such an institution in the United States. Taiwan is the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage and enshrine marriage equality into law. The Republican Party continues its assault on the rights of LGBTQ Americans every day. Taiwan is a country built on multiculturalism. Prominent members of the Party have even floated the idea that same-sex marriage should have never been affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States. The Republican Party seeks to hide America’s historical transgressions against ethnic minorities for allegedly making white students uncomfortable, practically ripping a page from China’s playbook of accusing its opponents of “hurting the feelings of the Chinese people.” During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Taiwan instituted lockdowns and mandatory masking, the Republican Party was busy fighting against masks. The Republican Party support for Taiwan is ironic at best, at risk of fundamentally detracting from Taiwan’s soft power and democracy at worst.
Taiwan deserves and demands earnest support. It is not enough to oppose imperialist governments like the Chinese one, but to be actively supportive of Taiwan. The Taiwanese cause has always been about fighting for sovereignty and self-governance, and this remains true in 2024. Until the Republican Party can prove that they can substantively support their foreign policy stances with just and free domestic policy choices, their vision of the world is fundamentally empty, meaningless, and cowardly.