Council on Foreign Relations Asia Research Supervisor Elizabeth Economy wrote an article on the importance of Taiwan, despite its small size.
She said that Taiwan and its democracy display the values and principles that the US stands for. Economy was part of a US delegation that visited Taiwan this month and met with President Ma Ying-jeou, President-elect Tsai Ing-wen and political party leaders.
Her article entitled “Beijing’s Squeeze Play on Taiwan” came out on the council’s website Monday and outlines three observations. First, she says that different political party leaders in Taiwan have different priorities, which is very pragmatic. For Ma and the KMT, the priority is preserving the legacy of cross-strait peace and stability. The DPP and Tsai, in contrast, are focused on domestic politics and reinvigorating Taiwan’s economic presence in the world.
Her second observation is that China is succeeding in its aim of influencing politics in Taiwan during the transition, but not in the way it desires. Recent moves put pressure on Tsai to not change the status quo in cross-strait relations but these have actually hurt Ma because he is still in office. These include the forced detention in China of Taiwanese suspects caught in Kenya.
Third, she said though Taiwan may have fallen off the American radar screen, it is coming back on. Taiwan may be small but it is not a small matter. She said the US should not help stir the pot on Taiwan and not sell-out Taiwan for some ephemeral grand bargain with Beijing either.