Are we at risk of letting China dictate our Taiwan policy?

We mustn't let fear of China determine our relationship with Taiwan

Are we at risk of letting China dictate our Taiwan policy?According to recent news reports, a delegation of eight Canadian MPs and senators from the Canada-Taiwan Friendship Group and a parliamentary trade committee are planning to visit Taiwan as early as October. Although such visits are not unusual, this time around the announcement has attracted more attention than usual. This is largely due to China’s…

Ukraine, Taiwan, and the politics of big neighbour resentment

Anyone who resists is a “traitor”and therefore deserving of brutal retribution

Ukraine, Taiwan, and the politics of big neighbour resentmentMore than a month has elapsed since Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine. Its constant targeting of civilian targets, and evidence in recent days of other mass atrocities, have dispelled any doubt that what we are witnessing in Ukraine is nothing less than an annihilative effort by Moscow – an attempt to negate…

What the fall of Hong Kong means for Taiwan, and the world

Beijing has made it easier for the world to understand why Taiwan is adamantly opposed to annexation by its Communist neighbour

What the fall of Hong Kong means for Taiwan, and the worldHong Kong as we knew it – more open, more liberal – is no more. With its demise, the “one country, two systems” formula, under which the former British colony was incorporated into the People’s Republic of China in 1997, has also collapsed. Whatever the foundations of this political construct may have been, there is…

C-135 provides a new approach to Canada’s policy toward Taiwan

Represents a significant opportunity for decision-makers to advance a relationship that has tremendous potential for Canada

C-135 provides a new approach to Canada’s policy toward TaiwanBy Shuvaloy Majumdar and J. Michael Cole Macdonald-Laurier Institute In 2021, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) turned 100, and for more than 50 years, Canada has recognized the legitimacy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) run by the CCP. The hope that began in the 1970s (and has persisted with limited evidence of success…

Taiwan deserves a clear-eyed assessment of the potential for war

The U.S. and its allies should signal in no uncertain terms that dragging the world into war over Taiwan would impose severe costs on China

Taiwan deserves a clear-eyed assessment of the potential for warThe increase in Chinese military activity near Taiwan over the past year has engendered a tremendous amount of commentary and analysis from various circles, professional and not. With People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft intruding into Taiwan’s southern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) occurring on a near-daily basis, and with record-breaking numbers in some instances, the…

Taiwan must avoid the self-inflicted wounds of unbridled polarization

All sides must tone down the rhetoric, put an end to the outbreak of disinformation, and take stock of what is in the national interest

Taiwan must avoid the self-inflicted wounds of unbridled polarizationAlthough frequent manoeuvres by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and martial signalling by Beijing have contributed to a sense of imminent crisis in the Taiwan Strait, a far more insidious (and potentially devastating) phenomenon has received little attention in international media. Like termites, political polarization eats away at a society’s ability to function as a…

Referring to the Taiwan dispute as a “question” dehumanizing

Apologists for Chinese aggression are advocating the annexation of one of the most successful examples of democratization in modern times

Referring to the Taiwan dispute as a “question” dehumanizingTime and again in academic works, newspaper articles and public comments, the dispute in the Taiwan Strait, which stems from Beijing’s longstanding claims of sovereignty over Taiwan, has been referred to as the “Taiwan question” or, alternatively, the “Taiwan issue.” Whether by design or intellectual sloppiness, this designation of Taiwan – of Taiwan’s fate, in…

Biden can’t go back to a pre-Trump China policy

Xi has changed the game, and the U.S. needs to maintain "ambiguity" while constantly adapting to avoid war in the Taiwan Strait

Biden can’t go back to a pre-Trump China policyIn recent months, a number of American security analysts have argued that the United States’ longstanding use of “strategic ambiguity” in the Taiwan Strait has outlived its utility. For example, in widely reported remarks, retired U.S. Adm. James Stavridis posited that “the longstanding U.S. policy of ‘strategic ambiguity,’ supporting Taiwan militarily without a formal commitment…