America should restore diplomatic and defense ties with Taiwan By Lindell Lucy, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer
2022/05/05
Last March, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Taiwan and met with the country's leaders. He issued a statement that said he personally believed the US government should immediately take necessary steps to "do the right and obvious thing" by offering diplomatic recognition to Taiwan.
More recently, former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has called on the U.S. to end its policy of "strategic ambiguity" by guaranteeing to defend Taiwan against a Chinese invasion. He said, “The U.S. should issue a statement that is not open to misinterpretation.”
In 1979, at the request of China, the U.S. unilaterally terminated a mutual defense treaty and severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The U.S. then closed its Taiwanese military bases and withdrew all of its troops.
As a result, Taiwan has become increasingly vulnerable to a Chinese invasion, and Taiwanese have been subjected to innumerable indignities and various forms of discrimination. Taiwanese presidents, for example, have been treated like international pariahs, banned from even talking to American presidents.
America's betrayal of Taiwan, a longtime ally, was fundamentally unprincipled and dishonorable. Chinese pressure was not and will never be an acceptable excuse for America's own moral failures.
* * *
Source:
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4527823
