The worst mistake that can be made, in the context of the new world order, is to confuse the useful cynicism with which peace in the Taiwan Strait is managed with the madness of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. One thing has nothing to do with the other.
And the narrative of the invading Chinese bogeyman has no collage to reality. Whatever the ideological conflict, the economic interest, the military strategy at stake… now is the time to remain cynic and be sensible.
Taiwan is the most unusual case of modern diplomacy. In fact, it erected all the pillars of sovereignty: political regime, territorial cohesion, army and its own currency. Any political science textbook will tell you it is an independent country.
In return, China demands two things: that everyone pretends otherwise, maintaining the narrative that there is only one China, feeding into the internal discourse the dream of reunification. This pact has guaranteed peace as well as prosperity on both sides of the Straits… That’s what it is.
Messing with this, in the current international context, is completely stupid and irresponsible. It is not a moral or ideological issue, nor does it prevent us from thinking that one day it might be different. What is needed is to remove the war logic from the equation. Let’s be clear. Putin is what he is, he has no defense and deserves a fight. But he is right when he says that the United States wants to dominate the Asia-Pacific.
Of course he does. and the adversary is China. Now… arming Taiwan to the teeth, threatening military intervention if China invades, making provocative state visits… is taking advantage of the hatred of Putin to try to put everything in the same bag. It’s not true, and it’s anything but sensible.
China reacts as usual: if they declare independence, they invade.
Nothing new under heaven. Washington has to understand the timing and the priority: what is now needed is Xi Jinping’s support to put Putin in order.
Allowing you, after the PC Congress, a narrative for internal discourse that maintains the soft power logic. Peoples, all of them, deserve leaders who serve peace and prosperity.
Measuring the size of the pistol, in the current context, is the worst idea in the world.
*PLATAFORMA Director General
