118

Beijing Won’t Allow Taiwan’s Democracy to Survive (www.theatlantic.com)

submitted 1 year ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

5 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The very prospect of a free election is a threat.

On Saturday, voters in Taiwan will head to the polls to choose their next president. The outcome will determine the course of relations between Taiwan and China. But even before the results are in, the very prospect of a free election in Taiwan raises an issue that goes to the core of the seven-decade dispute over the island’s fate.

The mere existence of a successful, democratic, Chinese society in Taiwan is an affront and a challenge to China’s leader, Xi Jinping, as well as to his political and global ambitions. Ultimately, if given the opportunity, Xi will destroy Taiwan’s democracy to eliminate the inherent threat to his vision for China’s future.

“I just don’t see him compromising on somehow allowing Taiwan to be autonomous or be a sort of democracy” that would operate without interference from Beijing, Bonnie Glaser, the managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, told me. “I don’t see how it fits into his worldview.”

A struggle between autocracy and democracy is playing out over the 100-mile strait that separates Taiwan from the Chinese mainland. And at the moment, a peaceful resolution appears improbable, perhaps even impossible. On one side is a Communist regime determined to assert its power on the world stage as its difficulties mount at home; on the other is a vibrant democratic society that has grown secure in its identity and desperate to preserve its freedom. The scope for agreement between the two is narrowing, and that has made their relations precarious and consequential.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2024

118 points (94.0% liked)

politics

19929 readers

1099 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.

Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.

Example:

Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

• Register To Vote

• Citizenship Resource Center

• Congressional Awards Program

• Federal Government Agencies

• Library of Congress Legislative Resources

• The White House

• U.S. House of Representatives

• U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

• News