RUTHFULLY YOURS

It’s a little-known fact that there are two Chinas.

One China unleashed a pandemic on the world that killed close to 4 million people and has the World Health Organization in its back pocket. The other isn’t even allowed to join WHO.

One China is a destabilizing force, poised to start World War III. The other wants only peaceful relations with its neighbors and the rest of the world.

One China is ruled by a totalitarian regime that crushes dissent, suppresses religious and ethnic minorities and even tries to regulate births. The other is a thriving democracy where civil liberties are protected.

One China spies on us, arms rogue states like Iran, and threatens our security. The other was our ally in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

One is the hilariously misnamed People’s Republic of China, where the only role the people play is as hostages. The other is the Republic of China on Taiwan, the official name of the nation of 23 million, on the other side of the Taiwan Straits, that the PRC claims as its own.

Beijing calls Taiwan a breakaway province. That’s rich. Since the end of the First Sino-Japanese War (1895), Taiwan has been ruled by the mainland for at most half a dozen years – never by the Chinese Communist Party. One might as well say that America is a breakaway province from Britain.

It’s difficult to describe the systematic brutality and massive human rights violations that go on every day in the Peoples Detention Camp of China.

Since 2014, Beijing has systemically suppressed the Muslim Uyghurs. It’s estimated that more than a million are held in camps where torture, rape and forced sterilization are commonplace. The treatment of the Uyghurs been described as the largest, most systematic imprisonment of ethnic and religious minorities since World War II.

Last week, security forces raided the offices of the Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong, arresting five journalists and executives for telling the truth. (The official charge is “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security.”)

This is only the latest violation of the commitments made to Britain when the city was handed over to China in 1997. Under “one country, two systems,” Hong Kong was promised a “high degree of autonomy, rights and freedom for 50 years.”

Since then, the PRC has moved rapidly to give the residents of Hong Kong the same degree of freedom as the rest of China.  One country, one system.

Following massive pro-democracy protests, in 2020, a national security law was promulgated to give Hong Kong’s puppet government new powers to suppress and punish dissent. Communists who lie? Fancy that.

Now, guess which China we have diplomatic relations with, and which we do not? Aw, come on, someone told you. Only 14 nations have official relations with Taipei. The rest have given in to Beijing’s bullying.

With the 23^rd highest nominal GDP in the world, countries should be falling all over each other to have diplomatic ties to Taiwan. But when Beijing says jump, the world politely inquires as to the altitude.

Communist China’s actions toward Taiwan are psychotic. In a 72-hour period earlier this month, 36 Chinese military planes flew over Taiwan’s air space, the most ever.

It’s just the latest aggressive move to signal to the Taiwanese and the rest of the world, that Beijing intends to incorporate the island into its evil empire sooner or later.

China builds its military, including its blue water navy, with singlemindedness. We are turning ours into a woke laboratory, where a majority of the population is taught to hate itself.

It’s not enough for the international community to send signals, like the recent communique by the G7 leaders that stressed the “importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” Translation: “It would be really cool if China didn’t start a war in pursuit of its territorial ambitions.”

Talk is cheap. Everything shows Beijing that it can get away with anything – the Wuhan lab leak, genocide against the Uyghurs, Gestapo tactics in Hong Kong and ongoing espionage. (FBI Director Christopher Wray says the Bureau opens a new investigation every 10 hours into illegal activities by the Peoples Republic in the United States.)

It’s reminiscent of the prelude to World War II in Europe. The Rhineland was remilitarized, and nothing happened. The Anschluss took place – and nothing happened. Kristallnacht (a dress rehearsal for the Holocaust) occurred – same thing. The surrender of the Sudetenland – the West colluded in that one.  The world pays a terrible price for the betrayal of little countries.

Like sleepwalkers, we stumbled into a World War that left an estimated 75 million dead. Then we said never again. Did a slogan ever have more of a hollow ring?

Now, it’s still not too late. Nothing is the most dangerous thing we can do.

The 7^th Fleet can become more assertive. The U.S. and its allies can push for Taiwan’s inclusion in international bodies. More delegations can visit the island, like the three members of the U.S. Senate who were there in early June.

The more we can do to create a diplomatic iron dome over Taiwan, the less likely Beijing will do something we’ll all regret.