The cat has no bag: Europeans have no high ground of morality on which to stand. Very much enjoyed this one by TT.
taipeitimes.com/News/edit/ar … 2003245665
And some quotes:
the EU’s silence leaves one to wonder if the union has disappeared from the face of the earth – or has become the paid-for lackey of the autocrats in Beijing.
This has meant that the EU is ready to sacrifice Taiwan – a stable democracy – simply to differentiate itself from the US and pander to China.
How pathetic.
How sad that after the hand-wringing rhetoric of some EU members in the build-up to the war in Iraq, that those same members are now glibly trying to justify selling advanced weapons to China.
So not talking is the sign of a yes-man? Has any of the dinky LP-sized diplomatic allies of Taiwan been "yes-man"ing too then? TT is so laughable.
First of all, if I were Taiwanese, I would be mad as hell at Europe right now. From the point of the view of a Taiwanese citizen, the editorial said what needed to be said. Second, I think the problem lies not in the silence of the EU at this juncture (of the passing of the anti-secession law) taken alone, but this on the heels of the proposal to lift the arms embargo. So it’s really the ramifications as a result of silence on two points, those resulting from the first being that by lifting the arms embargo, the EU is sending a message to Beijing that it will never have to be held accountable for Tiananmen. It also means that as far as the EU is concerned, Beijing can continue imprisoning citizens that call for an independent inquiry into the massacre. And noboby is fooled, the lifting of the arms embargo is being done for greed- something the Europeans think the Americans have a monopoly on. Finally, world powers are expected to comment on all world events through one of the many available forums. So the silence on the anti-secession law just adds to situation and shows that a clear trend is developing (i.e., the Taiwanese should brace for more of the same to come from Europe).
I am European and I have written to my country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs about this. I agree that the ban on arms sales to China should remain.
But let’s not forget what happened in the wake of Tiananmen - when the rest of the world was turning their collective backs on the Butchers of Beijing it was Taiwanese industrialists and businessmen who rushed over to China to fill the void and in so doing put Taiwan’s economy and security in hoc to China.
If I was Taiwanese and looking for someone to get mad at, I’d start with the economic and much of the political elites of this country before getting started on the Europeans. When Taiwanese elites actually start making costly decisions to safeguard their own security their bleating to the rest of the world will have more credibility.
So don’t get preachy with me!