The Economist featured her last year. Taiwan “The most dangerous place in the world.” Its inhabitants have learned to live under Chinese – so far rhetorical – threats to devour the island. The strengthening of China’s defense capability has made these threats real.

We are now gearing up for further increased pressure due to Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei. China is used to reacting angrily to any visit by a US official to Taiwan, but this time is different. Beijing hates Pelosi for her critical stance on human rights violations and oppression, lashing out at President Xi Jinping for her lack of freedom.

Although it is not easy for the Taiwanese to panic, they cannot face the Chinese threat alone. Pelosi’s visit was a welcome show of American solidarity with Taiwan, and I must thank her for her decision to succumb to Beijing’s threats. Other democracies must show the same courage.

Democracy model

Taiwan is critical to the global democratic experiment. Our democracy is alive and well while we are the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage and the first to elect a female president. Of particular value is the fact that President Tsai Ing-wen has no political experience. Our economy is strong and our standard of living is one of the highest in Asia. We have maintained one of the lowest death rates from COVID-19 without resorting to China’s inhuman lockdowns.

If Taiwan submits to China, the world will lose a shining example of democracy and liberal economic management at a time when the authoritarian tentacles of Russia and China are expanding. After all, these are the reasons why China is threatening Taiwan: because China is afraid of us. Each of Taiwan’s 23 million people is a living refutation of the Chinese Communist Party’s claim that oppression and authoritarianism are the only appropriate models for Chinese society.

Taiwan is often seen as a marginal pawn on the great power chessboard. The media focused only on the impact on Sino-US relations of Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan. Taiwanese are rarely asked. When Mao won the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the Nationalist regime of Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan, where he adopted dictatorial methods. When I was growing up in the 1980s, my classmates and I weren’t allowed to speak Taiwanese because the regime of Chiang, who died in 1975, continued to maintain the illusion that he was “reclaiming the mainland.” Thanks to the efforts of Democrats and the leadership that replaced Chiang, the state has evolved into a credible democracy with free elections and freedom of speech.

Freedom in danger

China’s militaristic threats are a threat to freedom around the world. To draw a clear red line, truly democratic regimes should support Taiwan through bilateral trade agreements and allowing the country to join regional trade organizations, thereby reducing Taipei’s economic dependence on Beijing.