Summit for Democracy: The Significance of Protecting Taiwan

America will hold its first virtual Summit for Democracy from Dec. 9-10. Some 110 countries and regions, including Taiwan, have been invited to attend.

In a statement about the summit, the U.S. State Department offered the following words from President Joe Biden: “Democracy doesn’t happen by accident. We have to defend it, fight for it, strengthen it, renew it.”

This is a natural position for the leader of the democratic world to take. The world order is being threatened by challenges from an authoritarian China. All democratic nations need to confront this reality with a shared sense of crisis. The summit should serve as a place for such discourse.

China and Russia were not invited to the summit. The majority of attendees are from Europe, with only three countries — the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia — having been invited from among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

It must be made clear that whether or not a nation was invited does not indicate a nation is a friend or foe. In a message to those countries that were not invited, including Thailand, the participating countries and regions should join their voices to encourage democratization.

The most critical point, however, is that Taiwan was invited to attend. Excluded from international institutions like the World Health Organization by Chinese pressure, Taiwan has also been forced to endure repeated military provocation by Chinese aircraft.

The principal battleground in the fight to defend democracy is none other than Taiwan. The democratic world must join forces to support the Taiwanese.

Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen government has announced that Audrey Tang, who serves as digital minister and has played an active role in Taiwan’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, will attend the summit. Of course, China objects to Taiwan’s participation — and indeed, to the summit itself.

In Hong Kong, the free and democratic system to which Hong Kongers were entitled under China’s public commitment to the “One Country, Two Systems” policy was shattered in June of last year when China implemented its National Security Law.

With freedom of speech crushed, those who sought liberty in Hong Kong were subject to repression and lost a safe place of expression. However, the negative effects of the failure to protect democracy in Hong Kong do not end there.

We have learned that Hong Kong’s representatives in the World Trade Organization supported China in its drive to block the appointment of someone from Taiwan to chair the Committee on Governmental Procurement. This has strengthened the authoritarian camp’s hand.

The same thing cannot be allowed to happen in Taiwan. To deter China, the democratic world must declare its clear intent to protect Taiwanese democracy. At the same time, we must cooperate to ensure that Taiwan is not isolated under pressure from China.