Over-Reliance on the U.S. Is the Real Crisis

Regarding the U.S. debt and credibility crisis and Taiwan’s stock crash, Ma Ying-jeou publicly stated his confidence in the Taiwan stock market. It could be said that he understands the situation and was reassuring investors, but it is more likely that he said it to comfort himself, believing that the United States will still protect Taiwan. A world without America to lean on is a world that neither the Kuomintang (KMT) nor the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) can imagine. U.S. bonds are like U.S. weapons; simply purchasing them allows Taiwanese people to feel secure. If U.S. bonds cannot be trusted, can U.S. weapons be trusted? If not, then Taiwan will capitulate.

Beijing’s opposition to Taiwan’s purchase of U.S. weapons makes cross-strait relations difficult. Taipei’s most important argument is that if Taiwan has advanced weapons, then it can protect itself and the U.S. will not have to get involved in Taiwan’s military affairs. This may sound reasonable; however, on further reflection, the trust that Taiwan has in U.S. weapons and in U.S. credibility is very similar. The U.S.’ creditability has been downgraded and Taiwan has suffered great losses. To say that Taiwan’s businesses have shrunk overnight would be an understatement. Rebuilding trust in the United States as a whole is implicitly linked to Taiwan’s trust in U.S. weapons and the believed promises of U.S. protection made by the KMT and DPP.

The fundamental problem is that the United States does not deserve to be trusted, and yet Taiwan cannot distrust the U.S. because the premise for Taiwan’s political and economic operation is to trust in the United States. In 1996, there was a missile crisis in the Taiwan Strait; a large number of Taiwanese citizens fled to the U.S. as refugees, filling up Californian hotels. Similarly, Taiwan’s media cannot help but rely on American news; its film and TV industry cannot help but rely on U.S. movies; its academic institutions cannot help but use American textbooks; and its food and drug safety standards cannot help but imitate U.S. standards. If Taiwan’s trust in the United States collapses, then Taiwan cannot function.

The KMT and DPP have their hands full fighting each other; however, trusting in the United States is a must. The Taiwan stock market has suffered turmoil due to the U.S. debt credibility crisis. DPP leader Cai Yingwen believes that the KMT has policies that are overly reliant on China. She is alluding to the notion that if Taiwan relied on the U.S., then there wouldn’t be a problem. In other words, the relationship between both parties is seemingly irreconcilable, but trust in the U.S. is bigger than all of this. Since the United States is Taiwan’s standard, whatever problems America has, Taiwan ought to have too. Thus, if the United States has problems that Taiwan doesn’t have, then it causes Taiwanese people to feel insecure.

Analysts seem to think that the health of the U.S. economy is comparatively good and that this wave of crisis is only temporary. However, from Taiwan’s perspective, the deeper the crisis, the deeper the debt is, and the worse over-reliance on the United States becomes. The scale of the U.S. debt credibility crisis reminds people of the U.S.’ track record with regard to promises of security. The world has seen the United States give up on countless conservatives as well as revolutionaries. Ma Ying-jeou has used his words to reassure the Taiwanese; the underlying meaning to this is that the United States will not abandon Taiwan.

This attempted reassurance is nothing more than whistling at night; it looks like the only real protection for Taiwan is if it becomes part of the United States. But the question is how? This explains why the Taiwanese government and society have copied the United States in every aspect: By doing so, Taiwan has dressed itself up like the United States. It uses English and collects American praises of Taiwan — all of this to trick itself into believing that the United States will not abandon Taiwan. The U.S. debt credibility problem isn’t the problem; the problem is that Taiwan is not a part of the United States, but is still dedicated to U.S. doctrine.