Read on Twitter
Someone sent up the "One China" bat signal so here I am.
TL;DR (but I did read so you wouldn't have to): Freeman forgets that the U.S. does not take a position on the status of Taiwan & assumes otherwise. He calls Taiwan "separatists." Does not mention the "Six Assurances"
1/ https://twitter.com/RStatecraft/status/1341760487080534016
TL;DR (but I did read so you wouldn't have to): Freeman forgets that the U.S. does not take a position on the status of Taiwan & assumes otherwise. He calls Taiwan "separatists." Does not mention the "Six Assurances"
1/ https://twitter.com/RStatecraft/status/1341760487080534016
TL;DR (cont) Ignores the fact that our "One China" policy was meant to be adaptive & flexible to a reasonable degree, rather than bound to the circumstances of the 1970s. Per the Quincy norm, onus of deteriorating cross-Strait tensions is on the US & Taiwan, but not on China.
2/
2/
Some gems:
"Beijing simultaneously set aside its loudly proclaimed determination to 'liberate' Taiwan by force and began a sustained effort to end the division of China by peaceful means."
I somehow missed the memo that Beijing has renounced the use of force.
3/
"Beijing simultaneously set aside its loudly proclaimed determination to 'liberate' Taiwan by force and began a sustained effort to end the division of China by peaceful means."
I somehow missed the memo that Beijing has renounced the use of force.
3/
"Meanwhile, the relaxation of Sino-American tensions enabled Taiwan to evolve politically and economically, becoming the freest and most prosperous Chinese society in China’s long history and the only democracy ever to take root on Chinese soil. "
4/
4/
All these QI articles are premised on the false narrative that Taiwan has always been a part of China which is a non-starter for any sort of debate. Taiwan's successes that he cites are due largely to its own unique circumstances and identity--as removed from China.
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5/
"They agreed on both the 'one China' principle and a remarkable range of practical connections between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait."
This gleans over the very important fact that the KMT and the CCP decided to shelf what "China" constitutes.
6/
This gleans over the very important fact that the KMT and the CCP decided to shelf what "China" constitutes.
6/
"In 2015, Taiwan’s then president, Ma Ying-jeou, met in Singapore with his mainland counterpart, Xi Jinping. Sadly, that meeting appears to have marked peak détente between the two sides"
I--
7/
I--
7/
"Taiwan separatists know they can neither persuade the mainland to grant them independence nor win a war of secession with it."
"SEPARATISTS"
8/
"SEPARATISTS"
8/
"But China is a great power, and, in Taiwan, Beijing would be fighting in what the world – including Washington – has formally acknowledged is Chinese territory."
The "Chinese" we used in official policy was deliberately vague--could mean either PRC or ROC.
9/
The "Chinese" we used in official policy was deliberately vague--could mean either PRC or ROC.
9/
"But, beginning in 1995, escalating assertions of an identity separate from China by Taiwan’s leaders and sympathetic endorsement of such aspirations by American politicians"
He's talking about Americans being supportive of Taiwan's democratization as if it's a bad thing.
/ 10
He's talking about Americans being supportive of Taiwan's democratization as if it's a bad thing.
/ 10
This is honestly all I have the energy for unless someone sends me DoorDash 
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