Commentary
I am not a fan of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But, unsurprisingly, she went to Taiwan even though both Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden told her not to.
Even more commendable, the people of Taiwan celebrated “building a thriving democracy as one of the freest and most open countries in the world.”
Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hate Taiwan because Pelosi’s comments were completely correct.
If Taiwan’s ethnically overseas Chinese can achieve that level of freedom and democracy, why can’t the mainland? Also Australia.
According to the US-based Heritage Foundation, indicators of economic freedomAfter decades of concerted efforts, Taiwan surpassed Australia in the Freedom Rankings, rising to 6th place, while Australia fell to 12th place.
In fact, under the index it fell from the “free” category to the “almost free” category. Comparing the two countries over time shows that in 1995 they were tied on his 75 points.
In 1996, the same year the Howard government took office, Australia embarked on its long road to freedom, peaking at 83 in 2012.
After the 2009 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) drove Kevin Rudd and the entire political class insane, it seems our liberty trend has begun to take a downward turn.
As the GFC madness turned into a COVID overreaction, the decline in “fiscal health” – $1 trillion in debt, rising spending and ongoing budget deficits – led to a sharp decline in economic freedom last year. Did. at 5% of GDP.
sovereignty
It should be noted that the claim that the CCP is the natural and legal ruler of Taiwan is completely bogus.
Paul Monk, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s China desk and whose analysis of China-Australia relations was published in a recent Public Affairs Institute review, points out:
“There were no dynasties before the Manchus ruled Taiwan. Taiwan was incorporated into the Manchu Empire in 1885 and then permanently ceded to Japan in 1895. Its population rebelled against the 1947 imposed rule (from 1945) by the Chinese Kuomintang.”
Australia has a geopolitical interest in what happens to Taiwan. But we are also concerned with maintaining a nation-state of about 25 million people committed to building a free and prosperous society.
And defends the idea that sovereignty ultimately comes from the people.
Views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Epoch Times.
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Scott Hargreaves is Executive Director of the Australian Institute of Public Affairs.