Letter to President Obama

President Barack Obama
The White House
Washington, D.C.  20500

Dear President Obama:

We write you today to alert you to an impending geostrategic disaster facing the United States in the Taiwan Strait, which seems to escape the attention of Washington's policy establishment.  We urge you to act before it is too late to protect America's interests in Asia.

A crisis is gathering in the Taiwan Strait.  While a great majority of the Taiwanese people wishes to keep their freedom, the Kuomintang (KMT) government under President Ma Ying-jeou has been pursuing a policy of incremental capitulation by reducing the budget and size of Taiwan's military, deepening the dependency of its economy on China and downgrading Taiwan's international status. Economic integration measures negotiated by the Chinese Communist Party and the KMT are implemented by the Executive Yuan without public debate or approval by the Legislative Yuan. Taiwan is being delivered into Beijing's grasp by stealth.

While there has been an ostensible easing of tension across the Taiwan Strait due to concessions the Ma administration has made to China, the People's Liberation Army's preparations for war against Taiwan have not slackened. If the Kuomintang pushes the signing of a peace accord with China in the next couple of years, massive bloody protests could be the result.  Such upheaval could provide the People's Liberation Army with a pretext to invade Taiwan.

Taiwan is facing double jeopardy: an external military threat from China and internal subversion by the Ma government, which is dominated by radical elements in the KMT who are collaborating with Beijing to steadily demolish Taiwan's sovereignty and democracy.

If Taiwan were to fall by PLA coercion or internal subversion, the U.S. would suffer a geostrategic disaster. The sea lanes and air space around Taiwan are critical to the survival of Japan and South Korea. Once in control of Taiwan, China would be in position to pressure Japan and South Korea to become its vassal states. Given Japan's unstable domestic politics and its aversion to nuclear weapons, Japan would likely cave once the credibility of the U.S. as keeper of peace in East Asia had been lost. With the demise of the U.S.-Japan military alliance, the U.S. would be forced to retreat all the way back to Hawaii.

As the new hegemon of Asia, China would be able to requisition Japan's considerable financial and technological resources to build up its wealth and military power.  With the combined strength of the world's second and third largest economies, it would not be unrealistic for China to aspire to replace the United States as the world's greatest superpower.

In order to keep the peace in East Asia and ultimately to protect homeland security, the U.S. must continue to support democracies and uphold the Taiwanese people's aspirations for freedom.  Abraham Lincoln conceived America as mankind's Alast best hope on earth.@  Lincoln's America would not walk away from a democracy, nor can the US afford to do so now.

Mr. President, to keep the peace in the Taiwan Strait and to encourage China to pursue peaceful development, we urge you and the Congress to take the following steps:

First, reaffirm the Taiwan Relations Act and the U.S. policy that the future of Taiwan must be determined by peaceful means and that the U.S. opposes any unilateral action to change the status quo;

Second, voice concern about the erosion of freedom of speech and assembly and the loss of judicial independence on Taiwan;

Third, remove counterproductive restrictions on U.S.-Taiwan contacts by sending a cabinet member to Taiwan, allowing U.S. Navy ships to call on Taiwan's ports; and

Fourth, deploy two aircraft carrier task forces in the Western Pacific and secure basing rights in the Philippines and the Ryukyu Islands in order to maintain the capacity to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion.

Mr. President, we firmly believe that America's national security and its democratic values both call for unwavering support of Taiwan's freedom.  We respectfully await your response to our requests. Thank you for your consideration.