“Progressives” consider only the countries of Western Europe and the USA as colonial powers, which occupied overseas territories since the Portuguese explored Africa in the 15th century, until the Americans seized Spain’s possessions in 1898. These colonizations were condemned by the world left and only dedicated to them. the activities of “decolonization” committees of international organizations. In contrast, “progressive” activists and decolonizing bureaucracies remain stoically mute regarding the colonialist adventures of Russia and China. The difference between these empires and the western ones is that they carried out their conquests “overseas”, that is, crossing the oceans, while the Russians and Chinese, with inferior nautical capacity, colonized the countries next to their vast territories. What is the ethical difference between oppressing a neighboring nation and justifying distant nations?

The ‘One China Principle’, Beijing’s red line

What has changed

The Chinese and Russians were just as brutal or more brutal than the Westerners with the Circassians, Siberians, Tibetans and Uighurs to name examples. Their colonizing work entailed massacres and authentic genocides. However, these land empires have no intention of decolonizing such territories. It is true that the collapse of the Soviet Union produced an enormous process of decolonization, surpassed only by that which took place in Africa in the second half of the 20th century, but there are still many peoples who have never asked if they still want to be part of the Russian “federation”. Not to mention nations subject to the Chinese empire, such as Taiwan, an island slightly larger than Pastaza Province, located about 180 kilometers from China. It was inhabited by people of Malayo-Polynesian origin when it was colonized by Europeans. Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands successively took over what they called Formosa. Only at the end of the 17th century it will be dominated by China, which two centuries later left it to Japan until 1952. In other words, the Chinese presence is much shorter than the one that Spain had in America. It has been de facto free since 1949, but the Chinese Empire has never legally recognized this reality.

The US must support Ecuador against narco-terrorism

Meanwhile, Taiwan has developed one of the richest societies on Earth, a true technological leader. Its main trading partner is precisely China, which only considers it a rebel province and threatens to attack it if it is formally declared an independent republic. It also “friendly” proposed the formula “one country, two systems”, which would preserve its capitalist economy and republican system under the sovereignty of Beijing. But we have already seen the farce this offer makes, in Hong Kong the compromise worked until the Emperor of China failed to secure the connections. Thus, recently on January 13, in free elections, the Taiwanese people elected Lai Ching-te, the candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party, an advocate of independence, as their president. It is to be hoped that this process will continue in peaceful and civilized channels, since, as has been shown, war would be disastrous, not only to China and Asia, but to all mankind. (OR)