Thucydides_to_U.S.,_China_and_Taiwan_Relations

Thucydides to U.S., China and Taiwan Relations The China and Taiwan issue became a hot topic on the international scale after the Communist Party took over the mainland at the end of the Chinese Civil War. The United States has been aiding military power to Taiwan since 1979 (Wu). The tension between China and Taiwan has been tightened during the recent years. This phenomenon could relate to the book “History of the Peloponnesian War” by Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War broke out between two great powers in the Greek world - Athens and Sparta. The Island of Melos was conquered violently by the Athenians. In this case, the United States had the position as Sparta, China as Athens and Taiwan as Melos. Thucydides would approve the United States’ stance to keep aiding Taiwan to avoid a possible war in the future. In 2003, the Taiwanese electorate returned President Chen Shui-bian, an outspoken proponent of independence from the mainland, to office. Chen has vowed to put a new draft constitution into effect in 2006, flouting the longstanding “one China” principle (Chen Shui-bian). Alarmed at this plan, China has threatened to use force to compel talks on reunification. “China has positioned five hundred short-range ballistic missiles across the strait to intimidate the island’s leadership into opening talks or, failing that, to bludgeon the island into submission” (Holmes). Since the U.S. has a military alliance relationship with Taiwan, China has embarked on a military buildup with the explicit purpose of denying U.S. aircraft carriers access to the strait. “China has state-of-the-art diesel attack submarines, surface warships, and anti-ship missiles, as well as a new diesel submarine, only recently known by the West to exist” (Holmes). Meanwhile, on the other side of the strait, the deeply divided Taiwanese electorate and legislature have been unable to agree to arm themselves. Plans to purchase diesel submarines from the United States, for example, have effectively been shelved. The decision leaves the Taiwanese navy with only four boats, two of them which were from World War II, to fight off China’s large, increasingly potent undersea force. The outlook for Taiwan’s surface fleet is equally bleak. Four retired American guided-missile destroyers are scheduled for delivery in 2008, but Washington, fearful of antagonizing China, has yet to approve the sale of Aegis destroyers that Taiwan really needs if it is to shoot down the five hundred ballistic missiles China has positioned (Yoshihara). If Taiwan stays in its current military level, it will risk suffering the fate of another island nation that was conquered violently by its neighbor two and a half millenniums ago. In 416 B.C., two superpowers of the Greek world began to unravel. Athens made its first move on the state of Melos, which had resisted joining the Athenian Empire. The reason Athens conquered Melos was because Athens could then operate from the island and the strong Athenian navy could project power along the coasts of Sparta. Athens also wanted to make an example out of the Melians to show other Greek states the outcomes of not obeying their rules. The Melian example suggests China will take advantage of Taiwan if necessary since the military power has tilted to China’s favor. China has a geopolitical interest in wresting the island from its inhabitants: Taiwan would make an invaluable naval base, shifting China’s defense line seaward. Reunifying the motherland would discourage independence movements in Tibet and Xinjiang, consolidating China’s rule. However, it against the United States’ interest since its ally Taiwan will be unified into China. In the book, Athens sends ambassadors to Melos with a powerful expeditionary force to demand surrender. Also, the Melian Dialogue, one of the most remarkable episodes in the book and several themes from the dialogue are relevant to the United States, China and Taiwan relations. The Athenian ambassador said: “Since you know as well as we do that, when these matters are discussed by practical people, the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they have the power to do and weak accept what they have to accept” (Thucydides 402). “For the last five years, military spending for China boosted tremendously from $25 billion in 2004 to $56 billion in 2008” (China’s Defense). “China also kept pressuring Taiwan on its military spending; Taiwan has been reducing its armed forces from 350,000 in 2004 to 275,000 now” (Yoshihara). China definitely is on top of Taiwan in terms of military power and according to Thucydides, there is no justice if two parties do not share equality of power. When the Athenian ambassador pressured the Melians to surrender, the Melians responded: “And if we surrender, then all our hope is lost at once, whereas, so long as we remain in action, there is still a hope that we may yet stand upright”( Thucydides 404). In the end, the Melians opted to fight rather than submit to Athenian blandishments and the Athenian force invested the city. Once the city fell, the Athenian assembly voted to put the adult males to death and enslave the women and children. Hope did not help the Melians to change their fate and Taiwan should not count on hope either. The weaker one always has to accept the consequences the stronger has given them. Thucydides would agree that Taiwan needs to increase its military spending in order to survive and the United States should help Taiwan do so to avoid another war. “The growth in the power of Athens and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta made war inevitable. Still, it is well to give the grounds alleged by either side, which led to the dissolution of the treaty or the breaking out of the war” (Thucydides 49). As China’s power increases, the United States is in the position of Sparta and faces dilemmas as to where the United States stands. Taiwan is inescapably implicated. Both Thucydides and the United States government do not want to see another tragedy war happen between a super power and an island nation. Last month, the Obama administration approved an arms sale to Taiwan worth $6.4 billion dollars. The package includes Patriot anti-air missiles, Black Hawk helicopters, and Harpoon antiship missiles (Clifton). The only way for China and Taiwan to come to a peaceful conclusion is to have similar military powers on both sides; be equal. Even though China’s relationship with the United States has been warm for the recent years, the U.S. should not abandon the military alliance relationship with Taiwan. Thucydides showed to the readers what happens when two parties do not have equal military power in a war. The United States needs to keep aiding Taiwan; otherwise another Melos tragedy might happen for Taiwan. Work Cited “Chen Shui-bian’s Independence Stance May Trigger War.” EMBASSY OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA IN THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF NEPAL, 26 October, 2004. Web. 24 February 2010 “China’s Defense Budget.” GlobalSecurity.org, Web. 24 February 2010 Clifton, Eli. “US-China: Taiwan Arms Sale Heats up Simmering Row.” Global Issues, 02 February 2010, Web. 24 February 2010 Holmes, James, “Taiwan: arm yourself.” American Thinker, 09 October, 2004. Web. 24 February 2010 Thucydides, HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. England: Penguin books, 1972. Print. Wu, Debby, “Opposition Wins Taiwan Presidential Vote.” Fox news, 22 March, 2008. Web. 24 February 2010 Yoshihara, Toshi, “Melos or Pylos'” Access my Library, 22 June, 2005. Web. 24 February 2010