Unfair Prejudice
By Steven J. Grisafi, PhD.
America’s hypocrisy shines most bright in the contrast between its expectations for Israeli security guarantees with the establishment of any Palestinian State and America’s expectations for a continuation of the status quo for Taiwan quasi-independence. Whatever sort of treaty America would consider proper to impose on the Palestinian People for the establishment of their own sovereign state, so too should such conditions be imposed upon Taiwan for the recognition of their own quasi-independence. Since the Israelis expect to have full military control over any Palestinian State, should it be established, one ought to expect similar hegemony of the PRC (People’s Republic of China) over the ROC (Republic of China).
In my opinion, America’s foreign policy with regard to the PRC-ROC conflict is wrong. We have chosen to take a stand where we need not. Our stand would be better taken positioning ourselves among the nations of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) and treating Taiwan in a manner similar to which we would consider proper for the Israelis to treat the Palestinians.
Whatever conditions Americans would consider proper to allow the Israelis to impose upon the Palestinians, we ought to expect to see the PRC impose those very same conditions upon the ROC. Please remember, the ROC lost the civil war. They turned traitor during WWII (World War II) selling weaponry America gave them to Japan. Whatever argument one may choose to raise regarding the evilness of Hamas, in an attempt to portray differences between the PRC-ROC conflict and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, others can raise similar arguments of the evilness of the Kuomintang during WWII.
Americans ought to recognize that the PRC and the ROC are both composed of Chinese People. But the Israelis and the Palestinians are different peoples, having different cultures and religions. The Palestinians are Arabs. The Israelis are Hebrews. America’s foreign policy needs to be consistent in our treatment of other peoples throughout the world. If not, we lose credibility when we apply a double standard to the various conflicts throughout the world. America needs to treat the PRC-ROC conflict with the same degree of objectivity and impartiality with which we approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Of course, I do not really believe that America is in any way, shape, or form impartial, nor objective, in its approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While public opinion may be somewhat different, I believe the Congress of the United States and the leadership of the two dominant political parties are both grossly biased in favor of the Israelis. I pose my current argument solely to demonstrate how unpalatable our foreign policy would become should we be consistent in the approach of our policy toward Taiwan as it is toward Israel. It is not so much that we should expect the hegemony of the PRC over the ROC. But that we should not be so accepting of any Israeli demand for security guarantees at a price to be paid from Palestinian sovereignty.