The U.S. Supreme Court has finally ruled that colleges may not discriminate against a race as a means for determining admissions to achieve diversity. This should effectively end affirmative action as a means for increasing the number of black students or those of other races who gain admission at the expense of students of Asian descent who had achieved higher grades and tests scores. That is clearly discriminatory in spite of the laudable goal of increasing diversity which should be attainable by other means including more aggressive recruitment of qualified minorities.
Why are students of Asian ancestry outperforming academically those of other races including Caucasians? The reasons can be attributed largely to cultural differences. Academic excellence tends to be highly valued in Asian households and parental involvement is high. This is not to say that some cultures are superior to others; only that there are differences. Asian families tend to take education very seriously. Certainly Asian-Americans have made outsized contributions to our country and economy and to any they migrate to.
Our public school systems, on the other hand, are failing our children. Their test scores in math, science and verbal skills continue to decline. This does not bode well for us in the great power competition with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that we are dealing with. It will not be a friendly competition. Should the PRC emerge as the world’s preeminent power and economy it will determine the ground rules for commerce and international relations and continue to colonize and militarize the South China Sea. Those rules will be far different from those in effect during America’s century of global leadership and those of the British Empire that preceded it. Americans need to realize, moreover, that the Communist Party of China rules the PRC and will in effect be setting those rules.
A citizen’s value in the PRC is measured by his or her worth to the party. The PRC’s phenomenal growth was facilitated by the academic skills and work ethic of their hard-working people. If that culture could flourish under such a rigid, authoritative and intrusive government, imagine what it would produce under a fully democratic system. For examples, look no further than Taiwan and, until recent events, Hong Kong. Under the so-called one China, two systems, policy, Hong Kong was a prosperous British crown colony. It might have continued to prosper as a city-state like Singapore had its citizens been given a choice. Instead, the heavy hand of Beijing now restricts freedoms the Hong Kongers were promised and dissenters are in jail.
Taiwan, on the other hand, is still free and it behooves us and the rest of the free world, especially its Asian neighbors, that it stays that way as long as it wishes to. It is a prosperous democracy precisely because of that culture that makes the Chinese on the mainland and in countries that they have migrated to so productive. But the Taiwanese don’t have the burden of Beijing’s rule.
The United States is committed to aid Taiwan in its defense should the PRC attempt to occupy it by force. The policy of strategic ambiguity was invented as an excuse for not having a clear policy as to whether or not we would fight to protect Taiwan and to keep Beijing (and the rest of us) guessing. President Joe Biden has said at least twice that we would.
This is supposedly a red line matter to Xi Jinping. But the PRC is not ready for an armed conflict with the U.S. and won’t act until they are certain that the U.S. will not fight or until they are confident that they can prevail over us if we do. We need to draw a few red lines of our own, therefore, before they are ready so as to help avoid miscalculations that ambiguity often causes. First and foremost, we must make it clear to Beijing that we are a Pacific power with vital interests throughout that vast region and that we intend to remain one. Second, Taiwan is our friend and long-time ally. We will maintain any level of relationship with Taipei that we choose and won’t be influenced by Beijing’s tantrums over the matter. Third, we will take any action we deem necessary to prevent the forceful occupation of Taiwan, otherwise known by its legal name, The Republic of China (ROC).
The stakes are great here. Taiwan produces over 90% of the world’s advanced microchips. It is an important trading partner and maritime nation with excellent port facilities and a robust economy ranked at 20th in the world and sixth in Asia. It has all the elements necessary for statehood and has never been part of Communist China, having been ceded by the Qing Dynasty to Japan at the end of the Sino-Japanese War in 1895 and ruled by Japan until World War II.
The island is defensible, at least from an amphibious assault. It is mountainous and densely populated and lacks sufficient beachfronts to support large amphibious landings. China would probably eventually prevail in a war of attrition because of its huge advantage in numbers but it would be very costly for them. It is in our vital interest to ensure that we make it so obviously costly to them that they will be deterred from trying.
VOL. 113, NO. 29 – July 19, 2023
