Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

In the current digitalized world, it is increasingly difficult to distinguish between genuine concerns raised democratically by citizens and politically motivated talking points pushed forth by those with ulterior motives.

There was a time when online users could calmly articulate a political position and others would likewise respond in a thoughtful manner. These days, respectful disagreements and civil online debates are rare. The descent toward a populist online culture is no particular group’s fault. Social media platforms constantly flood their users with information far beyond the limits of a sane person’s attention span. In this ecosystem, sensationalist positions are naturally the ones that get the most spotlight.

After a recent visit to Beijing, Stanford University political scientist Oriana Skylar Mastro wrote an op-ed in the New York Times on Monday last week, titled “This is what America is getting wrong about China and Taiwan.”

Unfortunately, her article wrongly advised the US to conclude a new (fourth) communique with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and acquiesce to China’s ambitions to annex Taiwan (under the guise of “peaceful unification”) to avoid a war with China.

A few days later, while speaking at Washington think tanks, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) cited Mastro’s op-ed, and called upon the US to remain neutral on the Taiwan question and stop “weaponizing” Taiwan.