Quick Take
Lucas Huang, a rising third-year student at UC Santa Cruz, worries about his homeland, Taiwan, and the threat that China will invade. He thinks a war would be senseless and that his friends and family could be in danger in the near future. He wonders if his fellow students would care as much about Taiwan as they do about Gaza.
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Even with its hot tropical weather and unbearable humidity, I loved Taiwan as a child. My parents are Taiwanese, but I was born in the United States and our family moved back when I was young so my brother and I could learn Mandarin. I made friends in both the local elementary school and Taipei American School, (TAS), which I collectively attended for six years before I came back to the U.S in 2014, when I was 12.
I graduated from Palo Alto High School in 2020 and then went back to Taiwan until 2022, when I started at UC Santa Cruz. I have fond memories of going to modern, trendy malls and bustling, festive night markets with my older brother and begging our parents to lend us coins so we could play the newest Japanese arcade games and enjoy crispy stinky tofu or sweet winter melon tea.
Taiwan is magical to me. It’s just a small island – about one-twelfth the size of California, located about 100 miles from mainland China – but it is also a global hot spot. China sees Taiwan as part of its territory, but many Taiwanese consider themselves an independent nation. China has been talking about an invasion for many years, but the rhetoric has increased recently.
So what happens when my dear homeland faces that invasion?
Taiwan, according to media reports, could be the next Ukraine or Palestine. It’s a space waiting to explode. Yet no one I’ve met in my two years at UCSC ever talks about it. Students are furious about what is happening in Gaza and have protested and blocked the road into campus to call attention to people across the globe.
I wonder if they would show similar outrage if China invades Taiwan. Would the students be willing to put their future on the line for Taiwan as they did for Palestine?
As I hiked the steep hills of the UCSC campus trying my best to get from class to class on time this past quarter, I thought about the protesters and my relatives in Taiwan. The students scream for the rights of those in a distant land, while my family face dangers that are closer than ever, yet they must remain out of fear of alienating either side.
And then there is me, a university student and aspiring writer trying to get his voice heard in a world that doesn’t care. If China attacks Taiwan, who would have a voice? Who would be the angriest? Will our voices be heard?
Even though there has not been an invasion yet, the majority of Taiwan’s citizens already have had their chances for peace dimmed by the March election of Lai Ching-te as Taiwan’s eighth president. He is pushing independence, not peace. He wants Taiwan to maintain its distance from China and to align with other democracies.
He has shown an eagerness to confront China, and when he was elected, U.S. lawmakers agreed to sell and ship weapons to Taiwan more quickly. Shortly after, mainland China conducted naval “punishment” drills by sending fleets to surround Taiwan.
War is right at my family’s doorstep, and I am worried. Taiwan’s mandatory military service law requires men 18 to 36 years old to serve. The current service term is a year.
I am excused from service due to health conditions, but I worry for those I love. My friends and my cousin joke about Taiwan’s military training, calling it a “summer camp.” Unlike the U.S. military, our training does not involve pushups and combat drills. Instead, it entails sweeping streets and cleaning bathrooms.
I worry Taiwan is not ready for a war with China. I wonder how a president who wants to fight a war against a world superpower but does not prepare his men got elected.
Only 40% of Taiwan’s voters voted for Lai. The other two political parties collectively received the remaining 60% of the votes. Both losing candidates promised to deescalate tensions with China. The peace-loving citizens have been failed by democracy and have to prepare for war to satisfy the minority 40%. China now falsely labels the people of Taiwan as “non-peaceful.”
I worry the U.S. and many Western nations are fanning the flames of war. Turn on the TV and you see U.S. politicians claiming how America will support Taiwan’s forces. U.S. President Joe Biden is not afraid to use military might to defend Taiwan, and former President Donald Trump says he will bomb Beijing. They almost sound sincere, but I remind myself that these politicians wouldn’t admit Taiwan into the United Nations, and they still do not see Taiwan as a country.
Are they willing to send their soldiers to die for Taiwan’s independence if they do not even believe in it?
Politicians like Biden, Trump and Lai will not be fighting in this war. Those fighting the invading Chinese military will be people like my best friend from TAS, known for his contagious positivity and gentle smile, and my cousin, whose antics when we were young have become fond memories I still hold dear. People like my brother, the brightest and kindest soul I have ever known, will go to battle. These are the ones China labels “radical” and “violent,” and the ones who will be forced to fight in this politician’s war.
Governments are violating the rights of those who want peace, forcing them to put their lives on the line. The 40% who voted for Lai should be sent to the front lines. Not peace-loving men.
If maintaining the One China policy is what it takes to have peace, then I say so be it. China will most certainly limit the rights of the citizens of Taiwan and erode democracy. But independence can wait. Fighting a war that can be avoided is ridiculous.
If the people of Taiwan continue to support their war-provoking president, then an invasion will be on the horizon soon. When anyone advocates for Taiwan’s independence, they must ask themselves: Are we supporting war? Do the people even want to fight, or are they happy with what they have now?
I love Taiwan with all my heart. Give me a cause worth dying for and I will. But this “war” for “independence,” even for my beloved homeland, is not worth giving up our lives.
If what is happening in Palestine angers you, please also think about Taiwan. Law-abiding young men might die in a meaningless war in the near future. Why aren’t we speaking out for their rights?
When good people start dying, it will be too late to start caring.
Lucas Huang, an incoming junior at UCSC studying art & design: games + playable media and education, was born in Silicon Valley but grew up in Taiwan. He is a creative writer aspiring to be a game designer and educator.