Lessons For Texas Sovereignty From the East

Many Texans don’t follow the news out of Taiwan, but those of us interested in Texas’ sovereignty should take note. Throughout its complex recent history, Taiwan has been a territory of Japan, a refuge for the losing democratic factions of a civil war, and a free state within the communist People’s Republic of China. By deliberately pursuing a policy of ambiguity, not claiming to be part of the People’s Republic, claiming at the same time to be the “true” China, and not declaring political independence, Taiwan has avoided outright war and somewhat satisfied its rival internal political factions.

President Tsai Ing-wen spoke on Tuesday during the Taiwan National Day celebration. Tsai affirmed the Taiwanese government’s commitment to “remember democracy and freedom were rights obtained through all of Taiwan people’s countless efforts. Therefore, we need to use all our power to defend Taiwan’s democratic and freedom values and lifestyle,” she said.

While the central government of Taiwan does not seek political independence and the likely war with China that would result, given their history of mutual hostility, the government recognizes the right of the people to determine their own political future. Even though there are no immediate plans for an independence referendum, independence factions are not squelched. In contrast with the recent Catalan independence referendum that was forcibly interfered with and opposed by the government of Spain, the government of Taiwan is open to independence discussion. The Taiwanese premier, William Lai, told his parliament last month he was a “political worker who advocates Taiwan independence.”

While the Texas Nationalist Movement has not chosen a strategy of intentional ambiguity, we applaud the efforts of the Taiwanese government to encourage dialogue about the issue of Taiwanese sovereignty. The position of the independence factions in Taiwan is that they were never a part of communist China in the first place, and represent the true democratic China. While Texas can’t claim that it was “never a part” of the USA, we can continue to assert that the USA is not an indissoluble country, but rather a union of independent states. As our movement continues to grow, only time will tell how Washington will respond. Will they choose the route of communist China or Spain, denying by politics and force that we have the basic right to self-determination? Will Texans’ strong support of the Second Amendment be enough to prevent such interference? Or, will the cooler heads of the union prevail, recognizing Texas as a sovereign state, if not a fully independent one, until the day when Texas shall again stand strong among the nations? Our push for a free and independent Texas begins with you, begins with me, and begins with our elected legislators. It has in fact already begun.