Let's play a better game.
Apparently, its going to China.
Reading this BBC article about Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s meeting with with China’s Li Qiang, I couldn’t help remembering the world’s worst board game “Where’s the Beef”, that followed the old TV commercials featuring an old lady who can’t find the beef in typical fast food. In the game, you move your pieces around the board and inspect what is on customers’ trays and what is being cooked in theh kitchen. It is a slow moving game with no strategy and its conclusion makes you glad you can close the board back up for an indefinite period.
But, Monkton is looking for beef of a different sort: the beef that is not made from cows but from disputes between people. Where’s the Irish beef with China? Where’s the strategic complaining about China’s terrible behavior internally and externally?
According to the BBC article linked above:
Human rights groups as well as both government and opposition representatives called on the heads of state to tackle the Chinese premier on the treatment of Muslim minorities in his nation.
Aoife Moore, “Human rights and beef mark China’s Dublin moment”, BBC News. January 20, 2024.
But, human rights are not at the top of the agenda. Apparently environmentalism comes first, at least in terms of the talking points mentioned in the article. And we can tell from the outcome of the meeting that the taoiseach didn’t push too hard.
The meeting concluded by Ireland winning market access for its beef following a ban caused by an episode of Mad Cow disease. China may have been worried about food pathology, but it also may have merely been setting the board for exactly this opportunity to “give” something to Ireland.
Another gift was allowing visa-free travel to China up to 15 days, making it easier for Irish business people to visit, helping facilitate Ireland’s 40 billion euro trade with China.
Ireland wants to sell its products, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But, the price of selling to China, of course involves bending the knee to China’s desired propaganda, particularly on “One China.”
Ireland, like most of the world, adheres to this fiction. Apparently, the Chinese hoped to further characterize Ireland’s position:
Chinese media claimed that Mr Varadkar told the Chinese premier that Taiwan should be reunified with China.
This was denied by Varadkar, but he “reaffirmed” the One China policy.
We are all in a fast-moving global game, that we don’t have much control over. China continues to advance its global authority along with its trade footprint. But, at some point every country has to decide between making it clear whether liberal, democratic values are more important than getting that next trade deal. Every country that buys economic gain at the expense of kowtowing to China merely keeps us marching towards a time when no one will be able to effectively say ‘No!’ to China, as its economic pull is more important than any other goal.
Like “Where’s the Beef?”, Monkton doesn’t want to play that game.
It is time to acknowledge Taiwan’s independence. Moreover, it is time to acknowledge the Taiwanese people’s fundamental right to democracy and self-determination.
