2023-10-09 07:13:09
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the war has returned to Europe and its effects are being felt on the other side of the world, on the Chinese coasts opposite Taiwan. The expression “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow” has since entered Taiwanese discourse, and put forward by American and Asian allies who fear a Chinese military invasion of Taiwan.
It is in this context of growing tension in the Taiwan Strait that Arnaud Vaulerin proposes to reveal to readers the unique personality of the island’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, democratically elected in 2016 and 2020. Three months away of the presidential election, reading Arnaud Vaulerin’s well-documented and lively work is essential.
A president who knew how to keep her cool
We immediately feel that the author has traveled around Taiwan for years, meeting dozens of political and military leaders, academics and experts in geostrategy. But also those close to President Tsai Ing-wen, of whom he paints a very subtle portrait.
Like the destiny of this courageous and determined woman who was not predestined to become the president of a young democracy, which had become a major stake in the Sino-American rivalry. And who risks finding himself at the heart of a war in the Far East.
A singular destiny
The destiny of Taiwan and its current status can be considered as an “anomaly” of history which requires a scholarly insight which Arnaud Vaulerin offers us with talent and ease. Combining reports, testimonies, analyses, he achieves the feat of making this Sino-Taiwanese imbroglio very clear and understandable for the reader who discovers the subject. Because if everyone today knows where to place Taiwan on the world map, we must provide all the keys in order to fully understand the complexity of the issues involving many actors: China, the United States, Japan, the Philippines, Australia… against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
Ultimately, Arnaud Vaulerin is careful not to make risky predictions about a conflict that is brewing but of which no one can say when or how it will break out. A composure that President Tsai Ing-wen has managed to embody since her election in 2016. Despite the permanent Chinese insults and threats which have continued to intensify in recent months.
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