The negative response to the DPP is not only deeply outdated, but tragic and incomprehensible given Washington’s policies elsewhere in the world. Washington pundits never argue that Poles, Latvians or Czechs should vote for parties seeking a subservient approach to Russia. Taiwanese voters have rejected the idea that they should forsake their hard-won democracy to appease Beijing’s desire to annex Taiwan. It is time for Washington to follow their lead—and to grasp the hand they have extended.

Michal Thim is a Taiwan defense specialist, a Research Fellow at the Prague-based think-tank Association for International Affairs, a member of CIMSEC, an Asia-Pacific Desk Contributing Analyst for Wikistrat. Michael Turton blogs on Taiwan politics and history at The View from Taiwan.

Image: A Taiwanese military helicopter. Photo by 玄史生, CC BY-SA 3.0.