Dear Editor,
Former President Donald Ramotar wrote two letters that were published in Stabroek News: 7 August 2022 and 1 March 2022. When read together, these letters are disturbing for the following reasons:
First, on 7 August 2022, Mr. Ramotar condemned Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan as “provocative action.” It behooves Mr. Ramotar to explain why Speaker Pelosi’s trip was provocative. This was not the first time that a Speaker of the House visited Taiwan: Newt Gingrich visited Taiwan in 1997. Ms. Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan did not result in any realignment of US foreign policy – one China, or any escalation of military aid to Taiwan’s military. The Chinese government is peeved because Ms. Pelosi has been a perpetual thorn in its side: In 1991, she visited Tiananmen Square where she unfurled a banner honouring the pro-democracy protesters whom the Chinese government massacred there. In 1995, she was instrumental in the release of Chinese dissident Harry Wu from detention. In 2015, she visited with the Dalai Lama. In 2019, she helped to impose sanctions on China over its mass incarceration of Uyghur Muslims. Nancy Pelosi is a voice for democracy and human right. That is the reason China is upset.
David Sacks of the Council on Foreign Relations summed up the Chinese action: “More important, Beijing’s reaction reveals its growing comfort with the prospect of a crisis over Taiwan. As Xi faces economic headwinds at home and growing resentment over his strict zero-COVID policy, he may have concluded that a Taiwan crisis could rally the public and shore up his popularity. Xi may also have decided that international support for Taiwan is growing too strong, especially in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Both Taiwan and Ukraine are relatively young democracies that exist next to much larger authoritarian neighbors with long-standing designs on their territory; leaders around the world have taken note of the parallels. Xi may feel he needs to deter countries from working with Taipei to increase its defenses and resilience. He could also find Pelosi’s visit to be an advantageous pretext for large-scale military exercises, which could test the People’s Liberation Army’s preparedness for complex operations. That could provide him clues as to whether China’s military would fare better than Russia’s did in Ukraine and gauge how the United States and Taiwan would react.
Second, Mr. Ramotar is an old-school Communist steeped in class analysis, dialectics, dictatorship of the proletariat, etc. His paradigm is grounded in criticisms of the “corporate media”, “military industrial complex” etc. According to Mr. Ramotar, the US is a society that is run by the military industrial complex which generates wealth for a few by engaging in perpetual war. However, in his 7 August 2022 letter, he noted the military and the Executive cautioned Nancy Pelosi against making her trip to Taiwan. Clearly, the military industrial complex was not seeking a conflict with China. Ramotar vacuously concluded, “a section of the United States ruling class saw this development in China as a threat to the US domination of the world. Nancy Pelosi is part of that group.” Mr. Ramotar tell us more of this so-called “section of the United States ruling class”: Who are they? Whom do they represent? What segment/industries do they control? What percent of the US GDP are they responsible for?
Third, Mr. Ramotar concludes his letter with a clarion call for “respect for all countries sovereignty, security.” On 1 March 2022, Mr. Ramotar where was your call for Russia to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty? You did not respect their rights to self-determination, to seek better relations with the EU and the West. You sided with the autocrats. Similarly, in condemning Nancy Pelosi you have reiterated your position.
Sincerely,
Roger Ally
Fort Lauderdale
