Tea at Trianon: Trump’s Anti-Communist Legacy

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, January 23, 2021

Trump’s Anti-Communist Legacy

From The Epoch Times:

The Trump administration confronted the CCP directly on several fronts, including by supporting Taiwan and Hong Kong, cutting off revenue streams from private firms tied to the People’s Liberation Army, and blocking the espionage threat posed by Chinese technology.

The administration defied decades-old protocols to begin normalizing relations with Taiwan, a Democratic republic that’s the antithesis of the repressive communist regime in Beijing. The CCP claims sovereignty over the island and has long played rough defense about the issue on the international stage.

In September last year, Keith Krach, the undersecretary of state for economic growth, led a delegation to Taiwan, becoming the highest-ranking State Department official to visit the island since 1979, when the U.S. government transferred diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei.

The historic visit signaled the continuation of increasing support for Taiwan, in defiance of the CCP. The significance of the visit wasn’t lost on Beijing.

“We were greeted with fighter jets and bombers,” Krach said. Beijing breached Taiwan’s airspace at least 46 times during the week of his visit.

During the final days of the Trump administration, the State Department removed all “self-imposed restrictions” on contacts with Taiwanese officials, laying the groundwork for even closer relations with the democratic island.

Orlando Gutierrez Boronat, an author and co-founder of the Cuban Democratic Directorate, told The Epoch Times that Trump’s policy on Taiwan was monumental for the success of the nation’s democracy.

“I think the support for Taiwan was monumental in all terms: political, economic, military,” Boronat said. “The Republic of China is a longtime ally of the United States and there’s no reason why it should be treated any differently. They’ve been at the forefront of the struggle for democracy and freedom for decades, and what they’ve achieved in Taiwan is incredible to behold. As an achievement for humanity, his support for Taiwan is outstanding.” (Read more.)