Chinese money is going to be a continuing problem for Taiwan:
Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Nicaragua, Palau, Paraguay, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, Eswatini, Tuvalu. ...
Along with the Vatican, they are the only governments on the planet maintaining official diplomatic relations with democratic Taiwan.
Until a few months ago, El Salvador, Panama and the Dominican Republic were also part of the group, but intense pressure from the People’s Republic of China, accompanied by massive amounts of money, persuaded them to switch diplomatic recognition to China.
The editorial calls for a big project of economic aid in cooperation with Taiwan's allies to keep those small countries out of China's orbit.
I think Taiwan should try to buy land--to become sovereign Taiwanese territory--from one of their allies to create a government-in-exile to keep alive the flames of Taiwanese independence should China conquer Taiwan, as I suggested long ago:
Further, could the Taiwanese replicate Corregidor and use a small island further east as a last bastion for a remnant of a free Taiwan in case even this Bataan fell before help arrived? I don't even know if Taiwan has anything out east (the Pescadores to the west are unsuitable since they would likely be an early target for the Chinese. If not, Taiwan has money. They could buy a small island from somebody and equip it to hold and defend a shadow government of lower level officials (it should never be a haven for the top leadership which might tempt them to flee rather than fight).
The seller would want a provision that reverts control of the land to them if the mainland government attempts to gain possession of the territory sold to Taiwan, of course.
