The day US-president Donald Trump signed the Taiwan Travel Act issued by the Congress of the United States, this op-ed was published in the Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard. Alex argues that Western democracies have to realise they are competing with the People's Republic of China for global leadership in the 21st century. The decision by the White House to support Taiwan in its quest for preserving its autonomy needs to be backed by all democracies, Alex claims in his essay.