During his visit to China, US Vice President Dick Cheney met with the top four leaders, President Hu Jintao (
All the "four big heads" indeed focused on that issue, demanding that Washington keep its promises of insisting on the "one China" policy and opposing Taiwan independence and any changes to the status quo. They also demanded that Washington not send any "wrong messages" to Taipei.
But Cheney did not give in to the Chinese pressure. He even defended the US Taiwan policy in response to Beijing's opposition to the sale of a long-range early-warning radar system to Taiwan, as well as US commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act. He also stressed that the US has increased sales of defensive weapons to Taiwan due to China's expansion of ballistic missile deployment.
Still, he reaffirmed once again that the US does not support Taiwan's independence, and that "the US government is opposed to any unilateral moves on either side to change the status quo."
Cheney's remarks seemed to be a major disappointment to China. In fact, in the hope that perhaps he would come up with some unfavorable words about Taiwan, China's Taiwan Affairs Office cancelled its two regular press conferences after Taiwan's presidential election on March 20, wishing to make a fuss about Cheney's comments right before President Chen Shui-bian's (
Unfortunately, Cheney's call for an early resumption of cross-strait talks failed to attract Beijing's attention. In his speech at Shanghai's Fudan University last Thursday, his advocacy of both freedom and democracy, and the freedom to choose national leaders, also failed to attract any response there.
It remains to be seen whether his trip to China can add some points to the re-election bid of US President George W. Bush.
Looking into the future, Cheney's declarations that the US opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo across the Strait will remain the keynote in the triangular relationship.
Yang Chih-heng is an associate professor in the Graduate Institute of Southeast Asian Studies at Tamkang University.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
As the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) reach the point of confidence that they can start and win a war to destroy the democratic culture on Taiwan, any future decision to do so may likely be directly affected by the CCP’s ability to promote wars on the Korean Peninsula, in Europe, or, as most recently, on the Indian subcontinent. It stands to reason that the Trump Administration’s success early on May 10 to convince India and Pakistan to deescalate their four-day conventional military conflict, assessed to be close to a nuclear weapons exchange, also served to
The recent aerial clash between Pakistan and India offers a glimpse of how China is narrowing the gap in military airpower with the US. It is a warning not just for Washington, but for Taipei, too. Claims from both sides remain contested, but a broader picture is emerging among experts who track China’s air force and fighter jet development: Beijing’s defense systems are growing increasingly credible. Pakistan said its deployment of Chinese-manufactured J-10C fighters downed multiple Indian aircraft, although New Delhi denies this. There are caveats: Even if Islamabad’s claims are accurate, Beijing’s equipment does not offer a direct comparison
After India’s punitive precision strikes targeting what New Delhi called nine terrorist sites inside Pakistan, reactions poured in from governments around the world. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) issued a statement on May 10, opposing terrorism and expressing concern about the growing tensions between India and Pakistan. The statement noticeably expressed support for the Indian government’s right to maintain its national security and act against terrorists. The ministry said that it “works closely with democratic partners worldwide in staunch opposition to international terrorism” and expressed “firm support for all legitimate and necessary actions taken by the government of India
Taiwan aims to elevate its strategic position in supply chains by becoming an artificial intelligence (AI) hub for Nvidia Corp, providing everything from advanced chips and components to servers, in an attempt to edge out its closest rival in the region, South Korea. Taiwan’s importance in the AI ecosystem was clearly reflected in three major announcements Nvidia made during this year’s Computex trade show in Taipei. First, the US company’s number of partners in Taiwan would surge to 122 this year, from 34 last year, according to a slide shown during CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech on Monday last week.