President Chen Shui-bian (
Later, when visiting Pearl Harbor during his stopover in Hawaii, he gave an unscripted talk in which he cited the Pacific theater of World War II as an example. He said that the US and Japan were in fact enemies half a century ago, but they are friends today. He also said that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should learn from this great example.
Indeed, the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941 triggered the Pacific War, and the historical wound caused by the two atomic bombs also exists. But after half a century, the US and Japan are already military and diplomatic partners working to maintain peace and stability in the western Pacific region. This development proves that no conflict in the international community cannot be resolved.
The following day, the issue with the repatriation of illegal Chinese immigrants that has been left in limbo since the presidential election in March was resolved. Through Taiwan's and China's Red Cross organizations, China accepted the return of 178 illegal immigrants from Taiwan, and returned five Taiwanese criminals to Taiwan. In a statement, the Mainland Affairs Council said China plans to receive yet another group of illegal immigrants on Sept. 10. After a long period of tense relations across the Taiwan Strait, even such a small easing of tension is enough to be exciting.
China has for a long time posed a military threat to Taiwan, and it keeps around 600 missiles aimed at Taiwan along its southern coast, forcing Taiwan to find ways to defend itself -- partly through R&D and arms purchases, partly by strengthening its military.
Apart from having missiles aimed at Taiwan, the People's Liberation Army's exercise on Dongshan Island is clearly targeted at Taiwan. Dongshan Island is located in the southern part of the Taiwan Strait, only 181km from the Penghu islands and 307km from Kaohsiung. The exercise mainly consists of simulated landings and clearly mimics the capture of Penghu.
The people of Taiwan normally repay one good deed with another, which means that if your opponent gives you a gift, you have to give him something in return. Chen's initiative in responding to the military retreat from Dongshan Island serves to further underline Taiwan's goodwill. If China does not pose a military threat to us, there is no need for us to strengthen our military.
We sincerely hope that the warmth being shown across the Strait recently is an indication of a more constructive relationship, rather than one-off incidents.
China should build greater confidence in the goodwill of nations made up of the same race and speaking the same language. Once China and Taiwan put aside enmity and choose to engage in the spirit of friendship, they could become the strongest allies in the Western Pacific. We also hope that China will understand the Taiwanese way of doing things, namely that we will repay one good turn with another, so that Taiwan might eventually become China's closest friend.
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
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