Comments by Richard Lawless, a deputy undersecretary at the US Department of Defense, regarding the controversial NT$610.8 billion (US$18 billion) budget for arms from the US, stirred up debate this week. Unfortunately, the reaction of most opposition politicians reflects the immaturity of this nation's democracy: National security continues to be subservient to the interests of political parties.
Lawless indicated that a failure to approve the budget would give China reason to believe that military intimidation is an effective means in bringing about unification, and would also turn Taiwan into a "liability rather than a partner" in the eyes of its friends. While some people feel that such talk is less than diplomatic, it is unfortunately an understatement of the cruel predicament this country faces.
Bluntly put, Taiwan should shoulder responsibility for its defense to the best of its ability. Otherwise, before long, no one will take its need for defense seriously.
The opposition camp's reaction to these comments was sadly predictable. The most vulgar example was People First Party (PFP) Legislator Sun Ta-chien (
For his part, PFP Chairman James Soong's (
Soong's remarks were, of course, at odds with the position held by the rest of the world -- that China is a threat not only to peace in the Taiwan Strait but to the entire region. He is daydreaming if he thinks that the removal of the DPP government would result in China withdrawing its hundreds of missiles aimed at this country.
He also said that the US' Taiwan Relations Act requires the US to "provide" rather than "sell" arms to Taiwan -- whatever that means. While the US government is no "mafia boss," it is certainly no charitable organization either.
The problem with the pan-blue camp is that it feels it has to oppose whatever the government proposes to make the government look bad in the minds of voters. In other words, it is completely incapable of transcending petty party rivalries in dealing with the issue of national security. To make matters worse, members of the opposition are incapable of separating their personal hatred of the DPP from debate on critical issues. These days, it's strictly personal.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under
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