Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
China's unification propaganda targeting Taiwan has been consistent in its stance, but flexible in its strategy. It has always had the self-interest of the regime at heart. It is so flexible that even Ma, a pro-unification politician who has been dubbed the "future leader of the Taiwan Special Administrative Region" by some Taiwan independence activists, still could not escape being rejected by China. Anyone who oversteps the red line drawn by China will definitely be relentlessly attacked or admonished, making it clear to Taiwan's political figures that they do not have the right to comment freely on Beijing policy.
The Hong Kong government's visa refusal is more likely the result of complying with pressure from Beijing, rather than being an action taken on its own initiative. Yet this incident has created yet another political chasm between Taiwan and Hong Kong. Although Tung Chee-hwa (
In Feb. 2001, the Hong Kong government gave Ma a high-profile reception, and memories of his success with the people of Hong Kong are still fresh. So why has Hong Kong's government decided to brave everyone's displeasure? The reason is pressure from China. If relations between Taiwan and Hong Kong cannot be based on the territory's autonomy, and if Hong Kong cannot even issue a visa without Beijing's approval, then the value of Hong Kong as a model of "one country, two systems" will cease. Taiwan and Hong Kong play the role of "cross-referenced indices" in China's policy. China continues to ignore the democratic aspirations of Hong Kong's people and also continues to put pressure on Taiwan, which has caused the territory to lose all faith in Beijing's promises.
At this time in cross-strait relations, all actions acquire added significance. A visit by Ma to Hong Kong has no political significance, and is not a challenge to China's "one country, two systems" policy, nor does it hinder Hong Kong's continued prosperity. In fact, it can only benefit exchanges between Hong Kong and Taiwan, and assist in improving cross-strait relations.
If China insists on using subjective criteria to view others' actions without taking into account the democratic currents in Taiwan and Hong Kong, any promise made by China will be treated with suspicion by all.
Now that Hong Kong has rejected Ma's application to visit, the people of Hong Kong are angry, the pan blue camp is disappointed, and the people of Taiwan are in despair. The reasons why China has rejected Ma are groundless; it only rejects Taiwan's people.
The negotiations about Lunar New Year charter flights give China another chance to work toward mutually beneficial cross-strait relations.
Because much of what former US president Donald Trump says is unhinged and histrionic, it is tempting to dismiss all of it as bunk. Yet the potential future president has a populist knack for sounding alarums that resonate with the zeitgeist — for example, with growing anxiety about World War III and nuclear Armageddon. “We’re a failing nation,” Trump ranted during his US presidential debate against US Vice President Kamala Harris in one particularly meandering answer (the one that also recycled urban myths about immigrants eating cats). “And what, what’s going on here, you’re going to end up in World War
Earlier this month in Newsweek, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to retake the territories lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. He stated: “If it is for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t [the PRC] take back the lands occupied by Russia that were signed over in the treaty of Aigun?” This was a brilliant political move to finally state openly what many Chinese in both China and Taiwan have long been thinking about the lost territories in the Russian far east: The Russian far east should be “theirs.” Granted, Lai issued
On Tuesday, President William Lai (賴清德) met with a delegation from the Hoover Institution, a think tank based at Stanford University in California, to discuss strengthening US-Taiwan relations and enhancing peace and stability in the region. The delegation was led by James Ellis Jr, co-chair of the institution’s Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region project and former commander of the US Strategic Command. It also included former Australian minister for foreign affairs Marise Payne, influential US academics and other former policymakers. Think tank diplomacy is an important component of Taiwan’s efforts to maintain high-level dialogue with other nations with which it does
On Sept. 2, Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal called “The US and Taiwan Must Change Course” that defends his position that the US and Taiwan are not doing enough to deter the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from taking Taiwan. Colby is correct, of course: the US and Taiwan need to do a lot more or the PRC will invade Taiwan like Russia did against Ukraine. The US and Taiwan have failed to prepare properly to deter war. The blame must fall on politicians and policymakers