China recently proposed drawing up an "anti-secession" law, which is basically a unification law. The target of this law is Taiwan.
For many years now, each side of the Taiwan Strait has developed in their own way, one as a free country and the other as an authoritarian one.
Those in Taiwan who oppose China's attempts to achieve hegemony have called for the formulation of an "anti-annexation" law, and six delegations have been planned to explain to people in the US, Asia and Europe that China is using the law against Taiwan, and that in doing so it is altering the status quo and putting regional peace at risk.
A few days ago, Taiwan and China came to an agreement over charter flights for the Lunar New Year. These are direct transport links in all but name. Despite the fact that China still has 600 missiles targeting Taiwan, and that it is drawing up an anti-secession law to wage a war against Taiwan through legal means, both the government and the opposition are delighted with the deal. With this kind of attitude, how can we even talk about opposing the anti-secession law? China has consistently insisted that the flights are "domestic," which is just a consequence of their "one China" principle.
In the past, political figures who called for protecting the Republic of China have now shifted from opposing the People's Republic of China to toadying up to it. They have recognized a thief as their father, and even go so far as to declare "long live [Chinese President] Hu Jintao (
Reports indicate that there are now over 67,000 Chinese spies operating in Taiwan. Even as the US is increasing its support for Taiwan, we ourselves are failing to be self-reliant, and instead are willing to flirt with Beijing. This is degrading.
From former president Lee Teng-hui's (
Taiwan must choose between becoming self-reliant or becoming slaves of a communist regime. In his book How We Lost the Vietnam War, former prime minister of the Republic of Vietnam Nguyen Cau Ky said that his regime's defeat was a crime committed by the US. But in fact, the former Republic of Vietnam must bear considerable responsibility for the defeat. Even with all the manpower and the material support the US provided, the South Vietnamese government was unable to become self-reliant. This is what brought about their defeat.
Rampant defeatism and the opposition's rejection of the US arms bill has led the US to doubt Taiwan's commitment to holding off an invasion. Now, with calls for "three links," Lee's "no haste, be patient" approach has been abandoned in favor of a "go west" policy.
This has been called "efficient management," but it is all hot air. For all we are doing is strengthening China's economy at the expense of our own, and helping them build missiles that can be used to target us. We will get what we deserve.
In the face of China's anti-secession law, all politicians -- whatever their affiliation -- should think deeply about the nation's future and not fall victim to dangerous illusions.
Tseng Chao-chang is chairman of the National Bar Association
Translated by Ian Bartholomew
On May 7, 1971, Henry Kissinger planned his first, ultra-secret mission to China and pondered whether it would be better to meet his Chinese interlocutors “in Pakistan where the Pakistanis would tape the meeting — or in China where the Chinese would do the taping.” After a flicker of thought, he decided to have the Chinese do all the tape recording, translating and transcribing. Fortuitously, historians have several thousand pages of verbatim texts of Dr. Kissinger’s negotiations with his Chinese counterparts. Paradoxically, behind the scenes, Chinese stenographers prepared verbatim English language typescripts faster than they could translate and type them
More than 30 years ago when I immigrated to the US, applied for citizenship and took the 100-question civics test, the one part of the naturalization process that left the deepest impression on me was one question on the N-400 form, which asked: “Have you ever been a member of, involved in or in any way associated with any communist or totalitarian party anywhere in the world?” Answering “yes” could lead to the rejection of your application. Some people might try their luck and lie, but if exposed, the consequences could be much worse — a person could be fined,
Xiaomi Corp founder Lei Jun (雷軍) on May 22 made a high-profile announcement, giving online viewers a sneak peek at the company’s first 3-nanometer mobile processor — the Xring O1 chip — and saying it is a breakthrough in China’s chip design history. Although Xiaomi might be capable of designing chips, it lacks the ability to manufacture them. No matter how beautifully planned the blueprints are, if they cannot be mass-produced, they are nothing more than drawings on paper. The truth is that China’s chipmaking efforts are still heavily reliant on the free world — particularly on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Last week, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) unveiled the location of Nvidia’s new Taipei headquarters and announced plans to build the world’s first large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer in Taiwan. In Taipei, Huang’s announcement was welcomed as a milestone for Taiwan’s tech industry. However, beneath the excitement lies a significant question: Can Taiwan’s electricity infrastructure, especially its renewable energy supply, keep up with growing demand from AI chipmaking? Despite its leadership in digital hardware, Taiwan lags behind in renewable energy adoption. Moreover, the electricity grid is already experiencing supply shortages. As Taiwan’s role in AI manufacturing expands, it is critical that