Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (
The media have also reported that China's navy plans to acquire Russian Slava-class cruisers, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and Akula-class nuclear-powered submarines, which will increase Beijing's naval power dramatically. The expansion and the blatant trespassing into Taiwan's waters by Chinese military ships appear to be a warning.
In 1996, China's attempt to intimidate Taiwan with missile tests was thwarted by US intervention. Since then, China has worked hard to expand its military with a view to becoming a regional power. China has not only increased missile deployments along its southeast coast, but is also building naval fleets powerful enough to deter US intervention. China's military buildup worries Taiwan and makes Southeast Asian nations restless. For the same reason, Washington has redefined Sino-US relations from strategic partnership to strategic competition. China's military power has become a cause for concern in East Asia, even though China and ASEAN nations recently agreed to set aside territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
Beijing has been pushing a two-pronged strategy toward Taiwan, trumpeting direct links and launching a peace offensive while adopting a hard-line "if you don't want commercial shipping links then be prepared to see the arrival of warships" approach. Taiwan has faced this choice before, when Japan forced China to sign the Shimonoseki Treaty in 1894, ceding Taiwan and Penghu to Tokyo. The appearance of Chinese warships does not frighten the people of Taiwan, but instead stirs up anger and resentment. If the Chinese leadership and military believe that Taiwan will agree to open direct links at gunpoint, they are gravely misjudging the response of the people and showing serious ignorance of a democratic system. Far from falling on its knees, Taiwan will only speed up its purchase of Kidd-class destroyers, try to acquire submarines and AEGIS-equipped warships and deepen its military alliance with the US and Japan.
A show of force only highlights China's belligerent attitude. Beijing's military brass wants to flex their muscles on the eve of the Chinese Communist Party's 16th National Congress. However, such brutal behavior shows a lack of transparency in China's power maneuvers. One must resort to power struggles where the winner survives and the loser is destroyed. The people have no say whatsoever.
Taiwan has experienced a dominating military before. The country's political reforms have long been aimed at preventing the emergence of a military strongman and making the armed forces serve the country instead of any particular party. In the early years of his presidency, Lee Teng-hui (
Two sets of economic data released last week by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) have drawn mixed reactions from the public: One on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the year and the other on Taiwan’s household wealth distribution in 2021. GDP growth for the first quarter was faster than expected, at 6.51 percent year-on-year, an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 4.93 percent and higher than the agency’s February estimate of 5.92 percent. It was also the highest growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy expanded 8.07 percent, DGBAS data showed. The growth
In the intricate ballet of geopolitics, names signify more than mere identification: They embody history, culture and sovereignty. The recent decision by China to refer to Arunachal Pradesh as “Tsang Nan” or South Tibet, and to rename Tibet as “Xizang,” is a strategic move that extends beyond cartography into the realm of diplomatic signaling. This op-ed explores the implications of these actions and India’s potential response. Names are potent symbols in international relations, encapsulating the essence of a nation’s stance on territorial disputes. China’s choice to rename regions within Indian territory is not merely a linguistic exercise, but a symbolic assertion
More than seven months into the armed conflict in Gaza, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide following a case brought by South Africa regarding Israel’s breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The international community, including Amnesty International, called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid. Several protests have been organized around the world, including at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and many other universities in the US.
Every day since Oct. 7 last year, the world has watched an unprecedented wave of violence rain down on Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories — more than 200 days of constant suffering and death in Gaza with just a seven-day pause. Many of us in the American expatriate community in Taiwan have been watching this tragedy unfold in horror. We know we are implicated with every US-made “dumb” bomb dropped on a civilian target and by the diplomatic cover our government gives to the Israeli government, which has only gotten more extreme with such impunity. Meantime, multicultural coalitions of US