Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (
If the arms purchase bill is passed, the capability ratio will fall to a manageable and reassuring level. If an enemy has reasonable expectation of failure, then it will not likely order an attack.
China's national defense expenditure for this year is up 12.6 percent, but spending growth has been in double figures for several years now. In addition, other defense expenditures are tucked away in other areas of the budget which, if added to the official numbers, would amount to a quite astonishing figure.
In comparison, Taiwan's defense expenditure has increased by only 3 percent, leaving a worrying gap in the military spending of both countries. In addition, China has consistently lobbied a receptive Europe Union to lift its arms embargo, which will mean even more high-grade military equipment making its way across from Europe. The significant boost to China's military capability that would follow this abandonment of all propriety on the part of the EU cannot be ignored.
China is currently reviewing "anti-secession" legislation, which will make possible the use of "non-peaceful means" to counter Taiwanese independence, or even autonomy. These means could include a blockade or even invasion.
However it is manifested, the law is essentially a license to instigate hostilities against Taiwan.
Because the right of interpretation of the law lies with China, it can characterize any democratic activity within Taiwan as pro-independence, and use this as a basis for implementing these "non-peaceful means."
Coupled with the difference in cross-strait military capabilities, such acts of intimidation would amount to planting a time bomb. The foundations of peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region would be utterly compromised by it.
In the past, the People First Party (PFP) was the party most strongly opposed to the arms-procurement plan. But President Chen Shui-bian (
After February, Soong visited Washington, where he apparently learned of US concerns over Taiwan's security situation, and after the release of the joint statement of the US-Japan Security Consultative Committee, which made the issue regarding the Taiwan Strait a "common strategic objective," our responsibility for our own security has also increased.
Now that negotiations between the administration and the PFP have seen a degree of unity, the PFP should deliver on its commitment and pass the procurement plan. This is the fundamental way to avoid cross-strait conflict.
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
Liberals have wasted no time in pointing to Karol Nawrocki’s lack of qualifications for his new job as president of Poland. He has never previously held political office. He won by the narrowest of margins, with 50.9 percent of the vote. However, Nawrocki possesses the one qualification that many national populists value above all other: a taste for physical strength laced with violence. Nawrocki is a former boxer who still likes to go a few rounds. He is also such an enthusiastic soccer supporter that he reportedly got the logos of his two favorite teams — Chelsea and Lechia Gdansk —
Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Tuesday last week apologized over allegations that the former director of the city’s Civil Affairs Department had illegally accessed citizens’ data to assist the KMT in its campaign to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilors. Given the public discontent with opposition lawmakers’ disruptive behavior in the legislature, passage of unconstitutional legislation and slashing of the central government’s budget, civic groups have launched a massive campaign to recall KMT lawmakers. The KMT has tried to fight back by initiating campaigns to recall DPP lawmakers, but the petition documents they