All over the globe, the discussion of China's rise is nothing new. Unsatisfied with the status of a regional hegemon, China is now seeking to expand into every corner of the world. In the 21st century, the US is facing something akin to the former Soviet Union, but its opponent this time, namely China, is a much tougher rival. Although in the past China was militarily inferior to the Soviet Union, it is now superior to Russia on the diplomatic front and the Chinese have fared much better than the Russians economically.
Recently the US government has fretted over the actions of Beijing, such as the adoption of the "Anti-Secession" Law, which have obviously escalated cross-strait tensions. And now there are the anti-Japanese demonstrations sparked by the approval of new Japanese history textbooks. On the heels of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to China, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (
China also sought to mend fences with India by resolving border disputes and proposing projects to boost bilateral economic cooperation.
To vie for oil resources, China ignored the US policy of isolating Iran and has placed an order for oil valued at US$100 billion. Other than seeking oil sources in Central Asia, the Middle East, Siberia and Southeast Asia, China is also expanding into the US' front yard, Canada, and its back yard, Venezuela. On April 14, Beijing signed a contract with the Canadian province of Alberta to facilitate the transport of Canadian oil to China. Not long ago, China also purchased a large quantity of oil from Latin America, including Venezuela. All these actions have threatened the US' oil supplies and ignited potential diplomatic disputes.
What the US must find most unbearable is the fact that China's "rising" power has persuaded US allies not to align themselves so closely with its interests. Despite US protests, the EU considered lifting the ban on arms sales to China. Australia has already clearly stated that it would not stand with the US against China on the cross-strait issue, and even South Korea has refused to allow its military bases to be used to deploy US troops in the event of a cross-strait conflict.
Although China's military power is still insufficient to challenge US hegemony, it has used its economic and diplomatic clout to advance itself in various arenas of international competition, proving to the world that it is a major power that will not willingly constrain itself within self-imposed limits.
US President George W. Bush seems to have realized this problem, and on April 15 described Sino-US relations as a "very complex and good relationship." China's close neighbor Japan has recently released the 2005 Diplomatic Blue Book, chastising China, saying that its development of gas fields in the East China Sea and incursions of nuclear submarines into its territorial waters, are a serious threat to Japanese national security and sovereignty.
The enactment of the Anti-Secession Law has made China's insistence on its "peaceful rising" an empty slogan. In the face of China's rising through non-peaceful means, the countries that form the two Pacific Ocean island chains have become nervous. Taiwan should sound the alarm and develop a grand strategy, similar to that employed in the 20th century, to outflank the communist threat and respond effectively to the new challenge posed by China.
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment on Friday last week to add four national holidays and make Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors — a move referred to as “four plus one.” The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who used their combined legislative majority to push the bill through its third reading, claim the holidays were chosen based on their inherent significance and social relevance. However, in passing the amendment, they have stuck to the traditional mindset of taking a holiday just for the sake of it, failing to make good use of
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