The government launched a campaign yesterday codenamed "Ching Kung" -- meaning "clear sky" -- to sweep foreign vessels out of the waters surrounding Kinmen and Matsu. The primary targets of the campaign are, of course, the Chinese fishing boats, smugglers and "survey" ships that linger in the vicinity, and in turn become the root of many criminal, social and health problems for Taiwan.
Chinese vessels have been entering Taiwanese waters to smuggle goods and illegal immigrants to the outlying islands or Taiwan proper. The goods being smuggled range from agricultural products and livestock -- which escape health and sanitary inspections and therefore expose Taiwan to various different types of diseases -- to drugs and guns, which have their own danger.
As for the people smuggled in and out of Taiwan via this channel, the social and criminal problems created go without saying. Many Chinese vessels disguised as fishing boats in fact serve as shuttle buses for fugitives from Taiwan to escape to the other side of the Taiwan Strait, helping them avoid capture and punishment for their crimes. Through the same channels, illegal immigrants from China are brought into Taiwan, some voluntarily, while others are forced to work, sometimes even in underworld-related activities, such as prostitution, theft or drug-peddling.
An even more serious problem is the threat to national security. At least some of the boats trespassing in these waters are in fact conducting espionage on the orders of the Chinese government.
For example, an "oil survey" ship named Fen-Dou No. 4 (
The ironic thing is this: It turns out that state-owned Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油) actually signed an agreement with the Chinese state-owned oil company in question to jointly survey under the sea for oil reserves. This in turn served as an excuse used by the Chinese side for the intrusion in question. This highlights the risks that Taiwanese companies face in doing business with Chinese companies -- to be used and manipulated in a way that endangers Taiwan's security. Furthermore, even though there is such an agreement in place, in order to enter Taiwan's waters Fen-Dou No. 4 must nevertheless comply with Taiwan's laws and regulations and file for permission from the government beforehand. It is truly outrageous to think that the power of the Taiwanese government can be ignored in such a ridiculous manner.
Under the circumstances, the so-called "Ching Kung" campaign comes just in time. It is hoped that the government can show its determination and decisiveness for a change and safeguard the interests of Taiwan. Unfortunately, the campaign is to last only for one week. One cannot help but think that this will only mean things will be back to normal afterwards.
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
RSS