October, when both Taiwan and China celebrate their national days, is an awkward month. For the past 60 years, it was enough to ignore China’s national day celebrations. But with relations changing, the government is criticized no matter what it does. Every country in the world sent representatives to the celebrations in Beijing or sent congratulatory telegrams. The only country afraid of making any statement was Taiwan, which lately pays such careful attention to pleasing Beijing.
Even though the government’s pro-China stance is clear for all to see, it sought to dissuade retired military officers, legislators and national policy advisers from attending the celebrations in Beijing. The chairman of China Airlines was publicly berated by the premier, who called his attendance at the festivities “inappropriate.”
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) insists that neither side refutes the existence of the other, but if that were true, the government should have sent representatives to the celebrations.
Yet if the government had allowed politicians and businesspeople to attend, it would have violated a political taboo and ignored mainstream public opinion. That would have brought a storm of criticism from the opposition and sent the government’s approval ratings even lower.
The military equipment, missiles and tanks displayed in the parade through Tiananmen Square could be used against Taiwan in the event of a conflict and Taiwan’s defense minister has said our main potential enemy is China.
It is unacceptable that members of the ruling party would be allowed to visit the political center of our main enemy to applaud and cheer a display of arms that are a direct threat to this nation. The question is what the public thinks about this.
Cross-strait relations are not just a “special state-to-state relationship” as former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) put it, but a particularly awkward one.
Taiwan is the only country in the world that cannot call China “China.” If any other country referred to China as “the Chinese Communist Party” (CCP), “the Chinese communists” or “the Chicoms,” Beijing would protest.
By contrast, if Ma called China “China,” Beijing would see it as a major provocation. If the government were to send a telegram to congratulate China on its National Day, it would be tantamount to breaking off relations between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the CCP.
The ruling and opposition parties are both inconsistent on Taiwan’s national status and cross-strait relations. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has always held that China and Taiwan are two separate countries, said and did nothing on the occasion of China’s 60th anniversary. Its silence breached international protocol. The DPP could have wished China a happy National Day and thereby expressed its view that Taiwan is not part of China.
Now China’s National Day is over. This weekend Taiwan will mark its “Double Ten” National Day. What role will our government give to Chinese people in the celebrations? It could do as China did by inviting politicians from across the Taiwan Strait. It could, for example, invite members of China’s People’s Political Consultative Conference, as well as Chinese students in Taiwan or dissidents to take part. In that way, Taiwan could reciprocate China’s invitation.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House has offered Taiwan a paradoxical mix of reassurance and risk. Trump’s visceral hostility toward China could reinforce deterrence in the Taiwan Strait. Yet his disdain for alliances and penchant for transactional bargaining threaten to erode what Taiwan needs most: a reliable US commitment. Taiwan’s security depends less on US power than on US reliability, but Trump is undermining the latter. Deterrence without credibility is a hollow shield. Trump’s China policy in his second term has oscillated wildly between confrontation and conciliation. One day, he threatens Beijing with “massive” tariffs and calls China America’s “greatest geopolitical
On Sunday, 13 new urgent care centers (UCC) officially began operations across the six special municipalities. The purpose of the centers — which are open from 8am to midnight on Sundays and national holidays — is to reduce congestion in hospital emergency rooms, especially during the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year. It remains to be seen how effective these centers would be. For one, it is difficult for people to judge for themselves whether their condition warrants visiting a major hospital or a UCC — long-term public education and health promotions are necessary. Second, many emergency departments acknowledge
US President Donald Trump’s seemingly throwaway “Taiwan is Taiwan” statement has been appearing in headlines all over the media. Although it appears to have been made in passing, the comment nevertheless reveals something about Trump’s views and his understanding of Taiwan’s situation. In line with the Taiwan Relations Act, the US and Taiwan enjoy unofficial, but close economic, cultural and national defense ties. They lack official diplomatic relations, but maintain a partnership based on shared democratic values and strategic alignment. Excluding China, Taiwan maintains a level of diplomatic relations, official or otherwise, with many nations worldwide. It can be said that
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) made the astonishing assertion during an interview with Germany’s Deutsche Welle, published on Friday last week, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not a dictator. She also essentially absolved Putin of blame for initiating the war in Ukraine. Commentators have since listed the reasons that Cheng’s assertion was not only absurd, but bordered on dangerous. Her claim is certainly absurd to the extent that there is no need to discuss the substance of it: It would be far more useful to assess what drove her to make the point and stick so
RSS