In a symbolic and political move aimed at asserting the nation’s sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) visited the Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼) on Friday and laid out the details of his East China Sea peace initiative on the closest islet to the Diaoyutais. His proposal for a trilateral dialogue between Taiwan, Japan and China to shelve their differences and jointly develop the resources in the Diaoyutais is a good one in theory, and aims to prevent Taiwan from being marginalized in the fight for the islands’ sovereignty.
The problem is that Taiwan does not have the clout to entice China and Japan to the negotiating table. The initiative has also strayed from the government’s long-term stance of not teaming up with China in defense of its sovereignty over the contested island chain. The Ma administration has argued that the Diaoyutais are an integral part of the Republic of China’s (ROC) territory. Beijing also claims sovereignty over the Diaoyutais as part of its territory.
If Taiwan and China initiated a bilateral dialogue on the Diaoyutais as suggested by Ma, the two sides would actually enter political negotiations as the issue of national sovereignty must be addressed, and the “one China” principle will be put to test. By recognizing the recent display of the ROC national flag by pro-China activists on the islands and by proposing bilateral talks between Taiwan and China to cooperate on the issue of the Diaoyutais, the Ma administration could risk jeopardizing the nation’s sovereignty.
As tensions between the three competing countries escalate, the trilateral dialogue proposal — which Ma said could be achieved through “three-sided bilateral talks” first — may strengthen Taiwan’s role in the extravaganza, but as the government tries to avoid the risk of marginalization amid the competition, it should be cautious about Beijing taking advantage of nationalist sentiment.
It is notable that as the dispute over the Diaoyutais continues, the annual APEC forum was held in Russia last week. Both China and Japan used the occasion to claim sovereignty over the islands. In a press conference to sum up the annual forum, Japan insisted on its plan to nationalize the Diaoyutais, known as the Senkakus in Japan, and said it will continue with the plan to purchase three islands of the island chain from private owners in order to “maintain regional stability and peace.” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Qin Gang (秦剛) later reaffirmed Beijing’s hard-line stance against Japan over rival claims to the Diaoyutais, and said it is the responsibility of people across the Taiwan Strait to defend the islands’ sovereignty because the Diaoyutais are an integral part of China’s territory.
Amid the war of words between China and Japan, Taiwan is largely ignored. The Japanese government has said that it has learned the about the East China Sea peace initiative, but does not yet have a response. The issue was also not on the agenda during the meeting of Taiwan’s APEC envoy, former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) on the sidelines of the forum. During the meeting, Hu stressed the importance for Taiwan and China to uphold the “one China” principle especially when handling major issues.
Hu’s remarks serve as yet another reminder that China would continue to interfere in Taiwan’s international affairs and control the nation’s international participation under the “one China” principle, which for Beijing, means the People’s Republic of China.
It is a risky move to propose a trilateral dialogue to resolve the disputes over the Diaoyutais, and since Ma has promised not to team up with China in handling the issue, the government should simply initiate negotiations with Japan. That would be a winning situation for both sides.
A failure by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to respond to Israel’s brilliant 12-day (June 12-23) bombing and special operations war against Iran, topped by US President Donald Trump’s ordering the June 21 bombing of Iranian deep underground nuclear weapons fuel processing sites, has been noted by some as demonstrating a profound lack of resolve, even “impotence,” by China. However, this would be a dangerous underestimation of CCP ambitions and its broader and more profound military response to the Trump Administration — a challenge that includes an acceleration of its strategies to assist nuclear proxy states, and developing a wide array
Twenty-four Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers are facing recall votes on Saturday, prompting nearly all KMT officials and lawmakers to rally their supporters over the past weekend, urging them to vote “no” in a bid to retain their seats and preserve the KMT’s majority in the Legislative Yuan. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which had largely kept its distance from the civic recall campaigns, earlier this month instructed its officials and staff to support the recall groups in a final push to protect the nation. The justification for the recalls has increasingly been framed as a “resistance” movement against China and
Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), former chairman of Broadcasting Corp of China and leader of the “blue fighters,” recently announced that he had canned his trip to east Africa, and he would stay in Taiwan for the recall vote on Saturday. He added that he hoped “his friends in the blue camp would follow his lead.” His statement is quite interesting for a few reasons. Jaw had been criticized following media reports that he would be traveling in east Africa during the recall vote. While he decided to stay in Taiwan after drawing a lot of flak, his hesitation says it all: If
Saturday is the day of the first batch of recall votes primarily targeting lawmakers of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). The scale of the recall drive far outstrips the expectations from when the idea was mooted in January by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘). The mass recall effort is reminiscent of the Sunflower movement protests against the then-KMT government’s non-transparent attempts to push through a controversial cross-strait service trade agreement in 2014. That movement, initiated by students, civic groups and non-governmental organizations, included student-led protesters occupying the main legislative chamber for three weeks. The two movements are linked
RSS