The “launch” on Tuesday of a new maritime route between Kaohsiung’s Cijin District (旗津) and Wenzhou, China, took the nation by surprise. The move constituted aggression to some and a danger to others, but turned out to be a hoax.
The creation of a new “small three links,” if it were true, would have been foolish. The idea that someone could simply create a maritime route to China without being subject to the Maritime and Port Bureau’s rules defies common sense, but apparently the firm that held the launch ceremony thought it was possible.
Establishment of maritime routes are subject to the bureau’s supervision, especially links with China, which must also conform to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).
The stunt was a direct challenge to the Cabinet of Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) — who since his first day in office has made painstaking efforts to keep African swine fever out of the nation — and a vastly irresponsible move given that the nation is just a week away from being removed from the World Organization for Animal Health’s list of foot-and-mouth disease-free zones where vaccination is practiced, meaning that Taiwan could start exporting pork again after 22 years.
Su appeared irate in a Facebook post: “No matter what political slogan you chant or what political gains you are after, do not mess with disease prevention.”
It was understandable that Su adopted a harsh tone. Anyone in his position would.
The trustworthiness of Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau Director Pan Heng-hsu (潘恆旭), who attended the launch ceremony, and Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) is to be questioned, given that they both knew ahead of time about the plan, but kept quiet about it until the ceremony.
It is not the first time that Han’s administration has kept apparent dealings with China secret. His surprise visit in March to China’s liaison office in Hong Kong, where he held a closed-door meeting with its director, created a scandal.
As government officials, Han and his bureaucrats have a responsibility to report their plans and policies to the public before they are implemented, not afterward.
An investigation by the Mainland Affairs Council found that the new maritime route was a “grand hoax aimed at creating the illusion that [Han’s slogan] ‘getting rich by shipping out goods and bringing in people’ was bearing fruit.”
The two vessels that Pan said had set sail for Wenzhou are still moored in Kaohsiung Harbor and the shipping company that was supposed to run the service ceased operations on June 12. Furthermore, no application to establish such a route has been filed with the Maritime and Port Bureau.
The affair reeks of deceit, recklessness in an area that affects national security, a lack of legal understanding, and nonchalance toward public health and the safety of the nation’s agricultural sector.
If Han’s administration continues to pursue these kinds of stunts and he continues his ad hoc management style, the questions over the nation’s fate under a possible Han presidency will continue.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under