Beijing should acquiesce in Taiwan's bid for World Health Assembly (WHA) observer status as a means to mend the new rift in cross-strait relations caused by China's recent enactment of its "Anti-Secession" Law, a think-tank China expert said Tuesday.
Alan Romberg, senior associate and director of the East Asian Program of the Henry Stimson Center, said Tuesday that the new law, which authorizes the use of "non-peaceful means" against Taiwan, has hurt the feelings of the Taiwanese people.
If Beijing wants to mend its fences with Taiwan, it should give up its obstruction of Taiwan's bid to enter the WHA, the decision making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), as an observer, Romberg said.
Romberg said "the orderly and upbeat nature of the demonstration on May 26 in Taipei reinforced the impression that the government has sought to make clear that the Anti-Secession Law is unacceptable in principle and to give Taiwan's citizens a way to express their displeasure, and that the government has no desire to do anything to raise cross-strait tensions."
Romberg, who once served as US State Department deputy spokesman, said that "one hopes that the next steps will be efforts from both sides to resume progress on charter flights and perhaps even to find a way to negotiate the `three direct links.'"
"If Beijing wants to make a positive impression on Taiwan's people, it should acquiesce this year in Taiwan's application for WHA observer status," Romberg said.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
‘SALAMI-SLICING’: Beijing’s ‘gray zone’ tactics around the Pratas Islands have been slowly intensifying, with the PLA testing Taiwan’s responses and limits, an expert said The Ministry of National Defense yesterday condemned an intrusion by a Chinese drone into the airspace of the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) as a serious disruption of regional peace. The ministry said it detected the Chinese surveillance and reconnaissance drone entering the southwestern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone early yesterday, and it approached the Pratas Islands at 5:41am. The ministry said it immediately notified the garrison stationed in the area to enhance aerial surveillance and alert levels, and the drone was detected in the islands’ territorial airspace at 5:44am, maintaining an altitude outside the effective range of air-defense weaponry. Following
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