President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday there would not be war in the Taiwan Strait in the next four years, but his administration would nevertheless earmark a “reasonable and sufficient” budget to maintain a strong military.
Ma made the comment at a workshop in Taoyuan County for senior military officials. He told the officials that he had forecast during the presidential campaign that there would be no war in the Strait during his presidency and he was more confident than ever that his vision would come true.
“But without war, do we still want a national defense?” Ma asked. “Do we need equipment? Do we need training reform? The answer is yes.”
PHOTO: CNA
He said the government must adopt new thinking and reassess its cross-strait strategy in response to China’s political and military transformation because relations had undergone fundamental changes.
The rise of China will produce a great opportunities for Taiwan if it can take advantage of China’s political and economic development, Ma said.
“The very existence of the mainland is an important opportunity, but also a serious threat,” he said. “As the president and chief commander of the armed forces, I am duty bound to maximize the opportunity and minimize the threat. Your responsibility is to help me minimize the threat to the country.”
Ma said that he would like to maintain the “status quo” in the Strait under the framework of the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution. He promised not to discuss unification with Beijing during his presidency, not to pursue or support de jure Taiwan independence and to oppose the use of military force to resolve cross-strait disputes.
Given peaceful cross-strait relations, Ma said he wanted to push a series of political and economic reforms to build Taiwan into a beacon of civilization and progress for the Chinese people.
Ma urged the military to protect the dignity and sovereignty of the ROC, the Constitution and the integrity of the 23 million people of Taiwan.
“Only by doing so can we have a peaceful environment. Then the ROC can continue to grow and thrive on Taiwan and the Chinese people can have the power to move forward,” he said.
With a strong military, any country planning to attack Taiwan would have to think twice, making cross-strait negotiations proceed more smoothly, he said.
“The stronger we are, the more likely that cross-strait negotiations will be conducted on equal footing,” he said. “A military balance in the Taiwan Strait is an important factor in achieving peace.”
To sustain a strong military, Ma said the government would map out an accurate strategy, provide reliable weapons and cultivate outstanding soldiers.
Ma asked the Ministry of National Defense to propose a “new and effective” strategy and called workshop participants to provide input for such a strategy, which would be the basis for the deployment of troops and weapons procurement.
The president promised to move ahead with his campaign promise to replace the conscription system with a recruitment system, saying it was the way to cultivate quality soldiers and make the organizational structure more effective.
Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) defended Ma’s comments to lawmakers yesterday, telling Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsueh Ling (薛凌) during a question-and-answer session that Ma’s promise of peace was a prime example of the president’s vow to put aside controversy and create a win-win cross-strait solution.
“[Ma’s remarks] meant that we can all anticipate cross-strait peace,” Liu said.
Asked by Hsueh whether the Ministry of National Defense (MND) should be abolished if Ma were to pursue a peace agreement with China, Liu said maintaining a defensive capability would still be necessary even after Taipei signed a peace agreement with Beijing.
Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) lauded Ma remarks.
He said Ma’s speech should not be interpreted as a sign of surrender to China, but a strategy to pursue prosperity and security.
“President Ma has repeatedly stated that he will take a Taiwan-centered approach and do anything that is beneficial for the people. Under these circumstances we only have to strengthen our defensive capability,” Wu said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), however, accused Ma of surrendering to China.
“The president should stand up for our sovereignty instead of giving in and negotiating,” Tsai told reporters during a press conference at DPP headquarters. “Vanishing without a fight is a strategy that worries the public.”
She also criticized Ma’s redefining the cross-strait relationship as “district to district” as a show of goodwill ahead of the planned visit by Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
“Taiwan is an independent country with its own sovereignty and that sovereignty belongs to its people. The DPP cannot accept what Ma said,” Tsai said.
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
TWO HEAVYWEIGHTS: Trump and Xi respect each other, are in a unique position to do something great, and they want to do that together, the US envoy to China said The administration of US President Donald Trump has told Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) “we don’t want any coercion, but we want [the Taiwan dispute] resolved peacefully,” US ambassador to China David Perdue said in a TV interview on Thursday. Trump “has said very clearly, we are not changing the ‘one China’ policy, we are going to adhere to the Taiwan Relations Act, the three communiques and the ‘six assurances’ that were done under [former US president Ronald] Reagan,” Perdue told Joe Kernen, cohost of CNBC’s Squawk Box. The act, the Three Joint Communiques and the “six assurances” are guidelines for Washington
DEEPENING TIES: The two are boosting cooperation in response to China’s coercive actions and have signed MOUs on search-and-rescue and anti-smuggling efforts Taiwan and Japan are moving to normalize joint coast guard training and considering the inclusion of other allies, the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. Both nations’ coast guards in June sent vessels to the seas south of the Sakishima Islands to conduct joint training, the report said, adding that it was the second joint maritime training exercise since the nations severed formal diplomatic ties in September 1972. Japan dispatched the Nagoya Coast Guard’s Mizuho, a 134m, 6,000-tonne patrol vessel which can carry a helicopter, while the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sent the 126m, 4,000-tonne Yunlin, one of its largest vessels, the report