US President Barack Obama delivered his first major policy speech on China without mentioning Taiwan or even mildly challenging Beijing on its human rights record.
Addressing the opening session of a two-day “Strategic and Economic Dialogue,” he described the meeting as “an essential step forward in advancing a positive, constructive and comprehensive relationship between our countries.”
Obama went out of his way to avoid anything controversial or upsetting to Beijing and appeared to be paving the way for a politically profitable trip to China in November.
Lee Edwards, a professor of politics and a Distinguished Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told the Taipei Times that by ignoring human rights and Taiwan, Obama was ignoring US history and that he was sure that members of Congress would bring it to the attention of the White House staff.
“You can’t build bridges to new friends by burning bridges to old friends. I just can’t say that emphatically enough. It is very unfortunate and ill-timed,” Edwards said.
“The president’s approach shows a misreading of China. We know from history that if you kowtow to them they are going to take advantage. He should stand up for certain things. On his agenda should be human rights and the relationship we have had with Taiwan,” he said.
June Teufel Dreyer, an expert on US-Asian relations at the University of Miami, said: “He does not want to introduce contentious issues at the moment because the priority is to get some kind of cooperative relationship going. Of course these issues cannot be ignored indefinitely and at some point will have to be addressed. But I am pessimistic about it.”
In his speech, Obama said: “I have no illusions that the United States and China will agree on every single issue, nor choose to see the world in the same way. But that only makes dialogue more important — so that we can know each other better, and communicate our concerns with candor.”
He said: “My confidence is rooted in the fact that the United States and China share mutual interests. If we advance those interests through cooperation, our people will benefit and the world will be better off — because our ability to partner with each other is a prerequisite for progress on many of the most pressing global challenges.”
Obama listed four priorities for US-China relations: economic recovery; clean, secure and prosperous energy; stopping the spread of nuclear weapons; and confronting transnational threats.
“Support for human rights and human dignity is ingrained in America. Our nation is made up of immigrants from every part of the world. We have protected our unity and struggled to perfect our union by extending basic rights to all our people. Those rights include the freedom to speak your mind; to worship your God; and to choose your leaders,” he said.
“These are not things that we seek to impose — this is who we are. It guides our openness to one another and to the world,” he said.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS