China’s state media yesterday stepped up their criticism of the US’ planned strategic shift into Asia, accusing Washington of being a “troublemaker” responsible for mounting tensions in the region.
A commentary in the overseas edition of the People’s Daily echoed the angry comments by the Global Times newspaper on Friday following US President Barack Obama’s announcement that Washington would expand its military presence in Asia.
The US defense strategy was flagged late last year and is a clear sign of US commitment to the region. However, US allies and analysts said that China had nothing to fear from the new policy.
In the commentary, Rear Admiral Yang Yi (楊毅) wrote: “It was clear that the new defense strategy was targeting China and Iran.”
“Since the United States began emphasizing in 2009 its ‘return to Asia,’ a variety of events that have threatened regional security have happened, turmoil in the region has occurred one after the other,” Yang wrote in a front-page commentary. “Anyone with an inkling of strategy in their minds can easily see who the region’s security ‘protector’ is, who is the ‘troublemaker’ for the region’s security.”
Comments in the overseas edition of the People’s Daily, a small-circulation edition of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) official paper, do not amount to government policy positions, but broadly reflect official thinking.
China is concerned that Washington’s new defense posture, as it turns away from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is aimed at encircling it.
The Global Times, a popular tabloid with a nationalist bent, said on Friday that China must not give up on its security presence in Asia.
Still, China’s response to the US’ push to shore up its security presence in Asia was largely restrained last year. After disputes with neighbors in 2010 and with an impending succession preoccupying the CCP, Beijing has avoided diplomatic fireworks.
The US has said it would seek to work with China, but would continue to raise security issues, like disputed sovereignty in the South China Sea, through which US$5 trillion in trade sails annually.
The sea is claimed wholly or in part by Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei. China is seen as increasingly assertive on the high seas, with several incidents in the region in the past year.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
RSS