The protests in Hong Kong are proof that China’s “one country, two systems” model does not work, because authoritarianism and democracy cannot coexist, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told a security forum in Taipei yesterday, alerting the world to Chinese expansionism.
While Taiwan promotes sustainable and joint development projects with its partners, Chinese military expansionism has sparked concern in many countries, Tsai said at the 2019 Asia-Pacific Security Dialogue, citing Beijing’s aggressive claims over territory and its military buildup in the South China Sea.
China has not given up its ambition to annex Taiwan by force or impose its “one country, two systems” model on the nation, despite the model’s failure in Hong Kong, the president said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Taiwan has been developing its own aircraft and submarines, with its first domestically developed training aircraft model to be finished in the second half of next month, she said, while thanking US President Donald Trump’s administration for its four previous arms sales to Taiwan.
Trump on Sunday said he had approved another US$8 billion package for the sale of 66 upgraded F-16V jets to Taiwan.
The Ministry of National Defense on Monday said it hoped the US Congress would approve the deal as soon as possible to benefit peace and security in the Taiwan Strait and the Asia-Pacific region as a whole.
Former Australian minister for defense Christopher Pyne — who resigned in May and is visiting Taiwan for the first time — also warned of China’s increasing militarization in the South China Sea and talked of Australia’s continuous investment in defense and telecommunications facilities.
Asked about a report released on Monday by the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney that said the US military is losing its primacy in the Pacific, Pyne said he has not yet read the report, but that it would be an exaggeration to say that the US is losing its primacy.
“You need to remember that one of every two dollars in the world that is spent on defense is being spent by the United States,” which continues investing in the area and related alliances, he said.
The US also has many allies and partners, including Taiwan, Japan and South Korea across the Pacific, he said.
“Now the world is watching Hong Kong,” where the protests are being driven by demands for freedom, liberty and respect for the rule of law, he said.
Pyne said that he does not think China would move against Hong Kong like it did on Tiananmen Square in 1989, given its increasing engagement in global economy and diplomacy.
How Beijing reacts to the protests would send a message across the region, he said.
Taiwanese, living in a different place from the territory, would also see what “one country, two systems” actually means, Pyne added.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
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