The administration of US President Donald Trump has stepped up efforts to contain China’s rise, warning Asia’s leaders against taking its cash and using its equipment for 5G networks, but when it comes to the region’s biggest summit, the US is happy to let Beijing take center stage.
Trump plans to skip the East Asia Summit for the third straight year and this time he is not even sending US Vice President Mike Pence or US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to replace him.
Instead, the US is to have its lowest-level representation at the meeting since then-US president Barack Obama joined the group in 2011, with new US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien leading the delegation to Bangkok.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We accommodated China’s rise, in the hope that they would become more free. In response, the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] took advantage of our goodwill,” Pomepo tweeted late on Wednesday. “Now, @realDonaldTrump is facing the reality of CCP hostility to the US and our values. We must engage China as it is, not as we wish it to be.”
Beijing plans to send Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) — Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) No. 2 — as it does every year.
While the summits often achieve little in terms of substantive outcomes, they remain one of the few places where leaders can openly discuss thorny issues ranging from trade to terrorism and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
“In a region where just showing up has huge symbolism, the absence of Trump and Pence will no doubt raise renewed questions about how important Asia is in the US’ priorities,” Center for Strategic and International Studies senior associate Murray Hiebert said. “For the top echelons of the US foreign policy establishment not to show up would appear to hand China another opportunity to show that the US is distracted.”
Among the 40 agreements that are to be signed in Bangkok, the biggest one is not to include the US.
China, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the 10 ASEAN members are close to a breakthrough on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which would reduce tariffs in an area representing about one-third of the world’s economy.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS