A report released on Monday by the Asia Foundation calls on the new US administration to maintain a "one China" policy while cautioning both sides of the Taiwan Strait against unilateral attempts to change the status quo.
A parallel report says that "there is a strong view among all the countries in the region that China and Taiwan must both exercise restraint so as not to destabilize the entire region."
The two reports, respectively presenting the US and Asian views on the role of the US in Asia, are published after a year-long examination of US policy toward the region by two separate task forces composed of distinguished experts.
Ezra Vogel, Harvard professor and co-chair of the US group, said that Asian countries don't want a conflict between the US and China so that they don't have to decide who to side with.
Speaking at the launch of the reports, Vogel also said that Asian countries are "very concerned" that the Bush administration may be "too forthright" about arms sales to Taiwan, eventually resulting in an arms race between Taiwan and China.
In its report, the bi-partisan group of 37 high-ranking American policymakers and scholars urged the US government to "make clear to Taipei that it will not support an independent Taiwan achieved without Beijing's acceptance."
Washington should also tell Taipei that it will not necessarily come to Taiwan's defense "if Taipei declares independence unilaterally, or otherwise engages in actions aimed at provoking Beijing."
The report, called America's Role In Asia: American Views, says it is equally important that the US make clear to Beijing its opposition to the use of force to resolve the Taiwan issue.
Without detailing the circumstances under which Washington would or would not intervene, the report says, the US should indicate that "a military attack on Taiwan by the mainland may be met with US intervention."
Noting the 30-year-old policy continues to serve the US as well as both sides of the Taiwan Strait, the report says Washington "should be firm in its commitment to the `one China' principle as outlined in the Three Communiques" between Washington and Beijing.
The task force established a year ago consists of people who have played leading roles in US-Asian relations in the last 25 years, including former ambassadors and administration officials.
Its other co-chair is Casimir Yost, director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.
In its 60-page report, the group lists continued uncertainty in the Taiwan Strait as one of the trends that could threaten US interest in Asia.
The others include the drift in the US-Japan relationship, the nuclearization of India and Pakistan, and nationalism and the establishment of new regional groupings which exclude the US and other Western nations.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique