President Hu Jintao (
"One area where there might be a change is in foreign policy," Lyman Miller, from the Hoover Institute of Stanford University who edits the China Leadership Monitor, said. "The idea of the peaceful rise of China was used in speeches last year by both Hu Jintao and [Premier] Wen Jiabao (
Miller said it was difficult to analyze what this meant "but it seems that there has been some contention over what this idea means with respect to relations with the United States and Taiwan."
Ostensibly the idea of a peaceful rise of an increasingly powerful China would entail the peaceful settlement of the Taiwan issue.
But it was unclear if this meant Beijing would back down from its threat to take the island by force should it declare independence.
"I don't expect great changes in either Sino-US relations or cross-strait relations, at least in the short run, but I think Hu is likely to focus more on resolving Chinas socio-economic difficulties than confronting the US," said Joseph Fewsmith, a China expert at Boston University.
On Hong Kong, Hu may be freer to address increasing demands for democracy, but it would likely only come in the context of the intra-party democratic reforms that he is already trying to pursue domestically.
"Hu's coming into power bodes well for Hong Kong and to a certain extent Taiwan," said Paul Harris, a specialist on Chinese politics at Hong Kong's Lingnan University.
"It's still a big question whether he can consolidate his power and carry out his reforms and whether or not he will experiment more with democracy, but the Hong Kong elections [earlier this month] showed that you can have elections and still maintain control," Harris said.
Gilles Guiheux, director of the Hong Kong-based French Center for the Study of Contemporary China, said the image Hu has already projected -- of a down-to-earth leader concerned with the problems of ordinary people -- could blossom more now.
"There was no way for Hu Jintao to become pragmatic on the Hong Kong issue while Jiang Zemin was around because issues relating to sovereignty and nationalism were issues that politically he could not compromise on because of the leadership struggle," he said.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS