Several academics said yesterday that China's recent "energy diplomacy" has greatly narrowed Taiwan's diplomatic room for maneuver and harmed Taipei's diplomatic relations with its allies in Central and South America.
The academics were speaking in a seminar on China's energy strategic deployment and Taiwan's energy security.
Associate Professor Hsiang Chun (向駿) of the National Defense University said that China has played the role of a "world factory" in recent years, causing its demand for energy to skyrocket.
Beijing's "energy diplomacy" serves three purposes, Hsiang said. It helps China meet its own energy needs, but also aims at sharing risk with other oil-producing countries and upgrading its stature in the international community.
Hsiang said that China's expanding energy purchases in Central and South America will have a negative impact on Taiwan's relations with its diplomatic allies. Out of 26 countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan, 13 are in Central and South America.
Lai I-chung (
China dangles the carrot of its vast market before other countries and asks them to support China's position on Taiwan, and to block proposals related to Taiwan in international meetings, Lai said.
China's recent inroads into Central and South America will also squeeze Taiwan's maneuvering space, he said.
In addition, Taiwan depends heavily on energy imports, with more than 70 percent of its petroleum coming from the Middle East and 40 percent of its coal from China. If China bans its exports and applies pressure to Australia and Indonesia to divert coal to China from Taiwan, there will be major crisis in Taiwan's energy supply of energy, he said.
Professor Tsai Tung-chieh (
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS