The role China plays in East Asia's security was highlighted at a forum yesterday, with experts at odds over whether China was playing a constructive or destabilizing role in the region.
The forum was held by the Taiwan-based Cross-Strait Interflow Prospect Foundation and the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) based in Beijing. The think tanks focused especially on security in the Taiwan Strait.
Speaking of the availability of energy resources, Li Ming-juinn (李明峻), deputy secretary of the Taiwan Society of International Law, said that China and Japan could bring war to the international community as they try to secure stable crude oil supplies.
The dispute over the rights to underwater energy reserves in the East China Sea proves that China's strategy to acquire foreign oil is seriously challenged by Japan, he said.
He added that the disputes lie not only in exploring for oil resources, but also in maintaining transport channels, as China has been trying to secure them against possible hazards.
Japan, on the other hand, also vies with China to acquire oil resources to restrain China's economic development and retain its position of leadership in the region, he said. He said that the countries would become natural opponents in the a war over oil.
Liou To-hai (劉德海), a professor at National Chengchi University's Department of Diplomacy, addressed the forum from the viewpoint of China's participation in the six-party talks, to check North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
He said that China, which has gradually played an important role in the six-party talks, has reaped considerable benefits so far with the goals it has set up.
"China wants to form the image of joint burden-sharing between China and the US in Asia, and to degrade Japan, as well as to rope in the US to cooperate on other issues which are vital to [Beijing]," he said.
Another goal is for China to enhance its relations with North Korea, he said, noting that should China become stronger in the future, Japan would be put into a disadvantageous position.
"China has shifted its diplomatic strategy to the aspect of shortening its economic ties with other countries, with the aim to countering the containment policy the US adopted against it. Its final goal is to form an economic region that can rival the EU and the US," Liou said.
Yang Wen-jing (
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS