Although the visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao (
"It's obvious that China not only failed to obtain anything substantial from the US, but it also lost face during Hu's visit while the US has at least gained something with the huge trade packages China signed during the visit," Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政), a political scientist at the Soochow University said.
Lo made the remarks at a press conference held by the Taiwan Thinktank to discuss the implications for US-China-Taiwan relations in the wake of the Bush-Hu meeting.
As much as Hu wanted to be seen as having the prestige of being able to stand side-by-side with the world's most powerful leader, the result of the meeting demonstrated that an unequal relationship still exists between the US and China; one between the world's superpower and a major power, he said.
"Look at the body language of the two leaders: Bush tapped Hu on the shoulder three times as if he was comforting an uneasy Hu, but Hu didn't tap back. The action of tapping his shoulder gave out the sense of a relationship between an elder and a younger person," said Lo.
With the obvious disparities of agenda between the two leaders during the meeting, Lo predicted "China bashing" would be a major theme in the run up to the mid-term elections for the US congress at the end of this year as the Republican administration is now facing growing domestic discontent related to lopsided US-China trade relations.
Lo said that future US-China relations would remain "complex" and would meet their first test when China decided whether or not to endorse the US' punitive actions against Iran in the UN Security Council meeting next week.
Reflecting on cross-strait relations, Lo said it was to the benefit of Taiwan to "hedge" against a rising China by avoiding becoming overly reliant on the economic opportunities it presents and remain cautious about the political, military and psychological threats it poses.
Vice president of the Cross-Strait Interflow Prospect Foundation Raymond Wu (吳瑞國) said the US goal of demanding China become a "responsible stakeholder," a term proposed by the State Department deputy secretary Robert Zoellick, and a theme for the Bush-Hu meeting, confirmed the decision-making influence of Zoellick in future US-China relations.
Wu also urged Taiwan to expand its interests with the US based on common values to try and outflank US-China relations, which although share joint interests, share little when it comes to democracy and freedom.
He said the Taiwanese government should take note of Zoellick's emerging importance in US-China-Taiwan affairs.
Paul Lin (林保華), a Chinese democracy activist who currently resides in Taiwan, warned that the protest of a Falun Gong member who heckled Hu during the White House ceremony may trigger even more persecution of Falun Gong in China in the future.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS