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.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS