China's efforts over the past decade to become a more cooperative player in world affairs and improve relations with Washington could help position it to take over Taiwan in the long term by building up international support for a takeover, a leading China expert in Washington warned on Thursday.
Bates Gill, an academic at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that China would prefer to absorb Taiwan through diplomacy and economics, but warned that China's aggressive military buildup indicates that Beijing is still preparing for military action if needed.
He also spoke of a "very important constituency in Taiwan" that would welcome such a unification.
Gill made his comments in a presentation introducing his new book, Rising Star: China's New Security Diplomacy and its Implications for the United States, which details a new Chinese diplomatic effort begun in 1998-1999 to interact with other countries in world affairs and build a set of interests "convergent with US interests."
Describing Beijing's new policy toward Taiwan as "a combination of intensified carrots and intensified sticks," he said it was part of its overall new diplomatic strategy seeking "to create a space with regard to Taiwan so that it can realize national reunification, preferably through diplomatic and economic means."
At the same time, "under the rubric or umbrella of a more benign and constructive set of policies," Beijing is moving forward aggressively to build its military "to use that option if it needs to," he said.
For someone in Taiwan, Gill said, "I would breathe a sigh of relief that China's threat of a military solution is probably drastically diminished," compared with earlier years. But the reaction in Taiwan would ultimately depend on "who you are in Taiwan today."
"There are those who are going to breathe a sigh of relief because the new security diplomacy probably argues in favor of a peaceful environment across the Strait in the near to medium term," Gill said.
"But there are those who are not going to be very happy because it also argues for China increasingly positioning itself with its neighbors, with the United States, and even with a very important constituency in Taiwan, positioning itself in a way that is going to help it realize its goal of unification over the longer term," he said.
Gill did not name the Taiwanese constituency he mentioned, but appeared to be referring to the pan-blue camp.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS