The administration of US president-elect Barack Obama is not likely to pick a fight with China by establishing closer formal commercial ties with Taiwan, considering Washington’s many common interests with Beijing, a former assistant US trade representative said yesterday.
Charles Freeman, an expert on US-China relations, said that signing a US-Taiwan free trade agreement or Washington’s support for Taiwan’s participation in the P4 group of countries — consisting of New Zealand, Singapore, Chile and Brunei — could easily “upset China.”
“Any move by the US to support Taiwan’s participation in organizations such as the P4 will require Beijing’s approval,” Freeman said in Washington during a videoconference with representatives of Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations.
Freeman said, however, that the Obama administration would continue to urge China to be a responsible stakeholder and try to pressure it into expanding domestic consumption and appreciating its currency.
Treasury secretary-designate Timothy Geithner, who lived in China where his father worked on aid projects and speaks Cantonese, will be in charge of continuing the Strategic Economic Dialogue and monitoring the issue of currency manipulation, Freeman said.
“It is very likely that Geithner will work harder than [US Treasury Secretary] Henry Paulson to get the EU, Japan and others to work with the US in the International Monetary Fund and other multilateral settings against China’s currency interventions,” Freeman said.
When asked about the Obama administration’s plan for a US-P4 agreement, Freeman said there would be little political cost for the US’ negotiators in playing an active role in the talks, as the agreement is still being negotiated.
“Indeed there may be some political support because the P4 promises to give the US additional opportunities in markets which China has increasingly dominated,” Freeman said, adding that markets in the Asia-Pacific region have been growing on their own and deserve the attention of US trade policy.
Freeman currently holds the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS