Physicist and military technocrat Ashton Carter — expected to be the US’ next secretary of defense — is well-versed in US policies on Taiwan.
He played a lead role in a delegation that visited Taipei early in the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and produced a report on “strategic security issues” across the Taiwan Strait.
“Our delegation heard clearly in Taipei that sound ties with Washington are central to Taiwan being confident enough to proceed boldly with [China],” the report said.
Then-RAND Corp researcher Evan Medeiros, who is now the top White House official on Asia policy, also joined the trip.
The report produced by this delegation repeatedly asserted that reduced tensions across the Taiwan Strait were very important for good US-China relations.
According to US press reports and leaks from the White House, US President Barack Obama is expected to nominate Carter for the top Pentagon job soon.
Carter would replace former US senator Chuck Hagel, who has reportedly been forced out. The New York Times said that Hagel was seen as “too passive” amid rising threats from overseas.
Carter, 60, is a former Harvard University professor and expert on Pentagon budgets and procurement. He has served as deputy defense secretary and is not expected to make significant changes to US policy.
“All Taiwan government interlocutors stated unequivocally that they wished to see US weapons sales notifications go to the US Congress,” the report from the delegation that visited Taiwan said. “They argued that Taiwan needed to be a ‘hard Republic of China,’ difficult for [China] to coerce, in order for Taiwan to move forward with the mainland from a position of confidence and strength.”
It added that a “major and permanent reduction in cross-strait tension strongly serves US interests” and US cooperation with China could be “substantially enhanced” if Taiwan receded as a bilateral issue.
It said the military hedging that occurs between the US and China in part because of cross-strait friction adds a “gray cloud of mutual strategic suspicion.”
The delegation, which also visited Beijing, said that Chinese officials and academics held a strong view that a breakthrough in cross-strait relations would “deeply affect US-China relations in a positive way.”
It said that if the improvement in cross-strait relations was slowed, “[The US’] ability to cooperate with China on a range of critical issues will be degraded.”
The report added that a comprehensive agreement under the [so-called] “1992 consensus” and the concept of the “three noes” — “no unification, no independence and no force” — was achievable.
While it acknowledged that such a deal would take time, it said: “the sooner the better.”
The report said that the US must foster an environment in which a deal could be reached.
“Our delegation sees, buttressed by prospects of increasing cross-strait stability, real opportunity for more robust military-to-military ties between US armed forces and the People’s Liberation Army, which would contribute to improved Sino-American relations,” it said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS