Liberty Times (LT): What is the main purpose of your visit?
Annette Lu (呂秀蓮): This year marks the 120th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki and the 70th anniversary of Taiwan’s liberation from its annexation by Japan. In this critical year for Taiwan’s future, I have come to Japan to talk with individuals who are concerned about how Taiwan is to position itself amid rising tensions in East Asia.
Given that both Japan and Taiwan are under the pressure of China’s rising global influence, the fact that the US has deliberately ignored Taiwan’s existence, while seeking to regain political influence in Asia, has prompted Japan to keep a close watch on Taiwan’s role in the region.
With a presidential election scheduled next year, each candidate should inform voters of which direction they will lead Taiwan, and both Taiwan and Japan should develop plans to prevent Beijing from intervening in the election, as the result could affect the political situation across the whole of East Asia.
LT: Can you elaborate on the idea of a “neutral and peaceful Taiwan”?
Lu: Taiwan needs to raise its profile in the international community. We need to send a message to the world that we are not a troublemaker, but the center of the “first island chain.”
The US, Japan and Taiwan should think about what impact it will create if China takes control of Taiwan.
If China seizes Taiwan, Beijing would be able to use Taiwan’s strategic position to its advantage to make the waters off the first and second island chains part of its inner sea, and China would transform from an inland superpower to a thalassocracy, thereby challenging the US’ and Japan’s supremacy in the region.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
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