China will not make concessions even if Taiwan takes a non-provocative attitude toward it, National Chung Cheng University College of Social Sciences dean Soong Hseik-wen (宋學文) said on Saturday, adding that Taiwan should bolster its national defense, technology, economic and trade abilities to withstand Beijing’s attempts at bringing Taiwan into its fold, an academic told a forum on Saturday.
Soong made the remarks at an academic conference held by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan.
Panelists including former National Security Council deputy secretary-general Parris Chang (張旭成), former minister of national defense Michael Tsai (蔡明憲), Taiwan Association for Strategic Simulation president James Liu (劉湘濱) and others discussed President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) foreign policy.
Most of the academics said Tsai’s attitude toward Beijing has been forbearing, hoping to win more diplomatic opportunities in the cross-strait relations.
However, China is clearly not appreciative of these efforts, they said.
Michael Tsai, who leads the Taiwan United Nations Alliance (TAIUNA), said Taiwan must break the “status quo” if it wishes to make a diplomatic breakthrough.
The government has been using the principles of “maintaining the ‘status quo’” and “the Republic of China’s (ROC) constitutional system” in handling cross-strait issues, he said, adding it is impossible for Taiwan to rejoin the UN as the the ROC.
“It’s a dead end [for Taiwan]” if the “status quo” does not change, he said.
Civic groups find it disappointing that the government does not plan to ask the nation’s diplomatic allies to support Taiwan’s request for admission to the UN this year, he said, adding that the TAIUNA has written letters to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and representatives of all UN member and observer states hoping to gain international support and exposure for Taiwan.
Taiwan is located in the center of the first island chain and the US territory of Guam cannot replace Taiwan’s importance when considering strategic location, so the US will not give up on Taiwan, Liu said.
However, Taiwan should not assume the US would send troops to protect Taiwan when its is planning national defense strategy, he said.
Looking back on the past three decades, the US “will only send troops for its own national interests” and when it has absolute advantage, so Taiwan should bear that in mind and thoroughly review its national defense policies, Liu added.
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