Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) might introduce a deadline for a resolution on Taiwan during the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China this month, according to former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) chairman Richard Bush.
In a blog post titled “What will Xi Jinping say about Taiwan at the 19th Party Congress?” Bush wrote that Xi might introduce new elements in China’s position on Taiwan, such as a deadline for a solution to what Beijing calls the “Taiwan issue.”
“One possibility here is conveying a sense of urgency about resolving the dispute with Taiwan or even setting a deadline,” wrote Bush, who was AIT chairman from 1997 to 2002 and now serves as codirector of the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution.
Photo: AP
Xi had hinted in a meeting in 2013 with former vice president Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) that “settling the dispute could not be postponed from generation to generation,” Bush said.
If Xi wants to reaffirm China’s policy on Taiwan, he would simply repeat common elements in speeches leaders had made at past party congresses, such as the guiding principle of peaceful unification, he said.
However, if Xi does toughen Beijing’s Taiwan policy, for example by not restating the peaceful unification principle, “it would widen China’s options in a coercive direction,” Bush said.
It would suggest that China “would be willing to impose a solution rather than negotiate one on a mutually acceptable basis,” he wrote.
Former AIT director Douglas Paal said he believes that Beijing will likely take a low-key approach on Taiwan at the party congress, which is scheduled to begin on Oct. 18.
Paal, speaking in a panel previewing the congress in Washington on Friday, said his unofficial sources in Beijing told him that no tough talk on Taiwan is expected from the Chinese leader.
Commenting on the possibility of a “fourth US-China communique” emerging from an upcoming meeting between Xi and US President Donald Trump, who is to tour five Asian nations next month, Paal said it was highly unlikely to happen.
The question of a fourth joint communique, which would follow the three communiques on Taiwan that the US and China issued between 1972 and 1982, arose in a report in the Taiwan-based Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) published earlier this year.
The report, citing an unnamed source, said that former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger was trying to get the two nations to sign such a document.
Paal, who is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said he expects Washington to continue to show its support for Taiwan based on the US’ Taiwan Relations Act and would not sign a fourth communique.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
RSS