China’s activation of the northbound flight path on the M503 route and other routes without consultation with Taiwan is dangerous to air safety and is an issue that requires the international community to take action, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) China analyst Bonnie Glaser said on Wednesday.
Glaser, director of CSIS’ China Power Project, made the comments at a question-and-answer session following a Global Taiwan Institute conference on Taiwan’s role in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
The new paths put travelers of all nationalities at risk and world governments should have protested Beijing’s actions, she said.
Photo: Nadia Tsao, Taipei Times
It was likely that China’s actions in launching the routes on Jan. 4 were in breach of some portion of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s charter, she said.
However, lawyers will always be able to make any argument regardless of the subject and the point is Chinese actions have indisputably affected the safety of air travelers in the region, she said.
There are existing channels of communication between Taipei and Beijing, and Taiwan should try to utilize them, she said.
Diplomats and officials should raise the subject with their Chinese counterpart in person and tell them that such behavior is inappropriate and unhelpful, she said, adding that world governments should continue to make public statements about the routes.
Asked about Taiwan’s potential role in regional geopolitics, Glaser said Taiwan should first look to its own defense and then take a position on the South China Sea dispute that is congruent with international law.
Taiwan’s main challenges are the lack of popular support for increasing defense spending and China’s increasing ability to retaliate against Taipei’s partners, she said.
The US government often shies from making decisions in Taiwan-US relationship that could irritate Beijing, a situation that is sure to try the current US administration, as it has every administration in the past, she said.
When trying to secure diplomatic breakthroughs, Taipei should weigh the costs-benefits of its actions, she said.
For instance, providing ports-of-call for the US Navy would have limited real benefits, but come with real and severe risks, she said, adding Taiwan should move carefully on the issue.
US-based Chinese academic Yu Maochun (余茂春) said while Taiwan’s democratic transition has been successful, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has not transitioned well.
Each election in Taiwan has exposed internal divisions that have hampered Taiwan’s ability to conduct foreign policy, he said.
However, there is no room for defeatism and history is abound with examples where a smaller nation has successfully checked bigger adversaries by superior strategy, he said.
The time is right for the US to transition its policy at the Asia-Pacific region from one that is based on bilateral relations to a new model based on a unified multilateral NATO-like alliance, he said.
Such an alliance is feasible because China’s growing strength has become a common concern for other Asian countries that share the common values of democracy and economic development, he said.
Conditions in Asia for multilateral alliance building is better today than the post-World War II period, he said.
Seeing Taiwan’s democracy or economy fail would constitute a significant setback for US interests, Center for a New American Security’s Asia-Pacific Security Program senior director Patrick Cronin said.
While US government should continue having security exchanges, Taiwan’s government should be wary of the nation’s economic over-dependence on China and seek to redistribute its liabilities, he said.
This story has been updated since it was first published.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard