Members of a subcommittee of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Tuesday decried China’s live-fire exercise in the Taiwan Strait yesterday as “cheap ... and tawdry,” saying that if it was a warning, it would be ignored.
Many Taiwanese hope to maintain the “status quo,” but that is already changing due to China’s rise bringing about a threat, not only to the region, but also to Taiwan’s democracy, US Representative Ted Yoho said.
The US should work with Taiwan to find a solution that would provide a sense of safety for Taiwanese, as well as maintaining Taiwan’s democracy and economic liberty, Yoho said.
Photo: CNA
The US should reconsider its “one China” policy and increase interactions with Taiwan, while encouraging Beijing to interact with Taipei without prerequisites and to abandon the use of force, Project 2049 Institute executive director Mark Stokes said.
Stokes also suggested that the administration of US President Donald Trump assess the possibilities of realizing normal, stable and constructive long-term US-Taiwan relations, and expand interactions within the framework of the Taiwan Relations Act and the Taiwan Travel Act.
Julian Ku (古舉倫), a professor of constitutional law at Hofstra University’s Maurice A. Dean School of Law, said the US has been “surprisingly ineffective” in the past regarding its position on Taiwan, despite US Congress on multiple occasions passing motions supporting Taiwan’s participation in international organizations.
The US should clearly state that the status of Taiwan must be determined through nonviolent and noncoercive means, Ku said.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all