Taiwan should spend its military budget wisely, engage in cooperative partnerships with key players in the Indo-Pacific region and prevent China from penetrating its society, Hoover Institution senior fellow Larry Diamond told a forum in Taipei yesterday.
With a trade war brewing between Washington and Beijing, and China on its way to becoming the largest economy in the world, US policy on Taiwan and China is at a watershed as the US faces an intensified and “ominous” challenge from China — its growing military presence in the South China Sea, Diamond said at a forum held by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Jason Hsu (許毓仁) on Taiwan-US-China relations.
Behind China’s claim over islands in the South China Sea and its defiance of a 2016 ruling by a tribunal under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in The Hague is a desire to obtain freedom of navigation and geopolitical hegemony over countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines, and a mentality that China is the “boss” of the region and can tell other nations to “move out of its way,” which worries US academics and officials, he said.
Another challenge is China’s theft of US technologies and intellectual property through dual-use telecommunications equipment, which has continued for at least two decades, he said.
The technologies that China has stolen or obtained through “coerced handovers” range from artificial intelligence, driverless cars, drone technology and gene splicing to silent underwater warfare and satellite warfare, he said.
Such actions constitute theft, bullying and a “drive to hegemony” and show that China is not a responsible stakeholder in global affairs, he said.
Citing China’s use of “sharp power” as it infiltrated Australian universities and media, he called on the government to be vigilant of a similar threat to Taiwan.
Asked how Taiwan should cope with the challenges posed by China, Diamond said that first, the nation should refrain from provoking a “bullying and resentful” China and avoid making gestures toward political independence, because that would not be in anyone’s interest.
In the unlikely event that an anti-China alliance is formed, Taiwan should avoid being part of it, as that would be dangerous, Diamond said, adding that it should try to enter cooperative relationships to counter China’s bid for hegemony — for example by engaging in multilayered defense with the US, Japan, India and Australia.
In addition, Taiwan should spend more money on defense, and spend it wisely, he said.
“I do think you need to show Beijing that you mean to defend yourself. You are not going to provoke and your also are not going to concede,” he said.
“We can talk about anything except our future and our freedom,” Diamond said, quoting a line in a speech made by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Los Angeles, adding that this is the posture Taiwan should assume in the face of China’s ambitions to establish its hegemony.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
A British man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 14.37kg of marijuana into Taiwan through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Customs said late yesterday. The man, who arrived from Bangkok at 9pm on Friday, was asked by customs officers to open his luggage during a random inspection, Taipei Customs said in a news release. The passenger, whose identity was not disclosed, refused to open his suitcase and tried to flee the restricted area. He was eventually subdued by three customs officials and an Aviation Police Bureau officer. A later search of his checked luggage uncovered 14.37kg of marijuana buds. The case was handed over
RSS