The loss of El Salvador as a diplomatic ally to China has confirmed that Chinese decisionmakers are far from adopting modern values of cooperation, tolerance and mutually beneficial gains, a French specialist in cross-strait relations said on Tuesday.
The way the Chinese decisionmakers deal with Taiwan and the Taiwan issue worldwide “remains entrenched in pre-Second World War [WW2] values of sheer force, brutal diplomacy, territorial conquest and crude national interests,” said Stephane Corcuff, a professor of political science at France’s Lyon University.
In the latest move to squeeze Taiwan, El Salvador on Tuesday switched its recognition from the Republic of China (ROC), a relationship established in 1933, to China, forcing Taiwan to announce the termination of the relationship.
Corcuff said that when China was represented by the ROC at the UN, it helped with the construction of a positive international society by contributing to the drafting of the UN charter and to the International Declaration of Human Rights.
“Today’s China is embodying the return of authoritarianism, the radical dismissal of humanism and the negation of progressive values in international society worldwide,” Corcuff said in an e-mailed reply. “It is inciting a growing number of countries to do so by showing a terrible example.”
The ROC lost its seat at the UN after the body’s General Assembly passed Resolution No. 2758 in 1971 that recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the only lawful representative of China to the UN.
Since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party took office in May 2016, Taiwan has lost five allies — Sao Tome and Principe, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso and El Salvador — which have been lured away by financial incentives offered by China.
Corcuff said that by taking away Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, “China will only further alienate Taiwan’s population.”
“China understands only force. It is not only in great opposition to the values that founded the world system after WW2, but also to its own traditional philosophical and cultural system of wisdom, from which the whole world could benefit,” he said.
“Alas, China is the No. 1 country to reject them and, in place, sends terrible signs in terms of its political values and international views,” he said. “We still hope that China one day will be free from tyranny, terminate these policies and come to terms with Taiwan on a mutually beneficial basis.”
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
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