Taiwan should keep a close eye on the possible repercussions to it from the deteriorating US-China relationship, former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) chairman Richard Bush said on Friday in an article posted on the Brookings Institution’s Web site.
Now the director of the think tank’s Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, Bush said that while US Vice President Mike Pence’s recent rhetoric on China was harsh, “Taiwan might become a victim of ‘friendly fire’ in a US-China trade war,” due to its close economic ties with China.
In an Oct. 4 speech to the conservative Hudson Institute, Pence condemned Beijing for threatening cross-strait stability and accused it of resorting to economic aggression to extend its global reach.
Some observers in Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia might conclude from Pence’s speech that US-China relations would become zero-sum, Bush wrote in “What Taiwan can take from Mike Pence’s speech on China.”
“China would have a lot to lose from all-out competition with America, but US allies and partners in the region also might be at risk from both the current trade war and from wider Washington-Beijing rivalry,” Bush wrote. “Taiwan’s situation is particularly complex.”
Since the early 1990s, Taiwanese firms have been exporting goods to China, and as a result, Taiwan has become a critical link in supply and value chains that run from the US, he wrote.
“But for purposes of US customs, the finished products are treated as Chinese goods, so a US decision to increase tariffs on those goods would hurt the Taiwan companies and perhaps wipe out the narrow profit margins on which they operate,” he wrote.
The US last month announced a 10 percent tariff against US$250 billion worth of China goods, which would increase to 25 percent by the end of this year, after a 25 percent tariff was imposed on US$60 billion worth of Chinese merchandise earlier this year.
Some in Taiwan are likely to believe that deteriorating US-China relations would provide it with a chance to seek benefits that Washington was previously unwilling to grant, Bush wrote.
However, the nuclear threats posed by Iran and North Korea are still top issues, he wrote.
“If previous [US] administrations chose not to extend those benefits because it badly needed Beijing’s cooperation on issues like North Korea, Iran and climate change, the reduction or disappearance of cooperation would obviate the need for American restraint on Taiwan,” Bush wrote.
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
DEMAND: The government should enact regulations in line with Austria and Germany to incorporate vegan nutrition into school meals, an advocate said More than 1,000 people yesterday marched in Taipei to promote veganism, calling for legislation to incorporate vegan diets into school lunches and the national net zero emissions program. Participants gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building for the march, which was organized by the Vegan Action Network (VAN). Former ambassador to Chad Chiu Chung-jen (邱仲仁), actor Yankee Yang (楊子儀) and actress Cindy Lien (連俞涵) attended the event. VAN member Marianne Chao (趙梅君) said that the campaign aimed to urge the government to promote vegan diets across schools and government agencies via legislation and national policies, which would help build
RSS